Sandra Louise Birdsell, CM (née Bartlette) (born 22 April 1942) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer of

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

and

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

heritage from

Morris, Manitoba Morris is a small town in the Pembina Valley region of Manitoba, Canada, located 51 km south of Winnipeg and 42 km north of Emerson. Morris is home to 1,885 people (2016). Named after Alexander Morris, the second Lieutenant Governor o ...

Life and career

Born in

Hamiota, Manitoba Hamiota is an unincorporated urban community in the Hamiota Municipality within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held town status prior to January 1, 2015. It is located on Provincial Trunk Highway 21 (PTH 21) midway between the Trans- ...

, Birdsell was the fifth of eleven children. She lived most of her early life in

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, where the family moved after her father joined the army in 1943. Her father was a French-speaking

Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...

Métis born in Canada and her mother was a Low-German speaking

who was born in Russia. When Birdsell was six and a half, her sister died from

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

, which left a four-year gap between her and her next older sister. Her loneliness led her to ponder by herself to the nearby parks and rivers allowing her imagination to go wild. Her hometown of

experienced a major flood in 1950. Her first three stories in ''Night Travellers'' are based on that flood. Birdsell left home at the age of fifteen, where she studied at the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...

and the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Robert Kroetsch Robert Paul Kroetsch (June 26, 1927 – June 21, 2011)

. In 1996, she moved to Regina,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, and currently resides in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. At the age of thirty-five, she enrolled in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

at the

. Five years later,

Turnstone Press Turnstone Press is a Canadian literary publisher founded in 1976 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the oldest in Manitoba and among the most respected independent publishers in Canada. Turnstone was founded in 1976 by academics David Arnason, John Beaver, D ...

published her first book, ''Night Travellers''. In January 2007, Birdsell began a four-month term as the

Carol Shields Carol Ann Shields, (née Warner; June 2, 1935 – July 16, 2003) was an American-born Canadian novelist and short story writer. She is best known for her 1993 novel ''The Stone Diaries'', which won the U.S. Pulitzer Prize for Fiction as well as ...

writer in residence at the University of Winnipeg. In 2010, Birdsell was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

and in 2012 she was invested with

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit (french: Ordre du Mérite de la Saskatchewan) is a civilian Award, honour for merit in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor of Saska ...

(SOM). She is a mother to three children and a grandmother to four children.

Publications

Short stories

''Night Travellers''

Birdsell's first book, a collections of interconnected short stories, ''Night Travellers''(1982), is set in the imaginary Manitoba town of Agassiz, and concerns the large Lafreniere family: the teenaged sisters Betty, Lureen and Truda, their

mother Mika and their

father Maurice and the girls’ maternal grandparents, Oma and Opa Thiessen. Agassiz is based on the flood-prone town of Morris, on the banks of the Red River. where Birdsell spent her childhood. The source for the name Agassiz is

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz was a large glacial lake in central North America. Fed by glacial meltwater at the end of the last glacial period, its area was larger than all of the modern Great Lakes combined. First postulated in 1823 by William H. Keating, it ...

, an enormous glacial lake that around 13,000 years ago covered much of what are now

, northwestern

, northern

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, eastern

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, and

. Lake Agassiz is a controlling metaphor for the stories ... representing memory and ancestry". While the devastating flood that happened in Morris in 1950 "is a related image that reverberates throughout the text". 1984 ''Night Travellers'' received the

Gerald Lampert Award The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award is made annually by the League of Canadian Poets to the best volume of poetry published by a first-time poet. It is presented in honour of poetry promoter Gerald Lampert Gerald Lampert (c. 1924 - April 29, 1978) w ...

from

League of Canadian Poets The League of Canadian Poets (LCP), founded in 1966, is a national non-profit arts service organization based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization acts as the national association of professional and aspiring poets in Canada. The League co ...

. Usually this its awarded for a first book of poetry.

''Ladies of the House''

Birdsell's second collection, from 1984, is a sequel collection to ''Night Travellers'' that the focuses on the Laftenierre family women from Agassiz and their women friends, though most of the stories ae set in Winnipeg. In 1987 it was republished with ''Night Travellers'', in one volume called ''Agassiz Stories''. An American edition, titled ''Agassiz: A Novel in Stories'', appeared in 1991 (Minneapolis: Milkweed).

Children's literature

''The Town That Floated Away'' (1997) was influenced by Birdsell's experience as a child of the 1950 flood in Morris, and narrates the adventures of young Virginia Potts after she is left behind when her town floats away. Birdsell also wrote ''A Prairie Boy’s Winter'', a one act play for children, which was co-written and produced by

Prairie Theatre Exchange Prairie Theatre Exchange (PTE) is a professional theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is located on the third floor of Portage Place mall in downtown Winnipeg. By the end of the 2016-17 season, PTE had presented 340 plays on its thrust stag ...

, in 1986.

Novels

''The Missing Child''

Birdsell's first novel, published in 1989, is "an evocative magic realist portrait of the fictional town of Agassiz", which won the W.H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award.

Chrome Suite

Birdsell's second novel was published in 1992, and covers four decades of script-writer Amy Barber's life: from an extraordinarily hot summer in a small Manitoba town in 1950; "to the 1960s and the 1970s, when Amy marries, goes to live in the city, and begins to have reason to fear for her young son"; to the present, with Amy traveling from Toronto to Winnipeg with her young Polish, film-maker lover.

''The Russländer''

Published in 2001, this is Birdsell's third novel, and it explores Birdsell's own family history. The word ''Russländer'' means "Russians" in German and her mother and maternal grandparents were Mennonite emigrants from Russia. It was published as ''Katya'' in the US. It is the story of Katherine (Katya) Vogt, and her Mennonite family's life in Russia from the end of 1910, until she, her husband, two sisters, and grandparents emigrated to Canada in 1923. Katya was born in 1902. The story begins with the family living on the prosperous Mennonite estate of Abram Suddermann in the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, where Katya's father is the overseer. They are under the protection of the Tsar whose wife is German. This is part of the

Chortitza Colony Chortitza Colony was a volost Yekaterinoslav Governorate granted to Plautdietsch-speaking Russian Mennonite for colonization northwest of Khortytsia Island and is now part of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by Mennonite set ...

, land granted to German-speaking Mennonites for

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

. Chortitza was founded in 1789 by Plautdietsch-speaking Mennonite settlers from

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

, and consisted of many villages. It was the first of many Mennonite settlements in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. Life then becomes much harder when

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

begins and there is suspicion as to the loyalty of the Mennonites because they speak German. Life then eases when where the area is occupied by Austrian and German soldiers. However, Russia falls into chaos when they leave in 1917, with the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years or 29 in leap years, with the 29th day being called the ''leap day''. It is the first of five months not to have 31 days (th ...

and

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

s. The Russian workers on the estate take the bloody revenge on the Mennonites. Katya's parents and her siblings, but for two sisters are brutally murdered. After years of poverty and near-starvation. Katya, her husband, sisters, and grandparents eventually emigrate to Canada in 1923, to settle in Manitoba: "Between 1923 and 1930, nearly 25,000 Mennonites fled violence that erupted in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Recognition

Prizes and honours

*1984

from League of Canadian Poets, 1984, for ''Night Travellers'' *1990

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident of ...

(for ''The Missing Child'') *1992 Shortlist,

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.Marian Engel Award Marian may refer to: People * Mari people, a Finno-Ugric ethnic group in Russia * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensla ...

*1997 Shortlist, Governor General's Award for Fiction (for ''The Two-Headed Calf'') *1997 Shortlist, Silver Birch Award; Saskatchewan Children's Literature Award, for ''The Town That Floated Away'' *2001 Shortlist,

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

(for ''The Russländer'') *2001 Saskatchewan Book of the Year, Best Saskatchewan Fiction and City of Regina (for ''The Russländer'') *2007 Longlist,

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

(for ''Children of the Day'') *2007 Saskatchewan Best Fiction Award (for ''Children of the Day'') *2010 Shortlist,

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for

English fiction English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(''Waiting for Joe'') *Juno Award nomination for radio play, ''The Town That Floated Away"

Awards

*Marion Engel Award for meritorious achievements of a woman writer in mid-career. *The Joseph S. Stauffer Prize, The Canadian Council 1992, for meritorious achievements in the arts. *

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination for radio play, ''The Town that Floated Away''. *National Magazine Award and nomination for

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

. *45 Below Award, by The Canadian Book Information Center. Chosen as one of ten most promising below the age of 45. *Awarded writing grant from The Manitoba Arts Council, The Canadian Council and the Saskatchewan Arts Board. *Nominee for 2010 Saskatchewan Book Award Shortlists: Fiction Award. Waiting for Joe (

Random House Canada Random House of Canada was the Canadian distributor for Random House, Inc. from 1944 until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it amalgamated with Penguin Canada to become Penguin Random House Canada. Company history Random House of Canada was established in ...

Bibliography

Novels

*''The Missing Child'' (1989). Lester & Orpen Dennys *''The Chrome Suite'' (1992).

McClelland & Stewart McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann. History It was founded ...

*''The Russländer'' (2001).

; as ''Katya'' in the US in 2004 *''Children of the Day'' (2005).

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

*''Waiting for Joe'' (2010).

Childrens

*''The Town that Floated Away'' (illustrations by Helen Flook) (1997). HarperCollins. See 1992 radio play below.

Short stories

*''Night Travellers''. Turnstone Press, 1982 *''Ladies of the House''. Turnstone Press, 1984 *''Agassiz Stories'' (combined the two earlier collections); republished in the US, as ''Agassiz: A Novel in Stories''. Minneapolis: Milkweed, 1991. **''Agassiz''. Traduit de l'anglais par Maryse Trudeau. Montréal : Du Roseau, 1990. *''The Two-Headed Calf''.

, 1997

Scripts

Birdsell has also written for television, theatre and radio. * ''The Waiting Time''. 60 minute radio drama commissioned by CBC produced in Mar. 1993. * ''Another View of North''. 60 minute radio drama commissioned by CBC and produced in Jun. 1992. * ''The Town That Floated Away''. 30 minute radio drama produced by Barbara Nicol, CBC, Sept. 1992. Released on CD and cassette, BMG records * ''Niagara Falls''. A 45-minute film script as part of a trilogy, ''In Good Season''. Produced in a 30-minute format for the CBC ''The Way We Are''. series. West End Productions Inc. * ''Summer Storm''. Novina Motion Pictures. 30 minute film script produced for a CBC ''Family Pictures'' series. * ''Falling In Love''. 30 minute film script as part of a trilogy, ''In Good Season''. West End Productions Inc. * ''Places Not Our Own''. 60 minute drama for the mini series, ''Daughters of the Country''. National Film Board.

Theatre

* ''A Prairie Boy’s Winter''. A one act play for children. Co-written and produced by Prairie Theatre Exchange, 1986. * ''The Revival''. A Two Act Play. Commissioned by Prairie Theatre Exchange and produced in 1987.

References

External links

*
Sandra Birdsell's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birdsell, Sandra 1942 births Living people Canadian Métis people 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian people of German descent Canadian people of Métis descent Canadian women novelists Writers from Regina, Saskatchewan Writers from Winnipeg Writers from Manitoba Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Mennonite writers Métis writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women short story writers 20th-century Canadian short story writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers Amazon.ca First Novel Award winners

Life and career

Publications

Short stories

''Night Travellers''

''Ladies of the House''

Children's literature

Novels

''The Missing Child''

Chrome Suite

''The Russländer''

Recognition

Prizes and honours

Awards

Bibliography

Novels

Childrens

Short stories

Scripts

Theatre

Archives

References

External links