Egypt once had a thriving Jewish community but shortly after the Suez Crisis in 1956, about half the Jewish population of 50,000—including 15-yearold Vivianne M. Schinasi- Silver, S BA 64—fled. In her touching and enlightening memoir, 42 Keys to the Second Exodus (Shoreline, $19.95), Schinasi-Silver looks back at her ancestry in Egypt and recounts her journey to Montreal and early years as an immigrant to Canada. Schinasi-Silver is a Montreal educator, writer and community leader.
The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write (LightLines Media, $17), by Mark David Gerson (BComm 75), guides writers of all levels and experience to tap into their creative potential through motivational vignettes, original exercises and imaginative techniques.
The accompanying, two-CD set, The Voice of the Muse Companion (LightLines Media, $24.95), provides meditations for writers. Gerson has taught writing as a creative and spiritual pursuit for more than 15 years in both the United States and Canada. He is writing a sequel to his award-winning novel, The MoonQuest (2008). Gerson lives in Albuquerque, N.M. markdavidgerson.com
In Raindrops Glimpses Moments: An Unconventional Memoir of an Unplanned Journey (Llumina Press, $12.95), Len Richman, MA 82, chronicles his passage from working-class beginnings in Montreal to international expeditions and beyond. The innovative memoir presents Richman’s journey of self-discovery and introduces readers to a host of extraordinary individuals, literary references and life experiences. Richman is associated with the Thomas More Institute in Montreal and is working on a play.
When Elaine Arsenault, BA 93, discovered an ebony box the size of a violin case at a Montreal antique dealer, her imagination filled in the rest. Soon after, Arsenault, an award-winning children’s author, had begun a new series, L’or des gitans, for older children. In La prophétie d’Ophélia (Dominique et compagnie, $9.95), a beautiful gypsy named Ophélia uncovers a strange prophecy that leads to a string of distressing events for both her and her friends. This is the first of five planned volumes in the saga involving Ophélia, an abandoned girl, a kind-hearted horse and a gang of dangerous pirates. The second book, Le destin de Ballanika, will be released in September. Arsenault is a past president of the Concordia University Alumni Association and a manager for Concordia’s Career and Placement Services.
Margaret Webb, MA (Eng.) 94, has held senior editorial positions at several national and city magazines, worked on two screenplays for Walt Disney Studios, was a freelance writer and now teaches magazine writing at Ryerson University in Toronto. For her book, Apples to Oysters: A Food Lover’s Tour of Canadian Farms (Viking Canada, $34), Webb tapped into her upbringing on a farm near Barrie, Ont. Two years ago, she set out on a journey to explore local fare and the farmers who are putting the taste and quality back into our food. Webb introduces readers to 11 farmers and various quintessentially Canadian foods from British
Columbia to Newfoundland. In her new collection of poetry, Dismantled Secrets (Wolsak & Wynn Publishers, $17), Maxianne Berger, MA (Eng.) 96, accepts Dylan Thomas’s invitation to play with literary devices and draws inspiration from Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. Berger displays her linguistic dexterity through diverse poetic forms—including haiku, tanka and palindrome—and her mix of the absurd and the emotional, the playful and the dramatic. Berger is an audiologist at the McGill University Health Centre and has contributed to several anthologies, including In Fine Form (2005) and The Paradelle (2005). Her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Montreal music-scene standouts Arcade Fire, the Dears and the Stills. But what about the Angel Riots? This last group is the product of the imaginative mind of Ibi Kaslik, BA 96, MA 00. In her new novel, The Angel Riots (Penguin Canada, $22), Kaslik brings readers along for the Angel Riots’ bumpy American tour as its members’ personal lives suffer when the band gains popularity. Kaslik’s debut novel, Skinny (2005), has been translated into several languages. She is a Toronto-based novelist and freelance writer.
John K. Grande, MA 97, is a well-travelled, Montreal-based writer and art critic. His latest book, Dialogues in Diversity: Art from Marginal to Mainstream (Pari Publishing, $29.95), gathers 16 of Grande’s interviews with artists from across the globe. He reveals that the art world’s “mainstream” may be passé, with some of the most important contributions emanating from non- Western traditions. Grande has also authored Balance: Art and Nature (2004), published numerous catalogue essays on selected artists and taught art history at Bishop’s University in Lennoxville, Que. He is the curator of the Earth Art Exhibit, a sculpture show to be held July 18 to October 13 at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton/ Burlington, Ont.
If Adam and Eve couldn’t resist the temptation of the forbidden fruit, what chance do the rest of us have? In his first book, called The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession (Doubleday Canada, $29.95), Adam Leith Gollner, BA 04, examines the often exotic world of fruit. He travels the globe to explain its allure, examines its history and introduces us to a rich cast of explorers, connoisseurs and fruit hunters. Gollner, who lives in Montreal, is a freelance writer and a musician.
The society depicted in the near-future world of Tempus Fugit (PublishAmerica, $22), the new novel by Constantine (Dino) Komborozos, BA 06, thrives on speed to bridge the gap between desire and fulfillment. This complex tale focuses on Theo Praxis, who realizes that he’s lost his short-term memory and is aging rapidly. Fortunately, Theo’s memories were recorded by Mnimius, an angel-like observer, and Theo is able to re-live his past through a machine that recreates human memories. Komborozos, a Montreal writer, uses his story to examine the conflict between intelligent design and evolution.
