Karolyn Smardz Frost isnB次元官网网址檛 taking her role as this yearB次元官网网址檚 Haig-Brown House writer-in-residence lightly.

B次元官网网址淚 will talk to anybody who wants to write,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 available. IB次元官网网址檓 really happy to discuss.B次元官网网址�

Located in Campbell River, Haig-Brown House is the former home of noted author and conservationist Roderick Haig-Brown. In the winter months, it hosts a resident author, providing a tranquil place to pursue their own projects while taking on a literary leadership role for the local community.

Smardz Frost is the author of six non-fiction books on the underground railroad and CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Black history. She got her start as an archaeologist and was part of excavating the first underground railroad site in Canada. From there, she spent decades researching the history of the Blackburn family, who owned the property for her book B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e Got a Home in Glory Land: A Lost Tale of the Underground Railroad.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 spent 20 years tracing their lives in slavery and freedom to produce that book,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he book became the first and, to date, only book on African Canadian history ever to win the Governor GeneralB次元官网网址檚 Award.

Over the years sheB次元官网网址檚 gotten her PhD in Canadian History, as well as received numerous awards for her literary work. That body of work now includes six books that are currently in print, as well as articles, educational materials and other research.

B次元官网网址滻 didnB次元官网网址檛 really see myself as a literary figure,B次元官网网址� she said, thinking back to when she won the Governor GeneralB次元官网网址檚 Award in 2007. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e got six books in print but I didnB次元官网网址檛 really see myself as a literary figure. I saw myself as an archaeologist who writes books.B次元官网网址�

However, that self-perception has changed over the years.

B次元官网网址淲hen I started the Blackburn book, B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檝e got a Home in Glory Land,B次元官网网址� I wanted to write a book about a story people would want to read. The New York Times did a full page on that book in the New York Review of Books and it said it read like a novel. ThatB次元官网网址檚 what I wanted to do. I wantd to write books that people would want to read.B次元官网网址�

While her oeuvre is history, Smardz Frost reads far more than just history books. She likes page turners, and says reading beyond her own subject matter helps make her books more accessible to readers.

B次元官网网址淚 try to make traditionally academic subjects accessible and interesting and fun for people who arenB次元官网网址檛 academics,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淢y whole career has been devoted to bringing back stories that have been lost.B次元官网网址�

This includes delving into historical and genealogical records of people who were at best mentioned only in passing.

B次元官网网址淭here were 35,000 people came to Canada on the Underground Railroad, we know this much about 600 of them,B次元官网网址� she said, holding her fingers up and showing just a pinch.

When the painstaking and time-consuming task of research is finished, B次元官网网址渢hereB次元官网网址檚 only one way to write a book,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淵ou sit down at your desk.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 get up at about four oB次元官网网址檆lock in the morning, I do some exercise and then I sit down and I write,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚 write for five or six hours a day, most days. IB次元官网网址檓 really lucky, it just flows through me.B次元官网网址�

Writing about Black history without having a Black experience can be difficult. Smardz Frost has always worked to ensure she was not appropriating the voices and stories of the real people portrayed in her books.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 difficult writing difficult histories,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 no formula for it. ItB次元官网网址檚 about being away of the sensitivies of people, being careful and being polite B次元官网网址� I never do work in Black history without going first to the community.B次元官网网址�

However, she is not the only white author writing histories of non-white communities in Canada. One of her plans for her time in the Haig-Brown House is to hold a writerB次元官网网址檚 workshop about writing difficult histories. However, since that workshop will involve delving into vulnerabilities, she said, B次元官网网址淚 want people to know me and trust me a bit before we do that.B次元官网网址�

Smardz Frost is also this yearB次元官网网址檚 Haig-Brown lecturer. The lecture will be on Feb. 17 at the Rivercity Players Theatre. Smardz Frost will speak about her field work, as well as VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 own history of African American migration. Tickets are $10; online and at the door.

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