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Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Heidi Wicks's new novel, Here, imagines a century of St. John's history
When Heidi Wicks was researching for Here, she experienced a chance encounter that might have made a fitting entry for the book. It happened the day she toured the heritage property on Circular Road in St. John's that — in effect — became the book's central character. "I came out of the house," said Wicks. "I was walking home, and I ran into a friend on the street, and I said I was working on something about this house in the neighbourhood. And she said, 'My friend lived there for 30 years, and she's going to be in town in a couple of weeks. Do you want to meet her?'" A few weeks later, Wicks spent several hours chatting with the former occupant of Canada House, collecting stories the woman had heard from her mother. "The ballerina storyline that recurs throughout is inspired by her," Wicks said. Released in June, Here is Wicks's second collection of short stories. Her first book, Melt, was released in 2020 and named one of The Globe and Mail's hottest reads that summer. It also received a silver medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. Wicks, who was born and raised in St. John's, describes Here as a "family connection book," identifying the ways she has drawn on influences from her parents to inform the stories of Newfoundland history and culture honestly. "My dad did a history degree, so we grew up hearing the stories. And mom is a music educator, so we grew up with music from Newfoundland," she said. In her family lore, there is a grandmother who worked as a house servant in the same neighbourhood where Here is set. Living in the past, present, and future Does Heidi Wicks have a preoccupation with the past? Although the historical and somewhat magical elements of Here distinguish it from Wicks's first book, both books share a spirit of nostalgia. "Maybe I'm a bit obsessed with how the past shapes who we are in the present and the future," she said. In her engagement with the past, Wicks can track her own development as a writer. Melt, also a collection of interconnected short stories, is concerned with the evolving relationship of childhood friends growing into adulthood. "That's how you start to learn to write, is to write about your own experiences. So, my experiences at that time were relationships ending … being a new parent, and friends starting to deal with parents who were ill, those kinds of things that start to happen when you're in your 30s," she said. For Here, by contrast, she explains, "I went deeper into that, and I tapped into my interest in history and folklore and music and the culture of Newfoundland and how that weaves into how we interact with each other." The colonial-era architecture on the streets surrounding downtown St. John's provided the inspiration for the interconnected stories in Here. In turns historical fiction, magical realism, and Newfoundland folklore, but they all provide a nostalgic framework for a contemporary story of St. John's life. Her short stories imagine the perspectives of those who might have occupied the house during different eras — a troop of suffragette house servants, a crew of Blundstone-wearing musicians, the province's first premier, and even a pet crow. Although the house and characters in Here are fictional — or fictionalized — Wicks based her stories on actual events in Newfoundland history and set the stories inside the house located at 74 Circular Rd. Canada House, as it is known locally, was built in 1902 and served for a time after Confederation as the residence and offices of premier Joey Smallwood. Wicks said the writing process for Here brought her down many avenues of learning. "A lot of it was researching, watching old documentaries, going deep into the Heritage N.L. website, the Boulder book Birds of Newfoundland, I had that next to me all the time. And the Jenny Higgins book [Newfoundland in the First World War]. The old footage with Smallwood, Waiting for Fidel, all that stuff." In the stories set closer to modern day, Wicks says she draws to some extent on her own experience. Of the story titled Birdsong, she said, "that was me during the pandemic, wandering around the neighbourhood and looking at the birds and trying to escape what we were dealing with down here." Despite the Birdsong connection, she pushes back on suggestions that her stories are literal depictions of her personal life. "The emotions that I have felt in my life are connected to some of the characters, but that's really it," she said. Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.
Toronto Sun
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
King Charles, Queen Camilla slated to arrive in Canada today
Published May 26, 2025 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 1 minute read Britain's King Charles, centre left, and Queen Camilla leave after visiting the Canada House Trafalgar Square, in London, Tuesday, May 20, 2025 to mark 100 years since it opened in June 1925. Photo by Arthur Edwards / AP OTTAWA — King Charles and Queen Camilla will touch down in Ottawa today to kick off an historic royal tour. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The trip marks the royals' first visit to Canada since the King's coronation two years ago. When they land this afternoon, the royals will travel to Lansdowne Park, a large events venue in the heart of the nation's capital, to meet with community members. The King and Queen will then head to Rideau Hall to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Governor General Mary Simon, who acts as the representative of the Crown in Canada. Carney has asked the King to read the speech from the throne on Tuesday, which sets out the government's priorities for the legislative session. The event will mark the first time Canada's head of state has opened Parliament since Queen Elizabeth II did so in 1977. Sunshine Girls Opinion Sunshine Girls Canada Toronto Blue Jays
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'No one should underestimate the significance of this': REBECCA ENGLISH reveals King Charles' subtle move that's got royal sources whispering
Today's visit by King Charles and Queen Camilla to Ottawa will 'reinforce the power and the strength of the message' to that ' is not for sale'. That was the message of the country's High Commissioner to the UK, Ralph Goodale, when they visited his Canada House headquarters in London last week.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Story of 'Raven Steals the Light' embedded in new Canada House key gifted to King Charles
Ahead of his visit to Canada next week, King Charles was gifted a new ceremonial key to Canada House in London. It was designed by Ts'msyen artist Morgan Asoyuf, who took the opportunity to elevate an important story from West Coast Indigenous culture.
CBC
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
King Charles' new Canada House key is about subverting power, Ts'msyen designer says
Social Sharing One of the most important stories to Indigenous people across B.C.'s West Coast has been commemorated in a new key gifted to King Charles to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canada House in London. It was designed by Ts'msyen artist Morgan Asoyuf, who took the opportunity to elevate an important story from her home territory in Prince Rupert, B.C. "To be able to create this piece that is going up so high, politically... it was something that I sort of had to think about a lot," Asoyuf said, citing the complex relationship Indigenous people have both with Canada and the Royal Family. And she says there's an important message about power and who it serves in the story the key depicts, Raven Steals the Light. Most often attributed to Haida oral culture and shared by nations throughout what is now B.C. and Alaska, Raven Steals the Light tells the tale of how Raven, a central figure in many origin stories, brought light to the people who before then had been living in darkness. Asoyuf recounted the story in an interview with CBC News. A trickster figure, Raven disguises himself as a child to gain access to a box containing the light, which is carefully guarded by an old man. Raven makes off with the box in his beak but, becoming tired, starts throwing pieces of light into the sky, creating first the stars, then the moon and finally the sun, sharing it with all the people of the coast. "How do we take and subvert from these large, political powers and bring it back to us?" is a question Asouyef says was on her mind while creating the piece. She also asked herself "What's our light here?" as she reflected on pieces of Indigenous art and culture that were taken and put in museums around the world and which many nations are now working to have returned. A multi-disciplinary artist, Asouyef primarily works in goldsmithing, jewelry, gem-setting, and engraving. She says the key she made was based on Victorian-era skeleton keys, and made of silver, bronze and garnet gemstones. The key was presented to King Charles on Tuesday, ahead of his planned visit to Canada next week. It is ceremonially a key to Canada House in London's Trafalgar Square which often acts as a showcase of Canadian culture to the world. WATCH | King Charles visits Canada House: King Charles, Queen Camilla visit Canada House on its 100th anniversary 4 days ago Duration 3:11 King Charles and Queen Camilla marked 100 years since the dedication of Canada House, the home of the High Commission of Canada in London, by King George V. The royals viewed a floor-sized map of Canada and were presented with a ceremonial key to the building. Asouyef was also struck by the fact that Canada has long elevated West Coast Indigenous artwork when presenting itself internationally, even as members of her family were being taken to residential schools. She has never shied away from speaking up about those issues and has previously explored it in a series titled Royal Portrait, in which she designed ornate crowns and jewelery to be worn by Indigenous activists and matriarchs involved in land defence and speaking up on behalf of MMIWGS2+ people. "Our matriarchs are really on the same level as any other monarch in the world," she said of the series. "We're here as sovereign nations."
