Guest speaker at the board meeting on October 3rd was Vita Shtivelman – a founder and manager of the arts and science club EtCetera. The presentation was insightful .
Vita is a Russian poetess and poetry translator, author of books, publications, creator of soundtracks for movies; she also runs popular radio shows. The concept of her club is based on the idea that science and the arts do not have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, the exposure to both can inspire creative growth of any person. Club activities include cultural and poetry festivals, charity and educational programs.
Canadian Cultural Mosaic is the biggest field of the club’s activities, starting from year 2017. Vita focused on the initiative: “In Flanders Fields” project (named after the well-known poem by John McCrae). Vita translated this poem into Russian and involved poets from different ethnic communities to translate this poem to their respective native languages. There are currently 14 translations of this poem that can be seen on the “In Flanders Fields” section of the EtCetera website:
https://www.clubetcetera.ca/in-flanders-fields.
These (and probably more) translations will be presented to the audience at the multicultural literature event that is dedicated to Remembrance Day. It will take place on November 9th at the Fort York National Historic Site. The event will also include potluck ethnic food and musical performances. The event is entirely the effort of volunteers, and the event admission is free.
CEMA will gladly work with the club EtCetera on this ethnic literature project. We encourage ethnic media to involve writers and add more translations to this impressive list. CEMA representatives are going to attend the November 9th event and welcome cultural communities.
