From Shore to Shore poetry book launch

The old summer kitchen of Brubacher House was filled with warmth and excitement on Sunday evening, February 1st, as local Mennonite history enthusiasts, members of the literary community, and friends and family of Hannah Gardiner and Jakob-Michael Stephan gathered to celebrate the launch of their first book, From Shore to Shore: Ukrainian Mennonite Poetry in Translation.  

The bilingual poetry collection, published by Pandora Press, contains ten poems written in German in the first half of the twentieth century. The poets were Mennonite men and women from the Chortitza and Molotschna colonies of Ukraine. These poems, collected by Gardiner and Stephan during their time as Brubacher House 2022-23 Artists-in-Residence, offer personal accounts that reflect the historical experiences of many Mennonites, and paint a vivid picture of their everyday lives: their commitment to their families, to hope, and to faith. A descendant of one of the poets featured in the anthology shared how meaningful it had been for him to see his ancestor's poem in print, and to read Stephan and Gardiner's translation of the work.

Henry Paetkau, Vice President of the Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario (MHSO), reflected on the contribution of the MHSO's J. Winfield Fretz Special Projects Fund toward the publication of the book. He also highlighted the significance of the timing of this project around the 100th anniversary of the emigration of Mennonites from the former Soviet Union. Participants in the Russlaender 100 cross-Canada train tour commemorating this important event had the chance to hear one of the translated poems as part of their journey. Paetkau writes in his review of the collection: "Anna Rempel's 'At the Station in Lichtenau' brought to life the unimaginable tragedy and terror, the heartrending loss and endless longing of Mennonites fleeing the Soviet Union in the 1920s for participants on the Memories of Migration: Russlaender 100 train tour in 2023 in a way that lectures alone could not."

The publication of From Shore to Shore honours the experiences of Ukrainian Mennonite immigrants to Canada, while helping to preserve their poetry and deepening Ukrainian Mennonites' own understanding of their family histories. The success of this project serves as an important milestone for Brubacher House's Artist-in-Residence program, which began in 2017. This program, supported by the MHSO, helped to bring the project to fruition through artistic mentorship, connections to funding, marketing support, and relationships with Conrad Grebel University College, the Mennonite Archives of Ontario, and Pandora Press. The project has sparked new conversations about migration, memory, and cultural preservation within the Mennonite community. 

The book is now available for online purchase.