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Kalyna’s Song (Coteau, 2004)
In Lisa Grekul's first novel Kalyna's Song (Coteau, 2004) a gifted young pianist and singer named Colleen Lutzak loses unfairly in a music competition and learns the politics of ethnicity in northern Alberta.
The novel explores the process by which Colleen learns to accept herself as a young Ukrainian Canadian woman and find peace with the loss of friends and family, including her aunt Kalyna, for whom she composes a commemorative song.
Following the death of her beloved piano teacher Sister Maria and an alienating first-year experience at university, Colleen accepts an unexpected academic scholarship to attend a college in Swaziland.
Africa is no easier than Alberta. While overcoming a bitter cultural rivalry with a Polish student, she attempts to befriend a shy, local girl Thaiwende. Another friend of hers commits suicide during her unwanted pregnancy.
Colleen witnesses post-apartheid South Africa first-hand while volunteering at hospitals and is present when celebrations erupt with news of Nelson Mandela's release from prison.
Grekul grew up in St. Paul, Alberta, worked as a musician and has attended school in Swaziland. In 2003, she began teaching in the English department of the University of British Columbia.
1-55050-225-5
-by Martin Twigg
[BCBW Summer 2004]
The novel explores the process by which Colleen learns to accept herself as a young Ukrainian Canadian woman and find peace with the loss of friends and family, including her aunt Kalyna, for whom she composes a commemorative song.
Following the death of her beloved piano teacher Sister Maria and an alienating first-year experience at university, Colleen accepts an unexpected academic scholarship to attend a college in Swaziland.
Africa is no easier than Alberta. While overcoming a bitter cultural rivalry with a Polish student, she attempts to befriend a shy, local girl Thaiwende. Another friend of hers commits suicide during her unwanted pregnancy.
Colleen witnesses post-apartheid South Africa first-hand while volunteering at hospitals and is present when celebrations erupt with news of Nelson Mandela's release from prison.
Grekul grew up in St. Paul, Alberta, worked as a musician and has attended school in Swaziland. In 2003, she began teaching in the English department of the University of British Columbia.
1-55050-225-5
-by Martin Twigg
[BCBW Summer 2004]
Submitted on May 19, 2004 in By David.
