Critical acclaim for The Silence of Trees:
“In The Silence of Trees, Nadya, the astonishing matriarch, war survivor, and narrator, weaves a remarkable life centered on fate, love, luck and choice while honoring the ghosts of her past. Her voice is an important and unforgettable addition to the post-war immigrant experience in this highly impressive and exquisite debut by novelist Valya Dudycz Lupescu.”
–IRENE ZABYTKO, author of The Sky Unwashed
and When Luba Leaves Home
“Valya Dudycz Lupescu presents us an impressive novel debut with The Silence of Trees, in which she conjures a captivating story of the heroine, Nadya, across more than fifty years of secrets, truths, tales told and untold, quiet sacrifices, as well as memories of a difficult personal history she left behind in Central Europe. While letting go of her ghosts during her final years, she came closer to what was painfully lost to her and her people, even closer to the many small measures of happiness awaiting her . . . Will she embrace a present that renews and honors a heavy past? Like an enchanting tapestry of Ukrainian magic and folkloric images, this is a thoughtful and beautiful work.”
–FIONA SZE-LORRAIN, author of Water the Moon
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Kickstarter Comic: Sticks and Bones (Issue 1 - Home Is Where the Hearth Is)
Sep/22/2011
Valya Dudycz Lupsescu and Madeline C. Matz launched their first Kickstarter comic project: Sticks and Bones: Issue 1 - Home Is Where the Hearth Is. The comic explores issues of home, roots, identity, and sacrifice on 24 fully-painted pages.Home Is Where the Hearth Is tells the story of Yaroslav, a displaced house spirit in America looking for a new home. At its heart, this is a fairy tale about love and transformation, and the sacrifices we make to find our place in the world.
You can learn more about the comic and the incentives being offered to backers on their Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/valya/sticks-and-bones-issue-1-home-is-where-the-hearth
They need to raise $3,500 to cover the costs of production, printing, shipping, and promotion. As is the Kickstarter policy, if they do not raise the full amount, no one gets changed and they will be unable to complete the project. If they raise beyond that amount, they plan to print more copies and then begin Issue 2.
Thank you for your support!
Book Club Updates
Mar/30/2011
In March, Valya was invited to a book club hosted by Olena Pryma in Chicago’s Ukrainian Village.
You can read more about the visit in Valya’s Journal here.
Back row (from left to right): Bohdanna Domino, Marijka Trushevych, Marijka Kovalsky, Shiania Jackiw, Luba Skubiak, Ira Skirnyk, Roma Wowchuk, Xrystia Sobol, Halya Lytwynyshyn. Front row: Olena Pryma, Valya Dudycz Lupescu
Is your book club reading The Silence of Trees?
Invite Valya Dudycz Lupescu to visit your bookclub, in person or online via Skype.
More information on book clubs.
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You can read more about the visit in Valya’s Journal here.
Back row (from left to right): Bohdanna Domino, Marijka Trushevych, Marijka Kovalsky, Shiania Jackiw, Luba Skubiak, Ira Skirnyk, Roma Wowchuk, Xrystia Sobol, Halya Lytwynyshyn. Front row: Olena Pryma, Valya Dudycz Lupescu
Is your book club reading The Silence of Trees?
Invite Valya Dudycz Lupescu to visit your bookclub, in person or online via Skype.
More information on book clubs.
Tweet
Charles de Lint reviews The Silence of Trees for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
Mar/04/2011
This week, Charles de Lint reviewed my novel, The Silence of Trees, for the March/April issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The review begins:"Before starting this book, I wasn't familiar with either Valya Dudycz Lupescu or Chicago's Wolfsword Press. But I'm happy to have that corrected, because I want to read more of Lupescu's work..." You can read the rest here.
I thought back to my twelve-year-old self sitting on a swing in the backyard of our Chicago bungalow, reading Yarrow and dwelling so completely in Cat's dreamworld.
Reading Charles de Lint's review is one of those moments I'll treasure, like handing Neil Gaiman (whose storytelling I have loved since college) a copy of The Silence of Trees. There's something so wonderful about being able to share one's published work with a literary hero. After having lived in their stories, I get to invite them into mine.
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