Seaway News columnist, Katalin Kennedy, is living her literary dream, with the launch of her first novel “The Women Gather,” held earlier this month.
Kennedy’s own story actually begins in the 50s, when, as a child, she escaped with her parents from Hungary, and immigrated as refugees to Canada.
A graduate from Carlton University, Kennedy spent most of her adult life in Ottawa, managing national projects as program consultant on seniors’ and women’s issues for Health Canada.
With a love for writing, the English Literature major had always wanted to write “that great Canadian novel,” and began her journey towards that end in 2005.
The self-professed feminist with a passion for women’s issues, Kennedy wanted to write about what she knew and loved.
“I’m a quiet rebel, she said. “I have strong feelings about a lot of issues.”
The dream was put on hold however in 2006 when, Kennedy’s husband passed away, and months later when she returned to her manuscripts, these were the last words she’d written:
“You never know when the things around you that are familiar are going to end.”
Kennedy would eventually finish her book in 2008 and after sending it around to different publishers, a couple of peer reviews and some revisions, the book was published by Baico Publishing Inc. earlier this year.
“You have no idea how fabulous that feels. I’m really, really excited and scared to death.”
Set in 2066, Kennedy explains that it is not a work of science fiction, rather Utopian, in nature.
“ ‘The Women Gather’ takes place in Lemuria, Ontario, at a teaching retreat for women, founded by Nora Fényes-Bryson to provide a safe haven for women so that they could rediscover their true selves and make the world a better place. With time, the Norean Order spread throughout the world. Women from various sanctuaries are now attending the International Gathering Symposium to report on their researched progress and evolution.”
For further information, visit http://katkennedyemesesdreamblog.blogspot.ca.
