2011 Writer’s Scholarships Validate Writing Efforts

By Christine Turkewych

Scholarships serve many purposes and validation was cited as the significant feature by each of the two recipients of a full Kobzar 2011 Writer’s Scholarship for the Summer Workshop held this past summer at the Humber School for Writers in Toronto. Marianne Fedunkiw has recently embarked on writing fiction after achieving success as a non-fiction writer. Krystine Dumyn Vecchio has emerged as a poet, never recalling not writing, even though currently, she is a successful real estate agent after an extensive career in teaching.

Dr. Marianne Fedunkiw, well known as the designer of Buduchnist Credit Union’s latest logo, merged science and communication through four formal degrees. She is a published author with publications such as Rockefeller Foundation Funding and Medical Education in Toronto, Montreal and Halifax, McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal, 2005  and a non-fiction book for children (Grades 4 to 8),  The History of Radio, Crabtree Publishing, Toronto, 2007.

Marianne describes her current narrative as: “The book is loosely based on the stories that Aunt Mary and Mama told me about growing up, first in Windsor, Ont. and from 1932 onwards after the death of their father, in Toronto.  My Grandmother Anna arrived in Windsor, Canada in 1924 from Stehnykyvtsi, Ternopil, Ukraine at the age of 20. After marrying my Grandfather William they had five children, of whom Aunt Mary was the eldest.  The others who survived to adulthood were Julia (born 1927) and my mother, Leona (1929-2010).” These three sisters never finished high school and led lives that were true to the expectations of women in their generation. Marianne earned four degrees, and one could posit that there is one degree each for herself, her mom and the two aunts. Marianne herself will affirm that their influence and support enabled her achievements. Great strides can be made within two generations.

As Marianne and her sister enjoyed a Downtown Toronto upbringing, their home culture created its own special rituals. Every Sunday afternoon, the family gathered for a meal, often after attending church service, with everyone reading the book of his/her choice in the living room. This ritual was the kernel from which Marianne’s passion for the written word ignited. Every family member read avidly in both languages. The family did not foster illusions of returning to a Free Ukraine. Their commitment to stay in Canada reinforced itself with every passing year and the use of English became dominant at home. Marianne’s father recreated himself from furniture maker to draftsman to civil servant in the Ministry of Transportation through continual education. Marianne learned to recite Ukrainian Poetry from the age of three because she learned the poems phonetically in English, transcribed by her mother. Her oratory talents were displayed at every opportunity at the SUM Hall and the Yurij Lypa Ukrainian Heritage School on Christie Street.

The writing workshop at the Humber School for Writers provided Marianne with specific feedback on her own writing style and compelled her to totally rewrite the first chapter of her narrative.  She learned through the “flash assessment exercise”, and with feed back from two publishers, that the first page of your book must be very captivating for publishers to read further and make a comprehensive assessment. The diversity of talent and content displayed on the evening when each workshop participant read an excerpt from his/her narrative became most memorable for her and affirming.  Author Frieda Wishinsky skilfully coached Marianne and emphasized that “clear writing” was absolutely critical to the young readers’ genre.

Marianne’s narrative is propelled with the desire to honour and record the stories that Aunt Mary and her mother recounted repeatedly. The two sisters had a uniquely close relationship, living in the same household for most of their lives, sharing a room at the St. Demetrius Care Centre and dying within three weeks of each other. The sisters liked to escape from the Care Centre for weekend getaways to the casino in Gatineau/Ottawa, wheelchairs and all. And there in lies a story…

Krystine Dumyn Vecchio is a nocturnal poet driven by a passion to respond to life‘s experiences with imagery, candour and emotional authenticity.  Born in Augsburg, Germany, Krystine immigrated to Canada at six months of age as a babe in her parents’ arms. Roman and Marika Dumyn arrived from Ivano Frankivsk without the capability to communicate in English. It took many years before Roman Dumyn could practise as a successful architect in Canada, while Marika Dumyn managed the ladies department in her brother-in-law’s store E. Dumyn on Queen Street West in Toronto. Their two daughters were given a complete Ukrainian migr upbringing with piano and ballet lessons, heritage school on Saturdays, and Plast scouting experiences. Ukrainian only was spoken at home.

Krystine’s urge to write gained great momentum after a second visit to Ukraine in 2002. During this longer summer visit with family, she “saw things as an adult” compared to her impressions from the first visit in 1975. Krystine expresses herself through poetry because “it is unlike prose which is too much like life – it never ends… Poetry focuses me… it narrows my interpretation of events, emotions… it requires little or no editing.”

While attending the poetry workshop, Krystine discovered through the “frog scenario” exercise, wherein every participant composes a poem about a frog, that she was capable of being funny.   Discovering the humour in her perspective on life was a benchmark experience.  Further, Krystine’s scholarship enabled her to interface with “incredibly talented writers with unique voices” and to make connections with Canadian writers/poets who will serve as a support network. The nature of writing promotes a solitary life for the most part, and that isolation is a necessary constraint of the craft. The Humber Writers’ Summer Workshop provides a bridge from this isolation and enables these talented Canadians to form collegial support networks to affirm their creative journeys.

Marianne Fedunkiw and Krystine Vecchio are the fifth and sixth scholarship recipients since 2007. The Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras Shevchenko funds the Kobzar Writer’s Scholarship annually and has also funded three literary experts at the Humber School for Writers in Toronto through their Kobzar Literary endowment fund.  The Kobzar Writer’s Scholarship is awarded to a Canadian writer with an advanced manuscript on a Ukrainian Canadian theme.

Dr. Christine Turkewych is Director of Literary Arts at the Shevchenko Foundation. For submission guidelines view www.kobzarliteraryaward.com

 
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L. to R.: Kobzar 2011 Writer's Scholarship recipients Marianne Fedunkiw and Krystine Dumyn Vecchio