BOOK NOTES (12/12/99)

BOOK NOTES

A second collection of poetry by Yuriy Tarnawsky

by Yuriy Tarnawsky

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The Kyiv publishing house Rodovid which in 1998 released Yuriy Tarnawsky's collection of plays "6 x 0" has just published a book of his poetry called "Yikh Nemaye" (They Don't Exist). The 430-page book constitutes the second volume of Mr. Tarnawsky's collected poetry - 10 separate cycles and book-length poems written after the appearance of his first book of collected poetry, "Poems About Nothing and Other Poems on the Same Subject," which was published in 1970. Previously published works, such as the bilingual English-Ukrainian collection "This Is How I Get Well" and the book-length poem "U ra na," as well as unpublished works are included in the book.

Mr. Tarnawsky is a bilingual Ukrainian-English author, member of the avant-garde group of Ukrainian émigré writers, the New York Group, the American avant-garde writers' organization, Fiction Collective and the Association of the Writers of Ukraine. He has published 19 books of poetry, seven plays and three books of fiction.

"They Don't Exist" was officially presented to the Ukrainian reading public in Lviv at the Les Kurbas Theater on September 20, and in Kyiv at the National University of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy on October 12, during Mr. Tarnawsky's recent trip to Ukraine. On November 13 he gave a reading of selections from the book at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art in Chicago.

A third volume of Mr. Tarnawsky's works - a book of prose - is to be published by Rodovid in 2000.

Papers from Jewish-Mennonite-Ukrainian conference

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - In 1995 three ethnic groups - Jews, Mennonites and Ukrainians - came together in Winnipeg to reflect on the similarities and dissimilarities of the cultures and experiences of their respective communities. The conference was titled "Building Bridges."

All three groups had suffered the ignominy of hatred and violence over the centuries; all three came to Canada in the late 19th century, hoping to find a place where they could live and prosper in an environment of peace and security. All three brought with them their histories of oppression and antagonism.

A new book - "A Sharing of Diversities: Proceedings of the Jewish Mennonite Ukrainian Conference, 'Building Bridges,'" edited by Fred Stambrook and Bert Friesen (Winnipeg: Jewish Mennonite Ukrainian Committee, 1999, 273 pp. $19.95) - contains a selection of the papers presented at the conference.

This extensive survey of the three ethnic groups' histories, both in North America and in their respective fatherlands, and the relations among them is of interest both to scholars and to the general reader. For individuals who belong to these groups, the information is intended to promote knowledge of self in terms of cultural identity.

In his introduction, the book's co-editor Mr. Stambrook, a professor of history, begins with the phrase, "Great oaks do from small acorns grow." He traces the evolution of a childhood friendship between two members of different ethnic groups, connected by a common immigrant ancestry, to the application of this fellowship into a broader assemblage, to preliminary deliberations and the building of intergroup trust, to the resultant conference, and beyond.

The keynote address, Raymond Breton's "Diversity and Homogeneity: The Ambivalence of Canadians," examines the attitudes that newcomers faced in Canada, of the native, colonial and fellow immigrant varieties, along with the underlying principles and reasons for either positive or negative views. Mr. Breton calls upon various statistical surveys and census information to draw the conclusion that Canadians hold two opposing views toward immigrants. In one breath many citizens can express their hostility toward a new people who demand the same rights, or even more rights; in the next, they can embody the ideal conditions for smooth and concordant immigration.

Interaction among the three groups is traced back to Europe, before emigration took place. Also outlined are Canadian immigrant demographics and their geographic settlement patterns in the New World. Maps and graphs accompany and elucidate the essays.

The chronicle continues with perceptive studies of the cultures themselves, drawing on such interdisciplinary perspectives as sociology, mythology and folklore, psychology, philosophy, history and aesthetics, to uncover and impartially probe group perceptions, and answers the questions about whether they are productive or not so.

"A Sharing of Diversities" may be purchased for $19.95. For further information, call CPRC Publications, (306) 585-4758, Fax (306) 585-4699 or e-mail [email protected]; or write to: Canadian Plains Research Center University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2.

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