2024 is L.M. Montgomery’s 150th birthday! The L.M. Montgomery Institute (LMMI) at the University of Prince Edward Island is celebrating with 150 tributes – celebratory statements or greetings – that reflect upon personal connections to Montgomery or on an aspect of her life, work, or legacy.
Spring Awakening … no not the coming-of-age rock musical based on Frank Wedekind’s tragedy-saturated play that premiered in 1906! On 11 March 1919, Montgomery began writing Rilla of Ingleside and noted in her journals: “It is to be another ‘Anne’ story – and I fervently hope the last – dealing with her sons and daughters during the years of war. That will end Anne – and properly. For she belongs in the green untroubled pastures and still waters of the world before the war.” Even in her later fiction, however, she would find joy in the most difficult of times and situations. This week’s tributes – from Lesley Clement, Laura Robinson, and Olga and Kateryna Nikolenko – celebrate Montgomery-style Spring Awakenings.
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Lesley Clement celebrates Montgomery’s joy:
Lesley Clement is an independent scholar, past L.M. Montgomery Institute Visiting Scholar, and Consulting Editor for the Journal of L.M. Montgomery Studies.
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Laura Robinson celebrates Montgomery’s affirmations of life:
I am grateful to Montgomery for her life-affirming and joyous fiction. Her fiction, like her life-writing, acknowledges the dark edges of existence – death, sorrow, abuse, rejection, abandonment. However, she transmogrifies that pain into stories that centre redemption, healing, celebration, and love. I am also grateful for the world she has created outside of her fiction. Because of Montgomery’s work, I am part of an international community of scholars, collectors, and enthusiasts who are deeply supportive of each other and who have become friends because of their shared love of her work and messages. Montgomery brings like-minded people together, and those people are compassionate, joyous, and generous of spirit. While she struggled in her daily life, she found a way to transform the world, and she continues to do so. Happy birthday Maud!
Laura Robinson is a professor of English and Theatre/Women’s and Gender Studies at Acadia University.
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Olga and Kateryna Nikolenko celebrate Montgomery’s optimism:
Романи Л.М. Монтгомері набули особливого значення для українських читачів під час війни. Зокрема, роман «Енн із Зелених Дахів» (1908) введено до шкільних програм із зарубіжної літератури для 7-го і 10-го класів (керівник авторського колективу програм – професор Ольга Ніколенко). Енн навчає українських учнів бути сильними, не втрачати відчуття радості та поетичного сприйняття світу, співпереживати й допомагати одне одному, вірити в краще майбутнє. Завдяки перекладам Анни Вовченко й новим підручникам із предмета «Зарубіжна література», створеним авторським колективом Ольги Ніколенко, роман Л.М. Монтгомері здобув велику популярність серед дітей і підлітків у різних куточках України. Попри складну й тривожну ситуацію, щирість і оптимізм Енн допомагають українській молоді зберігати силу духу. В образі цієї рудоволосої дівчинки втілено радість від пізнання світу, творчості, мрій і віри в людину.
For us here in Ukraine, L.M. Montgomery’s works hold a special significance throughout the times of war. A short while ago, Anne of Green Gables was introduced into the World Literature curriculum to read in the seventh and tenth grades – and now, Anne teaches Ukrainian students resilience, compassion, and optimism. Thanks to Anna Vovchenko’s translations, as well as Olga Nikolenko and her team’s work in authoring the new World Literature textbooks, more students have been able to learn and appreciate Montgomery’s world-famous novel. Throughout mayhem and heartbreak, Anne’s light continues to shine. Despite all the challenges and shortcomings of her life, Maud’s heroine exemplifies the beauty and joy of learning, dreaming, staying true to oneself, and believing in others.
Olga Nikolenko is Doctor of Philology, Professor, Chair of the World Literature Department at the Poltava V.G. Korolenko National Pedagogical University (Ukraine).
Kateryna Nikolenko is a PhD student at the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (Ukraine).
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Next week: Celebrating Montgomery through poetry.