The Friday Files - news to inform and inspire
"On ne meurt pas a quarante ans": A PhD at age 58
As a popular Quebecois song goes, “on ne meurt pas a quarante ans”, and certainly scholar Carla Scarano is living testament to that. In her mid-fifties at the time, Scarano started her PhD at Reading University some four years ago, having already parented four children (one of whom lives with autism) and after having worked as a translator and teacher. And if that didn't keep her busy enough, she is an accomplished cook and painter. We caught up with Carla again as she accepted her PhD on 30 April 2021.
Born and raised in Rome, Scarano moved to London in 2007 with her husband and four children. After graduating from the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ in English language and literature and in Italian literature, she attained a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Lancaster University and a PhD at the University of Reading, Department of English Literature.
Canada-UK Foundation funding supported Carla’s research looking at Margaret Atwood’s work in the context of intertextuality, that is, how different works of literature connect to one another. “My work as teacher, researcher, painter, and writer merges in an intertextual perspective in line with, and inspired by, the great Margaret Atwood,” she shared with us.
She continued, “Margaret Atwood’s work parodies and subverts genres, applying the rules of realism and mainstream fiction but also subverting them to highlight unresolved contradictions, challenge universal concepts, suggest multiple perspectives and possible changes."
"The subversive parodic voice present in her work is the female voice, the voice of feelings and of the body (the oppressed female body, abused and marked in most of her stories). Her work does not give final answers or definite solutions, rather it is an invitation to explore ourselves and our world, which is a world constructed in language.”
Join us now in congratulating Carla on receiving her PhD and check in with us again in the weeks ahead as we invite Carla to share more of her research on Margaret Atwood. We look forward to a deeper dive into the world of the woman who numbers amongst Canada’s most important writers ever – join us.
Remembering Donald R. Sobey (1934 – 2021)
This week, over a month after his death on March 24, we remember Donald R. Sobey and his philanthropic legacy in both the arts and education in Canada. Since 2002, with the National Gallery of Canada, the Sobey Art Award has become Canada’s most prestigious contemporary art prize for emerging artists and is recognised as one of the world’s most generous privately funded awards.
Photo courtesy of The Globe and Mail
British Columbia-based Dane-Zaa/Swiss artist Brian Jungen, winner of the Sobey Award in 2002 for his pioneering work uniting Indigeneity and global consumerism, reminisced, “It was wonderful to have known Donald Sobey. His outstanding generosity and support for the visual arts in Canada was remarkable, and his unpretentious nature and kindness will be sorely missed by many. It was a great honour to have received the initial Sobey Award, but it was a true pleasure to have met the unique man himself. I always enjoyed his company over the years, and will miss him dearly.”
Winner of the Sobey Award in 2002, Brian Jungen champions reuse in his art. Vienna (2003), which was acquired while Sobey was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Canada, is made of plastic chairs.
Since the creation of the D&R Sobey Atlantic Scholarship at Queens University (Kingston) in 1999 by Donald and his son Robert, the scholarship has funded over 150 Atlantic Canadian undergraduate students. In 2017, Sobey went on to create the Donald R. Sobey Scholarships for the Nova Scotia Community College aimed at helping students in at-risk constituencies in his native Nova Scotia.
Uniting art and education, Sobey’s passion for art began at Mount Allison University during a visit in 1949 when he witnessed the Alex Colville murals in situ (which had been painted the year before and seen to be in the style of Diego Rivera). This inspired him towards a life of collecting and patronage and earned him the Order of Canada in 2014.
The Sobey Art Award last year exceptionally awarded $25,000 to each of the 25 nominated artists. This year, in its 20th year and chaired by Sobey’s son Robert, the long-list prize will increase to $10,000 for each of the twenty artists selected from nominations, along with the $25,000 to the four shortlisted artists, and $100,000 to the overall winner. All five finalists will be featured in an exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in the fall.
For more information on Donald R. Sobey, read the full obituary here. And please join us back here in The Friday Files in the weeks ahead as we take a closer look at the Sobey nominated Canadian artists, and highlight a few to watch.
Preserve and Protect: Honouring Canadian and British Military Heritage
Kevin McCormick is a man on a mission. He’s determined to ensure that the bravery and sacrifice of British and Canadian soldiers in the World Wars is not forgotten, and that the symbols of their bravery and sacrifice – their medals – are either reunited with their families or given profile in museums and exhibits.
Through the initiative “Crown and Canada”, McCormick, President of Huntingdon University in Sudbury and Honorary Colonel of the Irish Regiment of Canada, finds medals and other military items in a variety of ways, including estate sales, auction sites, and community leads.
Aided by countless hours of research to identify the provenance of the items and their original owners, he then reunites these important historic items, including medals, trench art, awards, and journals, with long-lost family. He has now reunited or profiled in some way more than 100 items. When a family can’t be found, he often makes much-appreciated donations to museums or the relevant military or veterans’ unit. He has received a commendation award from Veterans Affairs Canada for this work and has presented a former Canadian Defence Minister with a Memorial Cross, the silver cross, given more than 100 years ago to a grieving mother who lost her son – one Sgt. J. Brown, whose family, sadly, could not be found.
He has so many such diverse awards that it might be impossible to completely understand what motivates him to make these historic reparations and promote Canada-UK links, beyond perhaps the most amazing sense of duty and service to community. He does, however, have a deep connection to the United Kingdom, and it is perhaps from this that Crown and Canada originated.
“I remember as a lad sitting round with my mother, listening to CFRB’s Calling all Britons, holding my breath waiting to see if we heard any familiar voice. Phoning between Canada and England was, in those days, unheard of for most ordinary Canadian families, including ours. CFRB Radio Host Ray Sonin, himself an East London lad made good, would phone, let’s say our Aunt Violet, and record her to play later in the week on the show. We’d all leap round shouting when Aunt Violet came on, wishing 'a very happy birthday to my nephew Kevin listening today there in Toronto.'”
"I’ve never forgotten the importance of that connection on the personal level and if I can in any small way bring a bit of connection, history, and understanding to the ideals so many Canadians and Brits fought for, so long ago, it’s a labour of love to do it.” Dr. McCormick explains more in this short video clip on our new YouTube channel, check it out here and subscribe to stay in touch.