All of Baba's Children

by Myrna Kostash

The story of one woman’s personal discovery of her Canadian-Ukrainian cultural origins and the impact of that invigorating discovery on her life. A must-read for those interested in the history of all the peoples who helped shape and enrich Canada with their unique cultures.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada

Paperback

First published May 16, 1992

About the author

Born and raised in Edmonton, AB, award-winning non-fiction writer Myrna Kostash is the author of nine books, including All of Baba’s Children and The Doomed Bridegroom. In addition to contributing articles to various magazines, such as Geist, Canadian Geographic, and Legacy, Kostash has written radio documentaries and theatre playscripts. Her creative non-fiction has appeared in numerous Canadian and international anthologies, such as The Thinking Heart: Best Canadian Essays, Edmonton on Location, Literatura na swiecie (Warsaw), and Mostovi (Belgrade).

A founder of the Creative Non-Fiction Collective, Kostash has taught creative writing workshops across Canada and in the US. She has served on several award juries, including those of the Governor General’s Awards, the CBC Literary Non-fiction competition, and the Writers’ Development Trust’s Pearson Award for Literary Non-fiction. In 2008 the Writers Guild of Alberta presented her with the Golden Pen Award for lifetime achievement, and in 2009 she was inducted into the City of Edmonton’s Arts and Culture Hall of Fame. Her upcoming book, Prodigal Daughter: A Journey into Byzantium, will be released in 2010.

Reviews

[Glynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

About the Ukrainian immigrants who came to Canada to homestead on the prairies - the ordeals they had to go through, and the treatment they endured. This was an eye-opening book - very interesting and provided a good historical perspective.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since my mother was from this area, it was interesting to see the hardships endured by the early Ukrainian immigrants. They survived and am so glad that our wonderful culture can now be appreciated.

[Denise · Rating 0.75 out of 5]

As much as the author wishes, the immigrant experience of the Ukrainians is not unique. Any immigrant with an accent, at the time, was looked down upon by the WASP community. My own great-grandfather changed his family name to an English name just so the British residents in his city would patronize his business. My grandmothers, from Poland and Scotland, respectively, arrived in Canada from Europe circa early 1920's with only $13 to their name too. Two of my grandparents followed the same route as these Ukrainians, sailing from Hamburg.
She states Ukrainians were against the Nazis in WWI. Then why were many guards in the Nazi camps Ukrainian? She doesn't mention how Ukrainians sided with the Nazis in Poland (formerly Galicia after the 3 partitions of Poland by Austria, Prussia and Russia and again the Second Republic of Poland after WWI, after WWII given to Russia by FDR) and commited ethnic cleansing of Poles, Jewish people, Roma and others. Over 150,000 were slaughtered by the UPA. Even Nazis were horrified by the horrendous death suffered by their victims, many young children, babies and the elderly, burned alive, decapitated by scythes and stabbed by pitchforks. Their descendents, the Azov, flouish there now. A major reason why no money should be sent to that country during the current war. Our government should be ashamed that they celebrated a member of the Galizien SS in our Parliament. Poland is still trying to get permission to exhume the victims mass graves in Volhynia and give them a proper grave in Poland. Momuments dedicated to their memory are defaced by Azov supporters. This ethnic cleansing even occured during WWI. The author throws out continously the word Pan with such distaste. Many Poles were far from rich or well off. They had to work for their Polish noble landlords too.
After the chapter on World War Ii , the book wasn't worth reading at all. So much repetition of thoughts already stated. For someone who is supposed to be such a highly respect columnist, maybe she should have done some historical research too.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, especially if you have unkrainian ancestry. It is difficult to imagine the hardships that our grandparents and great grandparents had. Because of their knowledge, hardships and difficult lives, they paved the way for a great future for generations to come.