Lillian is featured in Allan Twigg’s new book, Out of Hiding: Holocaust Literature of British Columbia, which the Vancouver Sun calls “a celebration of 85 authors/survivors who have written about their harrowing and inspiring stories.” As The Georgia Straight writes, Twigg “he worries that the world is gradually forgetting about this uniquely obscene event with …
Tomorrow morning (January 14th) at 10:00am PST, the Ninandotoo Society will be livestreaming a virtual program for Black Excellence Day, in partnership with the Burnaby School District. More than 10,000 people from school communities throughout BC are coming together virtually for the first-ever Black Excellence Day, and the VHEC’s very own Lillian Boraks-Nemetz will be …
Lillian’s Mouth of Truth is featured in the Literary Representations of the Holocaust blog, which contains student research from the UBC course on German Representations of the Holocaust (GERM 426) in German literature and film taught by Dr. Uma Kumar in the CENES Department at the University of British Columbia. “With the 76th anniversary of the end of WWII …
The Fall 2021 issue of BC Bookworld includes a mention of Out of the Dark in a piece called “Holocaust Recovery” (page 5). Copies of the magazine can be found throughout the province or viewed online here.
Rob Taylor Read Local BC asked eight British Columbia poets to share with readers the writers they like to read. Lillian chose Joy Kogawa. I have always admired Joy Kogawa’s work, especially her novel Obasan and her poetry. Obasan inspired me to write about my childhood: the little girl in Obasan is incarcerated in a camp for Japanese Canadians during WWII, …
Below are some comments about Mouth of Truth from students at the University of Victoria. STUDENT 1 Mouth of Truth really resonated with me. As I read the book, I felt as if I was on Lillian’s journey with her. I was initially surprised that she was so open about the sexualized violence she experienced, but I appreciate …
As part of a series on National Poetry Month, Rob Taylor of Read Local BC spoke with Lillian about Out of the Dark and her collection of works. You can read the full interview here. Lillian Boraks-Nemetz: When I first started writing about the Holocaust my voice came from an abyss, a place of indescribable …
“Part I is stark and arresting. Few poets could write it today. He really liked ‘The Jew’ and ‘Tsunami’ but hates to single out poems at random like this since the collection is a whole and not merely an assembly of parts. “Part II is a thoughtful and a pensive squence. ‘Shops on Ben Yehuda’ …
Wow. I am still so full of this story… I was immediately drawn into Batya’s life, with all her pain and the understanding that she has been hiding her true self and has reached a point that she cannot continue this way if she is to survive, as much as her loved ones wish this. …
Poet Majid Naficy called Lillian’s poetry “deep and beautiful”. Meanwhile, Lillian spoke at the Esther Birney Literary Arts Series via Zoom at the Brock House Society on Wednesday.