Thursday, November 18, 2004

Canadian Mennonite writer Sandra Birdsell to speak Nov. 21

 

Event: Lecture and bookreading by Sandra Birdsell, one of Canada’s most acclaimed writers
Date: Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: Newcomer Center, Room 19
Sponsored by: English Department
Cost: Free

GOSHEN, Ind. – Reading and lecturing from her highly acclaimed historical novel “Katya,” Canadian Mennonite writer Sandra Birdsell will be at Goshen College Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. in Newcomer Center, Room 19.

“Katya” comes to U.S. readers for the first time in the fall of 2004 after being published in Canada in 2001 as “The Russländer,” a novel about a Mennonite family caught in the maelstrom of the Russian Revolution. In Canada, the book was a bestseller and a finalist for the prestigious Giller Prize. The story is told through they eyes of Katya Vogt, a young girl who lives in a Mennonite community on the Russian steppes in the early 1900s.

The daughter of a Russian-born Mennonite, Birdsell spent seven years conducting research for the book, immersed in archived articles, hymnals and cookbooks. Her research even took her to the Ukraine. “I’m the kind of writer who more or less must roll around in a landscape or setting before it becomes real,” she said.

Birdsell describes the writing of this story as a journey of self-discovery and education. “Once I realized the horrific circumstances of the Mennonite migration, I felt I had a duty, or rather a responsibility to ‘get it right,’” she said.

Birdsell’s first two books of short stories, “Night Travellers” and “Ladies of the House,” were published in 1982 and 1984 to critical acclaim. “The Missing Child,” a novel, won the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada first novel award in 1991 and “The Chrome Suite” won the McNally Robinson prize for best book of the year in 1992. Birdsell has also written a novel for children, radio and theater plays, as well as television and film scripts in Canada.

Birdsell grew up on the Manitoban prairie, though currently lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, and continues to be inspired by the people and landscapes of her homeland. Another novel, “Sara and Oliver,” is set to be published by Random House Canada in the fall of 2005.

Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit http://www.goshen.edu/.

Editors: For more information, contact News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

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