Connie Kurtenbach

Profile of an Artist

A Vancouver Island resident for over 25 years, Connie was born on a large farm east of Cudworth, Saskatchewan, spent her early years there, attended secondary school in Saskatoon, and completed university studies in Edmonton and Toronto. As a teacher and performer in Edmonton, Connie founded several music groups and produced LPs of folk music. In Toronto, Connie continued her studying, teaching, counseling, writing and music performance. Since moving to British Columbia with her husband, François Brassard, she has focused on writing and painting. Connie's short fiction was included in The Oyster Speaks, a 2005 anthology of works by the Chemainus Writers.

Connie Kurtenbach's short stories portray a child's perspective on her memorable experiences while her mother is away at a tuberculosis sanatorium. Nine year old narrator Cally Steinbach brings readers into her mother's garden, where every sense is awakened; the aroma of cinnamon bread, the songs harmonized after supper, the first cracking of ice in the spring, and always the underlying sense of loss. When Cally's own imagination and adventures take her into fearful places, she can find refuge in her mother's garden: it is fenced and has a gate to keep out the wild things.

These stories for adult readers convey the young narrator's search for beauty and truth amid sorrow, fear and longing, and a spirit that transforms dark times through the belief that spring will soon arrive and mama will come home. The text is complemented by a series of seasonal paintings by Donna Kurtenbach, as well as drawings and vintage photographs.

In My Mother's Garden, published by Diamond River Books, Adult fiction, $16.95

ISBN # 978-0-9811376-9-8. Website: www.diamondriver.ca (Go to: Books in Print)


Author contact information: ckfb@telus.net Tel: (250) 245-3365.