FFWD Weekly
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Books by Harry Vandervlist It's a Romantic idea, Romantic as in Chopin's music or Shelley's poems. The whole idea of the youthful prodigy, I mean. As if making good art weren't enough, supposedly it's even better if the maker has youth on her side. This myth persists. Look how much youth added to Karen Connelly's celebrity when she published Touch the Dragon at little more than 17. Or (if you were alive in the ’60s or have heard about them) think back to Marie-Claire Blais, a prodigy at 19 with the publication of Mad Shadows. In unromantic reality, lots of talented people simply can't get to their own work until late in life. They have responsibilities. They have families. They're broke – in the mundane unbohemian way real people, not fantasy artists, are. This makes them "late bloomers," a term with a strangely Edwardian ring to it. Calgarian Brenda Strathern, who died in her late 40s last summer before she could publish any of the writing she took up later in her life, was one. The mother of two had completed one novel and begun another, after taking up writing after turning 40. In order to assist other writers who start their careers late, a group of Calgary writers including Aritha van Herk, Rosemary Nixon and Nicole Markotic have been meeting with Brenda's husband, Gordon Campbell, to draw up criteria for an award in her honour. The award was first announced at PanCanadian WordFest 2000. Calgary residents over 40 who are completing their first book of fiction are eligible for the $5,000 award. To apply, writers should send a one-page bio, a list of any work published and courses taken, and a 25-page writing sample (typed and double spaced). Add complete contact info and send to: The Calgary Foundation, The Brenda Strathern "Late Bloomers" Memorial Fund, 1920, 540 - 5 Ave. S.W., Calgary AB, T2P 0M2. Applications are due by February 15, 2001.

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