NEXT EVENT (past events below books)
Reading from This Hidden Thing in Abbotsford, B.C., June 6, 2012.
BOOKS
See my author site here for ongoing news about my books and other writing.
This Hidden Thing. A novel by Dora Dueck. CMU Press, 2010. (See ORDER INFORMATION, news and reviews at “This Hidden Thing” page on this blog.)
Winner of the 2011 McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and shortlisted for the 2011 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction at the Manitoba Book Awards.
“a testament to the pleasure of pure storytelling… a story of warmth and compassion that never wavers in its quality” (jurors comments, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction)
“mind-and-heart-catching observations…a humane and fully satisfying depiction” (jurors comments, McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award)
“beautifully written… [protagonist] Maria’s response is exquisitely nuanced…” M. Goldik, Prairie Books NOW
“entertains with sparkle… unique and engaging… I recommend this book.” J. Dick, MB Herald
“an eloquent saga” B.L. Dyck, Canadian Mennonite
“compellingly draws out [the] themes… a superb job of using Maria’s very particular situation…to limn the contours of human relationship… here’s hoping [Dueck] will find the space to write another novel of this caliber. And soon.” M.S. Mock, Mennonite Weekly Review
” I could not put [the book] down and several weeks after reading… Maria lingers in my mind. She will be there for a long time.” E.N. Schroeder, Mennonite Historian
“skilful, descriptive passages….soaked in history….spiritual questioning…” J. Isaacs, ChristianWeek
Under the Still Standing Sun. A novel by Dora Dueck. Kindred Press, 1989.
“crisp, poetic language…told with skill, vigour and understanding” Barbara Smucker, Mennonite Mirror
“a gem of lucid understatement” Walter Swayze, Prairie Fire
“her accomplishment in this…novel is considerable” Mennonite Quarterly Review
Northern Lights: An Anthology of Contemporary Christian Writing in Canada. Co-editors: Byron Rempel-Burkholder and Dora Dueck. Wiley Canada, 2008.
“inspiring, engaging, and thought-provoking” Anne Andres, MB Herald
“It maps with words the astounding richness of what it means to be Christian in this relatively new nation.” Richelle Wiseman, Centre for Faith and the Media
“Do thank God that someone keeps trying to gather us briefly under one roof…a mirror of daily encouragement.” Julie Lane-Gay, TAP Review
Commissioned books:
Willie: Forever Young. A non-fiction book, Margaret Fast with Dora Dueck, 1994.
“I urge you to find one, buy it and read it…a love story” Lindor Reynolds, Winnipeg Free Press
“beautiful writing and searing honesty recreates the paradox of parenthood…moving, instructive” Journal of Mennonite Studies
A Time to Remember: The Story of Reverend B.B. & Liese Fast. Biography, 2009. As written by Dora Dueck based on the research of Helen Isaak, Herta Voth, Margaret Harder, and the children of B.B. & Liese Fast
MA Thesis: “Print, Text, Community: A Study of Communication in the Zionsbote, A Mennonite Weekly, between 1884 and 1906.” (For MA, joint from Universities of Winnipeg and Manitoba), available here.
EVENTS
PAST
Featured writer at Mennonite/s Writing VI festival, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, March 29 – April 1, 2012.
Reading in the “In Dialogue: Manitoba Writers’ Guild 2011 – 2012 Reading Series,” April 2, 2012.
Reading at “Speaking Volumes,” a benefit for Prairie Fire, May 12, 2012.
April 17, 2011 at 8 p.m. Manitoba Book Awards at the Centre culturel franco-Manitobain, hosted this year by Catherine Hunter. This gala event is free and open to the public. This Hidden Thing is shortlisted for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.
Post-gala results here and here.
On Thursday, April 7, 2011, I’ll be participating in the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction Nominee readings at Aqua Books, 274 Garry St. Winnipeg. 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 10, 2011, a conversation with Keran Sanders about This Hidden Thing to air on CBC’s Morning Show, andpost at the Manitoba Scene website.
September 22, 2010 noon
THIN AIR 2010, Winnipeg International Writers Festival, campus reading
August 2, 2010
Reading from This Hidden Thing at Mennonite Heritage Village, Steinbach, Man.
June 29, 2010
Reading from This Hidden Thing in Winkler, Man.
May 19, 2010
Launch of This Hidden Thing at McNally Robinson’s, Prairie Ink restaurant, 8 p.m. (Please note the May 19 date is a change from what I announced in a post earlier.)
Here’s the Hidden Thing flyer with an overview, and below, the cover, front and back.
March 3, 2010
Paraguay Primeval — Premiere
New Songs – Extraordinary Saga
by Carol Ann Weaver
PARAGUAY PRIMEVAL – a world premiere: music by Carol Ann Weaver, text about Paraguayan Mennonites by Rudy Wiebe, Dora Dueck, and translations by Henry and Esther Regehr of Paraguayan Mennonite source readings
Wednesday, March 3, 2010, 12:30 Noon
Conrad Grebel Chapel/University of Waterloo
A new multi-media piece, Paraguay Primeval, (music by Carol Ann Weaver, text by various Paraguay-related writers) will be premiered at Conrad Grebel Chapel, 12:30 Noon, on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. This free Noon Hour concert will feature vocalist Rebecca Campbell, Paraguayan harpist Paul Dueck, pianist Carol Ann Weaver, percussionists Kyle Skillman and Chris Snow, cellist Ben Bolt-Martin, readers Henry Paetkau and Paul Dueck, and projectionist Myra Weaver. The work stems from a recent trip and an ongoing collection of stories, under girded by a new-found passion for these stories to be told and sung.
Notes about the compostion by Carol Ann Weaver:
In July, 2009, my daughter Myra and I found ourselves going to Asuncion, Paraguay for the Mennonite World Conference, followed by a trek to the Paraguayan Chaco. This higly difficult landscape with extreme heat, holding little agricultural promise, became a new homeland for Mennonite refugees and immigrants from Russia and Canada – a people who were determined to find land they could call their own. When they started immigrating and forming colonies in the 20s, few indigenous peoples populated the land. After a few decades of life in this “Green Hell”, as they called it, these Mennonites began to be productive in many ways, thus causing many more indigenous people to move back into the area because there was now work, education, and medical help for them. What stole my heart, while travelling to these colonies, was a sense of the incredible dedication to this new land as displayed by these Mennonite colonists, many of whom had already survived impossible circumstances in Russia, or who had felt the need to leave Canada so they could continue their own schools. I was particularly moved by a statue of the woman with the plow, dedicated to the women’s village of Freidensheim, settled by women who had lost their husbands during Stalin years in Russia. The sheer industry and vision of these people astounded me, as did their significant work with the indigenous peoples on so many levels -– health, education, development, cultural work. And the lusty singing in the Filadelfia churches, both by the Mennonites and by the various indigenous groups, was gripping.
Back in Canada I read everything I could find, with certain text beginning to sing itself into song – Rudy Wiebe’s Blue Mountains of China (with it’s vivid and poetically written Paraguayan sections), Dora Dueck’s novel, Under The Still Standing Sun, and most importantly Henry and Esther Regehr’s translated Schoenbrunn Chronicles, written by Paraguayan Mennonite settlers. From these, Paraguay Primeval was born, a full-scale work for singers, Paraguayan harp, piano, two percussionists, cello, readers, and a multi-media soundscape/visual piece with my recordings and photos from Asuncion and the Colonies. Many of the journal-entry texts are described by translater Esther Regehr as “raw, unfiltered, and straight from the ‘horse’s mouth’, coming right from these people’s own lives,” thus very revealing of the real-life experiences of these ruggedly determined Russian Mennonite people. Song texts yield starkly perfect lyrics, especially those recounting deaths in the Harms family, or adventures of Uncle Hans in the well, or about the women’s village at Friedensheim for women who lost their husbands during Stalin years in Russia. From Dora Dueck’s Under The Still Standing Sun, an opening song is fashioned, detailing the trek from Russia to Puerto Casado to Chaco land. And from Rudy Wiebe’s Blue Mountains, “Lengua Women” presents a humorous picture of the litheness and spark of indigenous women, giving a hint of how they had learned to live with this strange land. While in South America I listened to and took one lesson in tango dancing, so I composed a short Tango for these people who possibly didn’t dance, but their very lives seemed to dance for them! Throughout, the music attempts to catch the spirit of the text, allowing various evocative percussion sounds to augment the other vocal/instrumental sounds and textures. Pain, joy, tragedy, beauty, struggle, and humour abound in these songs. My desire is that this music will tell its own story, and that all of us can celebrate these brave people who made Chaco their new homeland.
About the Artists:
Rebecca Campbell is one of the most evocative, exquisite vocalists in Canada whose versatile musicianship, combined with uncanny vocal sensibilities, gives her a uniquely compelling voice. She has done extensive touring and recording on her own and in support of many artists including Jane Siberry, Pork Belly Futures, Justin Haynes, Fat Man Waving, Three Sheets to the Wind, and Carol Ann Weaver. Her CDs have received high critical acclaim.
Carol Ann Weaver is an eclectic composer and pianist whose music has been heard throughout North America, in Europe, Africa, Korea and Paraguay. She has produced six CDs and has toured with Rebecca to San Francisco, London, Austria, Slovenia, Hawaii, South Africa, Korea, USA and Canada. She is a music professor at Grebel/UW.
Paul Dueck spent the first twelve years of his life in Asuncion, Paraguay. As a child, Paul’s musical mother encouraged him to play the Spanish folk harp – Paraguay’s national instrument. In 1968 the family moved to Leamington, Ontario where he developed his own style of playing hymn arrangements and folk music, and taught music at United Mennonite Educational Institute in Leamington. He led music at the 2009 Mennonite World Conference in Asuncion, Paraguay and edited the conference’s international songbook.
Ben Bolt-Martin plays principal cello with the Stratford Festival and has performed with the Georgian Bay String Quartet and the Festival Quartet of Stratford. He has recorded for Stratford and Shaw Festivals, and appears on CDs by Carol Ann Weaver and Timothy Corlis. He directs Instrumental Chamber Ensembles at Grebel/UW.
Chris Snow and Kyle Skillman are Grebel/UW music students and percussionists in the UW Stage Band.
Myra Weaver is an English and Film Studies major at University of Toronto, and an avid photographer.
Henry Paetkau is President of Conrad Grebel University College, and was born in the Chaco, Paraguay.
February 7, 2010
Service of prayer and lament
An inter-Mennonite group of volunteers will sponsor a prayer and lament service for the Manitoba Colony, Bolivia women and girls who have been victims of recent sexual assaults and abuse. The service will be held, Sunday, February 7 at 7 p.m. at Morrow Gospel Church, 755 St. Anne’s Road, Winnipeg. It is open to all and will include a free will offering for a new women’s shelter in Bolivia. For further information about the service, contact Abe Warkentin at myrnwa@yahoo.ca (204-326-4367)/
One Response to Events
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I want to thank Dora, Abe and others for planning this vigil. A profound thanks for the words of love for and solidarity with the victims of these horiffic assaults and for their hurting communities.
I am really looking forward to your new book – high on my list !
Just wondering if you are sister to John, my best man? Last I heard he was in Calgary.
I grew up in Brandon and recall your parents in Carmen.
Perhaps pass my email on to John.
I really appreciated your comments about Anne Rice and the ‘house and room’ you live in. I am attending Covenant Mennonite in Winkler with Pastor Kelvin Dyck. Sorry to miss you reading in Winkler.
I must confess that at my uber-cynical moments I think I am a recovering MB, but when I see the love that the Richmond Park MB shows my family as my parents wind up their years on earth, I value that community. And as I read your positition and hope for the hermeneutical direction of the MB church lean towards recanting my cynical attitudes about MB . . . .
Take care
and God Bless
Dave
Hi Dave, yes, John’s my brother, and I forwarded your email. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I appreciate this. Re your last paragraph: I know what you mean, the sense of inner distance and yet leaning towards….. It’s encouraging to hear how the Brandon congregation responds to the elderly in their midst.