Volume 38 Number 3 Fall 2016 ISSN0708-594X IN THIS ISSUE • Introducing Ken Setterington • Anne Laurel Carter – Starting Your Story witH a Bang • MarsHa SkrypucH – Meet tHe Professionals • Sylvia McNicoll – Canadian Writers’ Summit • Alice Priestley – Illustrator’s SketcHbook Plus all our regular features (Logo design by Karen Patkau) CANSCAIP News Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators & Performers La Société canadienne des auteurs, illustrateurs & artistes pour enfants Introducing… KEN SETTERINGTON by Gillian O’Reilly “One of the things I always believed in was supporting Canadian [children’s writers].” Ken Setterington—storyteller, performer, writer, advocate—is remembering one of the highlights of his time as Children and Youth Advocate at the Public Library: getting J.K. Rowling for the big Novel Afternoon fundraising event in October of 2000, an event that raised funds for the Toronto Public Library’s children’s literacy programs and the Osborne Collection of Early Children’s Books. But it wasn’t just Rowling’s day. Thanks to Ken’s efforts, the creator of Harry Potter was joined These days Ken is well-known as an advocate by 33 Canadian authors. Ken was determined for Canadian children’s literature but the that “if we were going to have J.K. Rowling, we pathway to that highlight moment started had to have the room full of Canadian decades earlier when, newly back in Canada children’s authors—which we did.” after two years as a teacher with CUSO in northern Nigeria, he decided to pursue a Masters in Library Science at the University of program the TD Summer Reading Club and Toronto. then it went provincial and then national.” Working in the library wasn’t new to Ken. The Storyteller and Author Scarborough native jokes that, over the years, On another front, Ken was actively involved in he has done every possible job in the library storytelling—as a children’s librarian in with the exception of maintenance. He worked Scarborough and elsewhere. “I was lucky in his local library as a teen and enough to work with [noted during his undergraduate years storytellers] Alice Kane, Rita when he was earning a BA in Cox, Eva Martin and Dan Canadian History from York Yashinsky.” He also worked with University’s Glendon College. Diane Wolkstein, the official After becoming a children’s storyteller of New York City, librarian, Ken returned to work telling stories in Central Park at Scarborough Public Library, over two decades. where he filled a number of He also collaborated for many roles, including being in charge years with storyteller Joan of publicity and adult Bodger, and wrote the programming at various times. introduction to her book Tales And while librarianship has of Court and Castle, published been his profession, many in 2003, a year after her death. other roles have intertwined “Joan was a dear, dear friend.” their way through his career. During the 1990s, he joined Children’s book panelist on the Bodger to co-lead her annual CBC Radio’s Morningside with literary tour to the United Peter Gzowski, for example. Kingdom, titled “A Winter’s “That did a lot of good to my Journey to King Arthur’s career,” he comments frankly. Britain.” As well, he has also He continues to be one of the told his own stories and written children’s book panelists on a one-man stage show Heroes of CBC’s The Next Chapter. My Youth: Women of He also chaired the children’s Scarborough. services committee for all the His storytelling skills led libraries in Metro Toronto (in Tundra Books to approach him, the city’s pre-amalgamation saying they had a team of wonderful paper- days). “We decided that it would be useful to all cutting artists (Nelly and Ernst Hofer) and they work together, building on the best elements of wanted a story about snow. Ken’s opinion was each system’s program. The summer Reading “the last thing they needed was a new story Club was the first program of the amalgamated about snow.” What they really needed was Hans libraries in 1999. The program got bigger and Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen. The [after amalgamation] I was hired as the publisher felt the original was too dated, too Children and Youth Advocate in 2000 and Victorian for their purposes and asked him to continued to build the program and garnered do a retelling of the story. The book was more support from TD until we named the published in 2000. The pairing of Ken’s words CANSCAIP NEWS 2 FALL 2016 and the Hofers’ illustrations proved to be a Ken’s inspiration came from going to a wedding fruitful collaboration with two more books with a friend and her daughter. “The daughter (The Wild Swans and Clever Katarina) was just ‘It’s all about me, it’s all about me.’ following in 2003 and 2006. And I thought, yes, that’s what it would be.” He The Snow Queen was not Ken’s first piece of deliberately gave the book a title that would be writing for children. He had written a picture completely unambiguous. He didn’t want any book manuscript earlier and buyer to be able to say they didn’t know what approached Groundwood they were getting. Indeed, at Books about publishing it. It conferences, he has sometimes was based on his own seen teachers and librarians experience with Joan Bodger refuse free copies of the book and her late husband’s ashes. because they didn’t want to take As Ken recalls, Groundwood that book back to their schools. publisher Patsy Aldana wrote The work on Mom and Mum back, “We don’t do picture took place at an extremely busy books about ashes; can we do it period for Ken because, at the as a short story?” She wanted to same time, he was working on include it in an anthology of A Guide to Canadian Children’s stories about libraries, so Books in English, co-written “Rose’s Wish” became one of with professor, reviewer and the chapters in the 2001 book author Deirdre Baker and When I Went to the Library, published in 2003. The well- edited by Deborah Pearson. received Guide listed 500 books Like The Snow Queen, Ken’s by Canadian authors and next children’s book also began illustrators, all with as a request from a publisher. annotations of approximately Margie Wolfe of Second Story 300 words; “Highly Press wanted a picture book in Recommended Books” lists; advance of Canada’s Civil and indexes arranged by title, Marriage Act legalizing same- author/illustrator, subject sex marriage across the indexes, geographical setting country. Looking for a gay or lesbian writer, she and the author or illustrator’s approached Ken—with the result that he is the place or residence. “That was a massive amount only male author on the feminist publisher’s of work. It was huge,” says Ken. list. Mom and Mum are Getting Married was Branded by the Pink Triangle (published in published in 2004. What works about this book 2013) came about after Ken told Margie Wolfe is that, although it is a book written for a that her Holocaust series didn’t include a book purpose, Ken managed to find the childish about the Nazis’ persecution of gay men. She heart of the matter. Regardless of the politics asked him to do it. He says, “The challenge and the issues and the human rights landmark about doing a book about gay men for a decisions that gave rise to the book, the only children’s audience for a feminist press was a important question for the narrator is “Do I get tough balance.” The book did very well, to be a flower girl?” winning the 2014 Canadian Jewish Book Award and named an Honour Book for the 2014 CANSCAIP NEWS 3 FALL 2016 Stonewall Book Award. As well, it was Children’s Book Centre and the president of shortlisted for both the TD Canadian Children’s World Literacy Canada, and being a founding Literature Award and the Norma Fleck Award member of the National Reading Campaign. for Canadian Children’s Non-Fiction. He has served on committees for the Newbery Ken is now working on a book about the and Caldecott Medals. And he recently wrote treatment of the disabled in the Holocaust, to an article for School Library Journal on diversity be published by Annick Press in Canadian children’s publishing. in 2018. “I think what everyone “As a kid, I was lucky How does he work as a one writes is in some way enough to have parents writer? autobiographical. That goes for who supported reading Ken is not one to get up non-fiction as well.” and I remember my sister regularly at 6:00 am and write Ken has maintained his being a big fan of Lyn for an hour. “That doesn’t mean interest in disability issues ever Cook, who lived in that I won’t have done that for a since university where “I acted Scarborough. When we deadline. I’ve got a deadline in a production of the play went to Stratford, we went now and I will be really pushing Creeps [David Freeman’s looking for the setting of it.” ground breaking 1971 play her book, Pegeen and the “When I did Branded by the about four men in a sheltered Pilgrim. Without Pink Triangle and A Guide to workshop]. We did a really question, knowing that a Canadian Children’s Books in good production.” Years later, book was set in your English, it was just sitting down in the course of reading an backyard made a huge and doing it and slogging away.