Shandi Mitchell - Author and Filmmaker

News and Events

News and Events

• November 28th, 2011

  Back on land

  Thank you Lunenburg. Thank you sea. Thank you my amazing cast and crew.

  

  I will try to make something special to honour all that you gave.

• November 28th, 2011

  Shortlisted for Kobzar Literary Award

  I am so honoured to have been shortlisted for this award sponsored by the Shevchenko Foundation. This award recognizes work that “explores Ukrainian Canadian themes that contribute to the literary arts in Canada.” Congratulations to my fellow nominees:

  Larissa Andrusyshyn, Mammoth
  Myrna Kostash,  Prodigal Daughter: A Journey to Byzantium
  Myroslav Shkandrij, Jews in Ukrainian Literature: Representation and Identity
  Rhea Tregebov, The Knife Sharpener’s Bell

  I look forward to meeting you all at the ceremony to be held in Toronto this spring.

• September 3rd, 2011

  Disappearing

  I am a week away from shooting an indie feature film The Disappeared. It couldn’t be more challenging–3 weeks at sea, 6 men, and 2 dories. The last prep week is an extraordinary convergence of the creative. I have been working for months with my exceptional, passionate and oh-so brilliant Director of Photography Christopher Porter designing the shotlist and brainstorming the technical and logistical feats of this film.  We are very fortunate to have Capt Bill Flowers as our marine co-ordinator (Sea Wolf, Moby Dick)  and the vision of award- winning art director Alan MacLeod (who has been with me for every film and my husband by day).  It is daunting and overwhelming, but oh so rewarding as the key creatives join us and I feel their passion and hope as we prepare to embark on this mad adventure.   Christopher and I have devised a style that we refer to as an “Eastern” and have referenced films lie Once Upon A Time in the West for inspiration. A spaghetti western at sea. I suppose it is the perfect pairing of my prairie and east coast selves. Casting has just locked and our location is in Lunenburg Harbour.  Wish us well. We wish only for a safe return and to capture something beautiful.

• July 25th, 2011

  Bookclubs

  Bookclubs are an extraordinary community. I have attended them across the province in farmhouses, condos, urban and suburban homes. They are often comprised of woman from all walks of life who have found each other through the love of the written world. Often I discover that the groups have been meeting for years. I am always struck by their openness and familiarity. The questions are always insightful; the stories shared profound. And to watch the ease and laughter of these friendships is always inspiring. These gatherings are as much about books as they are about coming together face to face to share each others’ lives. I imagine these women have sat together through the good times and bad and allowed each other to speak. For one night a month, glasses of wine and good food take them away from the routines of life and fill them with imagined worlds and characters that lead them to discussions and engagements of philosophy, humanity, and pain and joy of life. And then they laugh and recount all that is real. Creating their own narratives, sharing their stories. I love bookclubs. I love that in this world of tweets and facebook and overwhelming speed that these people stop and come together.
  My last bookclub this season was in Stillwater, Nova Scotia. A beautiful, handcrafted home in the woods on a lake. I was picked up by Doug, who had been commissioned to be the chauffeur. A rare sighting of a husband, the men tend to relinguish the house when the women arrive. Doug, was a lovely, thoughtful man–a master gardener, a biographer and archivist of the works of A. Hyatt Verrill, an almost forgotten writer from the 1920s–who described himself as not a great thinker or writer, but as an explorer. I arrived and my hostess Gail greeted me with a smile and an embrace. Set out on the table was a Ukrainian feast: pyrogy, borscht, poppy seed cake and all the fixings. A truly unexpected and wonderful gift. Thanks to all the book clubs who have invited me into their lives. It has been an honour meeting you all.

• April 13th, 2011

  Frye Festival, Moncton, NB

  It was thrill to spend time in the presence of the lovely Margaret Atwood. Intimidating to be with such an intellectual and literary icon, but she was so playful, generous and truly engaged with her fans. We read in the glorious Capitol Theatre, there is something mystical about bringing art into such a lovingly restored space. This is one of the few festivals that fuse words and music. Our readings were interspersed with interludes by the fabulous Joe Grass and Marie Jo Therio. We were kept busy with bookclubs, brunch with an author, and school visits and at every encounter the community was so embracing. This is a world class festival with a down home heart. Thank you to the local bookclub that kept me up in the wee hours singing and dancing at a local pub (you know who you are).

  Another special event for me was the Jam. Imagine eight readings accompanied by a live jazz band. It could have gone horribly wrong, but it was magic. For a night, Les Paiens allowed me to be a musician and feel their music wrap around my words. Sons incroyable. A crammed bar, hundreds of people raucously drinking on a Saturday night and when the authors read you could hear a pin drop.  The final wrap up was a concert by Bernard Adamus. The English speaking world is missing out not knowing this artist. I loved that twenty-somethings were lined up in front of the stage, five people deep, with rapt attention singing along with every word.  So thank you to the Frye Festival for taking such good care of me. It was truly an inspiring event. A special thank you to the independent  Tidewater Books for selling all of my books. And to the people of Moncton, it felt like home.

• December 4th, 2010

  IMPAC Dublin Literary Longlist

  Under This Unbroken Sky has been long-listed for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award! This is such an extraordinary honour. Each year, librarians from around the world nominate their favorite books.

  As a child, I spent countless hours in the library. On many occasions at closing time, the  librarian would come find me lost inside a book and softly bring me back to the real world. Arms laden down, I would follow her (in those days it was always her) to the front desk. Even if it was minutes to closing and they were locking the doors behind me, I was never made to feel that I was an inconvenience.  The librarian would open the covers and comment on another book I might enjoy the next time I came in. I loved that moment when a book was signed out in my name. Back then, a card was pulled out of the back pocket and stamped, making that lovely thunk-thunk sound, and then  the card was slipped back in, and the book was mine for two glorious weeks.

  Even today, when I walk into a library it feels like a sacred place to me.

  So thank you for this nomination.  Thank you for making a scrawny, eight year old kid, with braces, glasses and gangly limbs feel like she was part of something magical and that it was okay to be carried away into other worlds.

• November 30th, 2010

  Cheltenham

  I was in Cheltenham, England for 12 days as a writer-in-residence, a perfect retreat to start the daunting quest of the next novel. The Cheltenham Literature festival, perhaps the oldest in the world, is an extraordinary celebration of writers and readers.

  The village is famous for its spa, steeplechase racing, Regency architecture, cobbled promenades, and high-end shopping. Beyond Cheltenham lay the rolling Cotswold Hills: stone walls, sheep dotted hills, ancient pubs with roaring hearths, lanes bowered in the arms of twisted trees. You feel time in this place. One can imagine looking out on the same landscapes witnessed by Shakespeare, the Bronte sisters, kings and noblemen, peasants and stone-cutters, thieves and rogues. A mere twenty-seven miles from Stratford-on-the Avon, this is the cradle of the English language.
  

  Festival highlights included: reading with Lisa Moore (February) and Nalo Hopkinson (Brown Girl in the Ring, The Salt Roads); a side trip with local author Jane Bailey through the Cotswold Hills; lunch with Kathy Lee, wife of the late author Laurie Lee; late night discussions over bottles of wine and scotch with Nalo and China Miéville delving into the heart’s pains; the wisdom and passion of Ramona and David; Trevor at the Queens hotel, who gifted me with a handmade book; the best steak I’ve ever eaten at Hotel de Vin in the Sinner’s Den, and the readers who stopped me on the street. So many generous encounters. And then there were the readings: Salaman Rushdie, Stephen Sondheim, Fergal Keane, Germaine Greer, Audrey Niffenegger, James Elroy, Martin Amos, Sebastian Faulks, Howard Jacobson… with so many distractions it took great effort to retreat to my hotel room and write.

  So thanks Cheltenham for the tea, scones and clotted cream. I wasn’t convinced about the Kidney Pie and Mushy Peas or the gastronomical appeal of internal organs. But I was completely enchanted by your festival and the sight of thousands of people holding books close to their chests.

• September 28th, 2010

  Cheltenham Festival Oct8-17

  I will be in Cheltenham, England for one of the oldest, literary festivals in the world. I have a reading Oct. 08 at 5:00pm, so if you are in town please drop by. I’m looking at the ten-day line up of 400 authors and will be joining you as a fan to hear the musings of Guillermo del Toro, Salman Rushdie, Stephen Hawking, Ismail Kadare, Lisa Moore, Martin Amis….

  Joy, joy, joy!

• September 16th, 2010

  Readers

  It is a great gift when a reader reaches out via email or letters to tell me that the story and characters came alive for them. One never expects to receive such a personal response. Last week, I received another remarkable gift—a pair of handcrafted bookends. They are thrown in clay, fired to emulate the colours of earth,  hand-pressed with stalks of wheat, and replete with a glass window. I am so honoured. Thank you, Kathy. And thanks to all for your encouraging words and sharing your reading experience.  I keep your words close.

• August 23rd, 2010

  Summer

  I find myself at home and it is almost the end of August. The next few weeks are mine. I haven’t had time off in years. The book carried me to Cyprus, an amazing, ancient and troubled land. Mezzo meals, keo beer, olive oil, lamb, Mount Olympus, the birthplace of Aphrodite, limestone land, Lefkosia-Nicosia-a city divided, the forbidden zone, Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, politics, stories of loss and occupation, bullet pocked walls, gaping artillery holes, the Mediterranean, Da Vinci lace…Roman, Venetian, Muslim, Greek Orthodox, Turkish architecture, beaches crowded with resorts and British pubs…layers and layers of time.  My thanks to Velee whom I sat with on the street outside his shop, drinking beer and eating grilled corn on the cob into the night, as he shared his stories. And the Captain who invited me to join his family for a Sunday boat ride to their own secret swimming cove. The old Greek man, who ran an ancient healing shop adorned with life sized,  beeswax candles of arms, legs, hearts and breasts. The young Vietnamese exhange student who filled my hands with fresh picked plums and apricots. The University and the professors who came to listen and shared their passion for the written word. Stafros who belly danced– his soul radiating. The Pakistan/Lebanon driver of an Iraqi businessman who took my picture and told me about his wife and the child he would not see for another six months, and shook my hand before being ordered away. You filled me with your stories.

  And then onto Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia and the Fables Literary Club. An extraordinary elegant, speak-easy vibe in the heart of an artistic community. I finally had the chance to meet the fabulous Linda Little, author of Scotch River and she had come to hear me!  Hannah and Chuck, my incomparable hosts who made me feel like family, and opened their home on the ocean. Great food and four beautiful dogs. For the first time in my travels, I thought this is a place where I could live. I look forward to returning and enjoying Fables’ amazing musical, film and literary lineups. Even Margaret Atwood has visited.

  Stephen Patrick Clare arranged a literary luncheon at the legendary Halifax Club. It was wonderful to hear Sheree Fitch and Binnie Brennan.  We gabbed about writing, fears and the creative process. Each of our writing spaces were under reno at the time, and we were working  in cramped, unfamiliar, chaotic quarters.  But we all agreed that it didn’t matter, once we were writing the din around us disappeared.

  I plan to take the next few weeks to be at home, reconnect with life, and tend to my wounded Annie dog (a Sunday ER visit for a deep gash from a broken bottle at her favourite park). I have laid a floor, painted, built bookcases, rearranged all the furniture, purged the clothes closet…oh…oh…these sound like my pre-writing symptoms. Perhaps, it is time to sit and listen.

• June 25th, 2010

  First Skype Bookclub

  A special thanks to the Novelteazers Bookclub in Stratford, Ontario for my inaugural skype event. Nice to share a glass of wine with you via the ethernet. I loved that you had set up a question chair. Fun to see each person stepping into frame and the questions were fabulous. We live in an amazing time.

• June 6th, 2010

  Cyprus

  Off again, this time to Nicosia, Cyprus June 6-11 for a literary conference. 36 degrees. Mediterranean. My, this book knows how to throw a good party. Glad it invites me along to chaperone. Opa!

• June 6th, 2010

  Book Clubs

  Now and then I am invited to people’s homes to participate in a book club. I’ve been wined and dined (nibblies and cheese or  beer and baked beans). We chat about the book and the process of writing. Thanks to all who have made me feel like such a welcomed guest. The nights are so insightful and it is such a joy to meet such avid readers. Tip of the hat to Sweets Corner.

• June 6th, 2010

  Long Live the Queen

  Lovely event in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The ‘Long Live the Queen’ music and art festival added a literary event. Spent the day with our local literati listening to readings from Donna Morrissey, Sue Goyette, Christy-Ann Conlin, Carol Bruneau, Tonya Gunvaldsen Klaasen. Thanks to all who came out on such fine summer-like day.

• April 19th, 2010

  Atlantic Book Awards Wins

  Under This Unbroken Sky was awarded the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award and the Thomas Head Raddell Best Book Award! It is an incredible honour to be acknowledged at home. The Raddall was presented by the staff of the Writers Fed of NS, an organization and community that supported and encouraged me every tentative step. Each award carries a monetary prize which grants a writer the  greatest gift–time to create. I had arrived back from Delhi that afternoon and had been up for 44 hours by the time of the ceremony. It felt as though I might have still been dreaming in Delhi.

• March 11th, 2010

  Wins Regional Commonwealth Prize!

  Delhi was an amazing experience. Too soon for me to be able to record my impressions, other than it is not a city, it is a living being. The population of the city is nearly the entire population of Canada. The extremes are immense. The cultural, societal, intellectual, economic, religious, historical differences create a fused chaos.  It is a city undergoing immense change as it prepares for the Commonwealth Games. The Delhi that will be presented to the world will have a different face than the city I saw.  Delhi was described to me as city that has been built and broken seven times. It’s ongoing destruction and creation is evident everywhere. Keep an eye out for Rana Dasgupta, winner of the overall Commonwealth prize for his novel Solo, he is publishing a book of essays documenting his city. They will be extraordinary. My heart has been filled by the graciousness and openness of the people. I struggle to understand all that I have seen and my place as a global citizen. There is so little I know of my world. Thankful to have had this glimpse into other lives and stories.

• March 2nd, 2010

  Shortlisted for Atlantic Book Awards

  How lovely to to nominated at home:

  • Margaret and John Savage First Book Award and
  • Thomas Head Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award.

  Stay posted for readings and events. Should be good crowds as I’ll be reading with Giller Prize winner Linden MacIntyre (The Bishop’s Man) and GG nominated Michael Crummy (GALORE). Nice company to keep.

• February 18th, 2010

  Shortlisted for a Commonwealth Prize!

  Under this Unbroken Sky has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize-Caribbean and Canada Best First Book!   I must admit this one made my eyes leaky. What an honour to be recognized by this prestigious organization and  be shortlisted alongside such  talented writers. Good for you, my firstborn book.

• February 5th, 2010

  O’ Canada

  I’ve just returned from a three week cross-Canada tour of the book with stops in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Banff, Vancouver and Toronto. Thank you to all who came out to the readings. It was a rare experience to re-visit our stunning landscape and discover friends and family in every city.

• January 4th, 2010

  Toronto IFOA

  Toronto’s International Festival of Author’s was glamorous and welcoming. Rubbing shoulders with the literati, it did feel like a superstar event. Mine was a cabaret style reading in the Harbourfront Centre’s Brigantine Room with Bonnie Burnard and Miream Toewes. Incredible! It was such a treat to hear them read. To hear their cadence. To fall into their words. It was humbling and inspiring to be surrounded by such talent.

• November 6th, 2009

  Barnes & Noble First Look Book Club

  Many thanks to the extraordinary Barnes & Noble First Look Book Club participants, who previewed advance readers copies of Under This Unbroken Sky. We spent the month of August discussing the novel.  It was an illuminating and inspiring experience. Please check out the chat boards for their insightful discussions.

• November 6th, 2009

  Translation Rights Sold

  Chinese, Dutch and Hebrew translation rights have been sold. It will be extraordinary to see these works.

• November 6th, 2009

  Bestsellers List Edmonton

  Under This Unbroken Sky has been on the bestsellers list for two weeks in the #2 and #1 spot. Yahoo!

• October 9th, 2009

  McNally Robinson: Winnipeg

  Wonderful reading at a beautiful, independent bookstore. The staff were so welcoming and Krista, who introduced the book, gave such a heartfelt and insightful account of how the book connected with her.  To hear your story reflected back and glimpse what it gave to a reader is truly the most rewarding gift. I read in the beautiful Prairie Ink Restaurant. The walls are lined with portraits of some of our greatest authors, all who have read at this bookstore. Fine wine, friends, readers, sweet potato filled pyrogies- it was a fine time. If you’re in town stop in and visit.  I also had the great pleasure to spend time with my friend and fellow writer Daria Salamon, The Prairie Bridesmaid. Pick up her book, it’s a great read.

• October 9th, 2009

  Greenwoods Bookshoppe, Edmonton

  I arrived in Edmonton to -10 degree temperatures and snow on Oct 13! This was my first reading at the start of a cross-country tour. It was amazing to be back in the city where I grew up. My prairie family came out to support me. No matter how much time passes-it always feels like I am returning home. We pick up our conversations as if a few days, not years, have passed. Greenwoods has been an independent, family run business for three decades. I was welcomed by 0wner, Gail, and her sister Laurie, who now runs Laurie’s Book Company and reviews for CBC and Global.  I read with Deborah Willis (The Vanishing), whose short story collection was nominated the very next morning for a GG. Under This Unbroken Sky has been on the bestsellers list in Edmonton in the #2 and #1 spot!

• September 7th, 2009

  IndieNext Pick

  Under This Unbroken Sky has been chosen by independent booksellers across the United States as a September IndieNext Pick!  Please support our independent booksellers.

• August 26th, 2009

  Vancouver Writers Fest

  

  Beautiful Granville Island, a hub of artists studios and farmers market, right on the harbour, an amazing site for the Wrtiers Festival. And what a festival. Festival director Hal Wake helms a celebration of words. I had the amazing opportunity to read with Joseph Boyden, Cordelia Strube, and Ian Weir and discuss the process of writing: the daunting blank page, the pains of rejection, the pathways into the story. I could have just sat and listened. Funny to see that even these veterans fall silent and there is a nervous energy before they walk on stage. But then they open up and give so generously. Coming in through the wings, we couldn’t see the house, so it was surprising to see a crowd of 200+. The community support is amazing. The questions were great, the audience so embracing. Joseph fulfilled a young girl’s request for a moose call!  At the book signing, a woman in her seventies leaned in and said “I was in a prairie fire when I was child.” I asked her, “Did I get it right?”  ”Oh, yes.”  I had done my job.

• August 26th, 2009

  Calgary/Banff WordFest

  My reading in Banff was with June Hutton, John Lathrop and Eloy Urroz. I must admit it is a bit of a blur, as I came down with a wicked cold and was stoned on cold medicines. I emerged only for the reading and then stumbled back to my bed in a fevered state. I remember my fellow writers as being warm and inspiring.  I also had the great pleasure of meeting Seth (George Sprott), Hal Niedzviecki (Peep Diaries), Barry Callaghan (If Beside Still Waters), Lorna Crozier (Small Beneath the Sky), Jan Con (Botero’s Beautiful Horses), Colin McAdam(Fall), Lisa Moore (February), and Tim Wynn-Jones (Rex Zero) , many of whom participated in a summit salon at the Banff Centre. It was educating to be exposed to so may diverse writers and ideas of writing.

• August 23rd, 2009

  Book Launch:Halifax, Nova Scotia

  Under This Unbroken Sky was launched to friends and family at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Sept. 03. There couldn’t have been a more fitting venue, surrounded by stories, photographs and displays of the thousands of immigrants who entered Canada through this gateway.When I was researching the novel, I came to the Pier to search records and found the ship’s log documenting my family’s arrival. It is haunting to see their names; how little they arrived with; the unknown they were facing; and the hope that must have brought them here. Eighty years later, I come with a book. A testament to those who tried.

  And I see us standing amidst the past and am grateful for all those who sacrificed to give us such freedom and possibility.There is an immigration poster from the 1920’s that proclaims that in Canada, A man can reasonably hope to work his way to independence. What a powerful and poignant promise that must have been. 
  Special thanks to Pier 21, Mike and The BookMark for making this such a special night.
   

  

• August 21st, 2009

  Boston Public Library

  Thank you to the Boston Public Library for a wonderful event. I had the great pleasure to speak with author Thrity Umbrigar (The Space Between Us/ The Weight of Heaven). Leaving Boston, I was thrilled to see my book in Borders at the Logan airport. As I travel next month, I think I will check in every airport and sign a few copies. Friends have been calling as they discover the book in various stores. It feels a bit like a scavenger hunt. A special thanks to Arlena and Lamar from Georgia, who insisted on buying my reading copy on a flight to Halifax. My first, and likely only, mile high sale!