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November 6, 2009
Book fest is part of her legacy
Cherie Smith encouraged her niece, Elizabeth Morantz, to write and she's made it a career.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
The 25th annual Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival takes place this month. Its founder, Smith, who passed away in 1999, would be proud to see not only how the festival has grown, but also how she has influenced others to write and to leave their own literary mark on the world.
"Cherie Smith was my mother's younger sister and, to me, she was more like a friend than an auntie," author Elizabeth Morantz told the Independent. "When I was little, I loved the way she laughed – like notes going lightly up and down a scale – and I practised laughing like her until I got it.
"Her father, my grandfather, passed down his love of books to his daughters, and my mother used to read us Dickens on the lawn. I assumed that all families worked this way. Throughout my childhood, we visited the library often and I made my way through the children's section. One summer, I read only biographies – Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur, etc. – and then I'd be on to something else.
"Auntie Cherie encouraged me to write and, for years, I had one of her sayings posted on my fridge: 'Write a little every day. Without hope and without despair.' Later, we talked a lot about writing and editing, and worked on several projects together. I helped her out a bit with Mendel's Children, and with the books she left as a legacy to her grandchildren.
"I miss her generosity, her enthusiasm and her contagious laughter," said Morantz. "But most of all I miss her creative mind. She used to say that she had six good ideas before breakfast, and sometimes I do, too. Of course, five of them turn out to be lousy."
But many of Morantz's ideas have flourished. In addition to working on a variety of freelance projects, Morantz said she edits "technical writing and theses, but also newsletters and literature." Among numerous writing accomplishments, she has three books to her credit, with Beyond the Bosphorous just published.
Morantz was born in Vancouver, but moved to Halifax when she was 22, and it is there that her writing career began, after a short story she wrote won second prize in a competition held by the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia. She now divides her time between Vancouver and the Okanagan Valley, and visits her new grandson, Ori, in New York City whenever she can. She responded to the Independent's questions about her new book on her journey from Amsterdam, where she was in October, to Paris, where she was planning on spending six weeks.
She said that the idea for Beyond the Bosphorous was planted when she became interested in the Gypsy culture through an undergraduate course at the University of British Columbia called "Gypsies, Negroes and Jews."
"The course title suggests what a long time ago that was," explained Morantz. "I am grateful that I chose such an interesting line of research, since writing a novel took me much longer than I ever imagined. I speak French, passably, which helped this project along, both the Shediac part and in the midi-Pyrenees."
Caroline, the main character in Beyond the Bosphorous, travels to southern France with her husband, Phillip. She was raised by her grandparents in the Acadian village of Shediac and, therefore, finds it quite easy to communicate in French, though she makes the odd mistake and searches for the occasional word. Quickly into the story, as Caroline and Phillip sit eating dinner, "A swish of skirts and a sudden movement at her elbow announced the return of the redheaded Gypsy. Looking around in extreme agitation, the woman placed, or rather poured, her baby into Caroline's arms." Despite her husband's objections, Caroline takes care of the baby and sets off to find his mother – alone. She meets her share of obstacles and makes a few bad decisions, but also meets several helpful people along the way. As well, through her experiences, she manages to reconcile herself with her own past.
"I spent a week visiting an encampment of Manus Gypsies, near Toulouse, but was comfortably ensconced in a hotel," said Morantz of some of her research for the book. "This experience helped me describe their lives, to some extent, even though my novel was set in the seventies, and things were different then. Most of what I learned about Gypsy culture came from reading true accounts."
In the Author's Notes at the end of Beyond the Bosphorous, Morantz explains, "No one knows what to call the Gypsies. The polite designation – Rom, Roma, Romanies – varies from country to country and implies a more homogeneous identity than actually exists. Likely, many Gypsies prefer the term Gypsy because they are defiant, not ashamed; and also because they don't believe a new name will change the way people see them. The story of the Rom since the time they left northern India and dispersed through Europe in the 14th century has been a collage of experiences, with only minor (if romanticized) variations on an overall depressing theme. Mostly, it does not make for pleasant reading, particularly the Holocaust chapter. The persistent and sentimentalized ideal of the Gypsy has less to do with prejudice and more to do with what we find intriguing and exotic. There is obviously something compelling about their irrepressible, skirt-swirling ways that grabs us and won't let go."
In Beyond the Bosphorous, Morantz shows some of the racism to which Gypsies are subjected, but she also gives readers a taste of their broader life experiences when Caroline ends up living for a short time among a group who are camped on the foothills of the Pyrenees.
Now that Beyond the Bosphorous has been published, Morantz said, "I am doing some travel writing, and really enjoying it. I am also getting ready to publish a children's book, once my grandson, Gabriel, gives his seal of approval."
Beyond the Bosphorous is for sale at Duthie's bookstore on West 4th Avenue. It also will be available at the book festival.
Festival-related events
The 25th annual Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival takes place Nov. 21-25. Most events – but not all – will be held at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver. For more information, visit jewishbookfestival.ca. The basic schedule is as follows:
• Thursday, Nov. 12, 8:30 p.m.: poetry slam (free)
• Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7:30 p.m.: Vancouver – Like No Other, Sharon Tennenbaum (free)
• Saturday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.: opening night with Meir Shalev in conversation with Eleanor Wachtel ($18)
• Sunday, Nov. 22: program for Hebrew speakers ($10), 10:30 a.m.; Hebrew book exchange (free), noon; novel writing for beginners workshop with Karen Tulchinsky ($12), 2 p.m.; The History of Winnipeg's Jewish Community with Allan Levine ($12), 2 p.m.; self-publishing workshop with Jo Blackmore and David Kirkpatrick ($12), 3:30 p.m.; Sima's Undergarments for Women with Ilana Stanger-Ross ($12), 3:30 p.m.; Personal Encounters with Adam Jones and Nina Krieger (free), 3:30 p.m.; Who's Your Daddy? with Rachel Epstein (free), 5 p.m.; The Need to Tell with Terry Gould and Hester Rumberg, with host Sheryl MacKay ($12), 6 p.m.; Remembering Mordechai with M.G. Vassanji in conversation with Jacob Richler ($12), 8 p.m.
• Monday, Nov. 23: Puppet with Eva Wiseman (free), 1 p.m.; Writing is Fun! workshop with Silvana Goldemberg (free), 2 p.m.; Can't Deny the Muse with Dr. Dan Kalla, Dr. Ron Charach and Israel Chafetz, with host Jerry Wasserman ($12), 7:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 24: Swim the Fly with Don Calame (free), 10 a.m.; Mother Goose Unplucked with Helaine Becker (free), 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.; Tell Me a Story, Tell Me the Truth with Gina Roitman ($12), 6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 25: On a Canadian Day with Rona Arato (free), 9 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.; From the Old World to the New with Marina Sonkina and Rhea Tregebov with Nancy Richler ($12), 6:30 p.m.; Confrontation, Controversy and Censorship with Ezra Levant ($12), 8 p.m.
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