Author seeks folklore
Posted By Submitted article
Posted 16 days ago
There are people of Ukrainian descent in pretty well every community in Canada, but are there any pioneers left?
Danny Evanishen has been searching for them since 1991, in order to record their stories.
Since Evanishen is of Ukrainian descent himself, he has been searching mainly for Ukrainian pioneers, as he is working on a collection of all the Ukrainian folk tales. But by now, he feels there are no more pioneers of any nationality left.
"I can't even remember the last time I talked to a real pioneer," said Evanishen. "Now, I am concentrating on the children and grandchildren of the pioneers, hoping they might remember some of the stories their parents told …. The stories are important to us as Canadians, as they tell us about where we came from, and if we know where we came from, we will have a better chance of understanding where it is that we are going," explained the author.
Since starting his search for stories, Evanishen has collected enough of them to fill 10 volumes of folk tales translated into English, and two of humorous stories about the old days.
In addition, he has published another 10 books of material he has collected. Some of the books are Ukrainian-related, some are purely Canadian and some have been written by other authors.
"All of the books we have published so far are of interest to the general public," says Evanishen. "Everybody loves to hear a good folk tale or a funny story well told."
If you have stories to share or would like more information about the works published so far, Evanishen can be reached at:
Danny Evanishen
Box 234, Summerland, BC,
V0H 1Z0
250-494-3205
danny@ethnic.bc.ca
www.ethnic.bc.ca
Locally the books are available through your book store or order directly from Evanishen.
