Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.09.2002, Qupperneq 5

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 13 September 2002 • 5
FRETTIR • NEWS
Martha Brooks’ Career
Flourishes on Two Fronts
Gestamót í
Winnipeg
Gail Einarson-McCleery,
O.F.
Toronto, ON
Winnipeg’s Martha Brooks
is one of those lucky
people with two outstanding
talents ... following on a dis-
tinguished career as a writer
for young adults, she has
branched out in recent years to
become a jazz vocalist as well.
Her recent CD Change of
Heart, has been nominated for
a Prairie Music Award for out-
standing jazz recording. She’s
in good company, with the leg-
endary Neil Young and
Loreena McKennitt expected
Martha Brooks
to attend, and new “soul” wun-
derkind, Remy Shand, who is
up for several awards. Awards
night is September 29th, so if
you’re inclined to superstition,
keep your fingers crossed for
her.
In addition, Martha has
recently announced two very
prestigious gigs — the first
being at one of Canada’s lead-
ing jazz clubs, Toronto’s Top
O’ the Senator, for an engage-
ment on November lst, 2nd,
and 3rd. Also, she and her
group are working with the
Winnipeg Symphony on con-
certs for February of 2003. Her
music .partner, Knut Haugsoen,
is currently developing some
of the orchestral arrangements
with the WSO for his and
Martha’s collaborations, as
well as the jazz standards that
they do. The Symphony
approached them with the idea
of doing one concert, and as
things developed, expanded to
one in Winnipeg and one in
Brandon.
On the writing side of her
career, she is launching her lat-
est book True Confessions ofa
Heartless Girl on September
24th during the International
Winnipeg Writer’s Festival.
Published by Douglas and
Mclntyre/Groundwood Books,
this young adult novel has been
described in an advance review
from the trade journal Quill
and Quire, as “a quietly aston-
ishing work of art.”
' Martha has been chosen by
the International Visits
Program of the Icelandic
National League to visit
Iceland in September of 2003
as both a jazz vocalist and a
writer. Plans for that trip are
being made now and may
include an appearance at the
Reykjavík Jazz Festival, and a
reading tour around the coun-
tryside.
This talented Icelandic-
Canadian will certainly be a
good ambassador for our com-
munity in Iceland!
Ifyou would like to support
the International Visits
Program, you can donate to tlie
Cultural Exchange Fund ofthe
Canada-Iceland Foundation so
that it can make grants to artists
for this important work. A
charitable receipt will be
issued. Make out your cheque
to the Canada Iceland
Foundation Inc., mark it “Re
Cultural Exchange Fund” and
mail it to Iris S. Torfason, 617
Shawinigan Dr. S.W. Calgary,
Alberta T2Y 2Y6.
Linda Sigurdson Collette
WlNNIPEG, MB
On June 20th, 2002
Icelandic Canadian Frón
opened the doors at 964 Erin
Street and welcomed the mem-
bers of Jónas Þór’s group of
travellers from Iceland. Jónas
had guided them through a
course on the Icelandic settle-
ment period in North America
and now guided them to the
various sites.
Coflfee, excellent conversa-
tion, Magnus Eliasson reciting
“The Winnipeg Icelander” by
Guttormur Guttormsson, as
well as a few surprises resulted
in a wonderful afternoon at the
Nordic Centre.
One of the people I met
there was Jóhanna Wilson’s
cousin, Jóna Valgerður
Höskuldsdóttir. Jóna and I met
again at The Manitoba
Museum the following
Saturday when she was being
escorted by Jóhanna’s son,
Frank, and his wife, Helle. Of
course, we discovered more
Blindur er
bóklaus
maður
PHOTO COURTESY OF TREVOR MARKESTEYN
Headingley Correctional Centre was presented with a set
of The Complete Sagas of Icelanders by Eiður Guðnason.
Pictured left to right: TVevor Markesteyn, Assistant
Superintendent - Programs; Joanne McFee, Director of
Corporate Services for Manitoba Corrections; Eiður
Guðnason, Consul General of Iceland in Winnipeg and
Western Canada; Greg Scheelar; Karen Starke both of
whom are teachers at HCC and Ray Johnson, Past
President of the INL
PHOTO COURTESY OF LINDA SIGURDSON COLLÉTTE
Helle and Frank Wilson (left) with cousin Jóna Valgerður
Höskulsdóttir (centre) and Icelandic guests at the Manitoba
Museum
people that we had in common.
We parted “old friends.”
In a twist of fate, a tour
member, Emilía Aðalsteins-
dóttir, had pictures of my
mother Helga, my aunt Lilja,
and me, and knew us immedi-
ately as we walked into the
room. A relative who had visit-
ed in 1998 gave them to her.
We arranged to spend Saturday
together and saw many sites
beyond the tour’s itinerary.
Other people also met with
relatives both known and
unknown before the trip. The
“ties that bind” between
Iceland and Canada were
strengthened.
I must conclude by thank-
ing Jónas Þór for guiding the
tour and congratulating
Icelandic Canadian Frón,
Susan, Dawn, Iola, and those
who contributed to the “ges-
tamót.” We and the travelers
from Iceland parted as family.
Icelandic Authors at Festival
The Winnipeg Intemational
Writers Festival will fea-
ture two authors from Iceland,
Hallgrímur Helgason and
Andri Magnason. Based on the
theme “A World of Words,”
the sixth annual festival runs
. Tuesday, September 23rd to
Sunday, September 29th. It
brings a brain feast of ideas,
stories and superior live liter-
ary entertainment to Winnipeg
and Manitoba, as it represents
distinguished authors from
Canada and around the globe.
Hallgímur Helgason (b.
1959) is the author of three
novels and a collection of
poems. He is an artist who has
held many exhibitions in
Reykjavík, New York and
Paris, and has written two
plays. The book 101 Reykjavík
is his only novel that has been
translated into English, so far,
as well as French. It was pub-
lished in Britain by Faber in
June 2002 (Actes Sud in
France, April 2002) and will be
released in the US and Canada
in January 2003. The film
based on the book, a first fea-
ture by Baltasar Kormákur
starring Victoria Abril, won a
prize at the 2000 Toronto Film
Festival. Hal
Andri Magnason (b.
1973) is the author of two
books of poetry, a short story
collection and a prize-winning
children’s book, The Story of
the Blue Planet. This book has
been translated into nine lan-
guages and has won numerous
awards, including The
Icelandic Literary Prize and
The Reykjavík Educational
Council Children’s Book Prize,
and was made into a play by
The Icelandic National
Theatre. He has also published
a spoken word CD called
Voices.
David Arnason will also
launch his new book, The
Demon Lover during this
event. See the calendar of
events for the dates and venues
for all three writers.
Creating Community • Sköpum Samfélag