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Winnipeg author Harriet Zaidman receives Geoffrey Bilson Award
By MYRON LOVE Two years ago, Harriet Zaidman was short-listed for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young Readers for her novel, “City on Strike,” relating to the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919. This year, the Winnipeg-based author of children’s books and novels intended for young adults was nominated for a second time and, this time, she did win the award for her recently published second novel, “Second Chances,”which takes place against the background of the polio epidemic.
The Geoffrey Bilson Award is a Canadian literary award that goes to the best work of historical fiction written for youth each year. The award is one of several such honours given out by the Canadian Children’s book Centre each year – presented in partnership with the Toronto International Festival of Authors – with the children’s literary awards presented this year at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre at an in-person ceremony which was held on September 29.
“It was a wonderful evening,” says Zaidman, who has also published three children’s books.
It has only been in recent years that the lifelong teacher/librarian has taken her pen to put her own words and ideas on paper. “I had been writing book reviews since the 1990s,” Zaidman says. “I have always had a lot of ideas for stories. I finally decided that I should take a chance and turn them into stories.”
She was further encouraged in that direction in 2007 when she was accepted into a summer writing program at the Banff School of fine Arts.
Zaidman notes that she self-published her first children’s book, “Daisy’s Biggest Success,” with illustrations by local artist Sarah Neville, through Amazon in 2013.
She credits her skill in writing in part to a course she took in Education where the professor emphasized concise writing. “We had to condense our writing into a precis of no more than 250 words,” she recalls. “Every sentence had to be full of content and meaning. I loved it.”
She adds that in writing children’s books, every word is important because the number of words used is by necessity limited. “If you change one word, it can change the entire story,” she points out.
Zaidman followed up her inaugural children’s book with two more – “Sherman and the Shape Sheep Contest” – which came out in 2016 – and “Benny’s Dream Horse,” in 2018. Both books were published by local publisher Peanut Butter Press.
For her first novel, “City on Strike”, Zaidman chose to approach four publishers and sell them on the idea of a work coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike.
“I emphasized the relevance of the story set against that background considering that it was a historic moment,” she observes. “I told the story from the point of view of an immigrant family – focusing on a 13-year-old boy and his younger sister – involved in the strike. I based the story on my own family’s immigrant experience.”
“City on Strike” as well as “Second Chances” were both published by Red Deer Press out of Ontario.
“I was thinking of the Polio epidemic and how many people’s lives were turned around,” she says. “What if a Terry Sawchuk or Billy Mosienko had been afflicted by polio? T hey wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what they did in hockey.”
For her protagonist, she centred the story around a teenaged hockey player who develops polio and his struggles. To add further depth to the plot, she created a relationship between the afflicted teen and a Métis girl from Roostertown he meets in the hospital (at a time when the largely Métis neighbourhood was about to be leveled to make way for the Grant Park Shopping Centre) and the racism this girl faces in the hospital.
Zaidman’s books are available at the usual locations – McNally Robinson and Chapter’s locations, As well, she sold copies of the book at the weekly St. Norbert Farmer’s Market throughout the summer.
Undoubtedly, Zaidman has ideas brewing for future books.
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Talented Winnipeg composer Sara Kreindler teams up with her mother Reena Kreindler to create new satirical show to premiere here in May
By BERNIE BELLAN It’s been many years since I’ve heard from Sara Kreindler. Sara’s name first appeared in The Jewish Post & News in 2002 when a satirical musical titled “A Touch of Class” was reviewed by the late Arnold Ross. That particular production featured songs from popular Broadway shows that touched upon themes such as “greed, poverty, oppression, and social unrest.”
When she appeared in that show, Ross noted, Kreindler had just recently returned to Winnipeg from England, where she had obtained a doctorate in Social Psychology from Oxford University.
While at Oxford, Kreindler found time to compose a satirical musical titled “Charity,” which played to rave reviews there, and was performed five times.
Continuing in the theme of writing satirical musicals, Sara has now teamed up with her mother, Reena, to write a new musical titled “A Perfect Man,” which is set to run at the Gargoyle Theatre from May 6-17.
According to a press release we received, “A Perfect Man” is “a satirical musical, set on a fictional analogue of ‘The Bachelor’.
“The story follows an anthropologist who arrives to research TV’s hottest reality-dating show — only to discover she’s been made a contestant, and the bachelor is her high school crush. Past and present collide against an exuberant pastiche score that uses vintage musical styles to highlight modern absurdities.”
“Praised as ‘a musician [who] can make biofuels funny’ (CBC), Sara is known for whip-smart satire on a panoply of topics. Her digital musical, ‘Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System, created during her former life as an academic, has garnered over 84,000 YouTube views. Naturally, she had a field day with the subject of reality dating.
“The topic just begs for campy zaniness, which I think we all need in these times — but also for a more cerebral critique of what these shows say about the culture that spawned them,” says Kreindler. And thanks to the romance context, the satire is woven into a deeper, more personal story. “It’s satire with a heart.”
Here is some more information about Sara Kreindler, taken from a 2009 article I wrote about her:
“Born in Israel, Sara’s precocious talent was nurtured by her mother, Reena, whose own particular talent is literary, not musical. According to Reena, however, Sara was singing from the time she was a baby, and she began to study piano at the age of four.
“As a young girl, Sara began writing her own songs and poems, along with the “occasional musical”, notes Reena. Yet, Sara’s rare talent put her at odds with the typical interests of other children her own age, on top of which she attended a school to which she was exposed to a fair degree of antisemtism.
“As a result, Sara says, being bullied was a common aspect of her childhood. On one occasion, when she was nine, she notes, Sara fought back against one particular bully by reciting the following little ditty:
“I write so many epigrams to you that all the people laugh.
I’m tired of writing epigrams.
I want to write your epitaph!”
“Sara went on to compose a musical titled ‘Flutesong’ while she was a student at Vincent Massey Collegiate, she says. After doing her undergraduate work at the University of Manitoba, majoring in Psychology, Sara won a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Oxford University.
“Sara eventually earned a doctorate in Social Psychology and returned to Winnipeg, where she began teaching at the University of Manitoba, but she said she didn’t enjoy the “mass production” style of teaching upwards of 300 students at a time, so she switched careers and began doing health research for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.”
All the while Sara has been continuing to compose and perform her own songs, often teaming up with her mother, as she has for “A Perfect Man.”
Showtimes and ticket information for The Perfect Man are available at:
http://www.thegargoyletheatre.com/upcoming-events/the-perfect-man
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Rabbi Kliel Rose to leave Congregation Etz Chayim for new post in Ottawa
The following email from Congregation Etz Chayim Executive Director Morissa Granove was sent to members of the congregation on Friday, April 10:
“Dear Members and Friends,
“As we know, Rabbi Kliel recently spent a weekend with Kehilllat Beth Israel where he has since been offered a position. After much thought and consideration, he has made the decision to sign a contract in Ottawa. He will continue to lead our congregation through Yom Kippur.
“This news marks a significant ending for our Etz Chayim community, and at the same time with change comes opportunity. Congregation Etz Chayim will soon embark on our own Rabbinical search with excitement as we look for our perfect candidates and explore the new possibilities that will help us to continue to shape a strong future for our synagogue and members.”
Kliel Rose took up the position of rabbi at Etz Chayim in August, 2018.
In an article announcing his appointment to the position in the June 6, 2018 issue of The Jewish Post & News, Myron Love wrote:
The congregation has been without a permanent rabbi since last summer when Rabbi Larry Lander chose to retire – after ten years here – and relocate to Toronto.
Kliel Rose is already a well-seasoned rabbi. He was ordained in 2004 by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
He previously served as spiritual leader at the West End Synagogue in Nashville and Temple Enamu-El in Miami Beach. His current posting is Beth Shalom Synagogue in Edmonton.
Following the example of his parents, Kliel Rose has been active in interfaith dialogue and human rights work for which he was honoured in 2014 with the Human Rights Hero Award by Truah: The Rabbibic Call for Human Rights.
He has also participated in the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders program at Northwestern University and was most recently chosen to be among 20 rabbis from different denominations chosen to train in the Clergy leadership Incubator – a two-year program, under the leadership of Ranni Sidney Schwarz, intended to educate younger rabbis in innovative thinking, change management and institutional transformation.
In Edmonton, Rose also served as Jewish chaplain at the University of Alberta and took the lead on a program called “Faith and Inclusion”, whose mandate was to support individuals with cognitive and physical learning challenges to feel more welcome within various faith communities.