LILLIAN BORAKS-NEMETZ

Place of birth: Poland
Place of residence: Vancouver, British Columbia

Although the poems, which were written by Lillian Boraks-Nemetz as a young Jewish girl hiding from the Nazis during World War II, were lost, the feelings which precipitated them were not. It was some years after emigrating to Canada that she felt comfortable enough, in either English or Polish, to explore and express those feelings once again. Meanwhile she completed her masters degree in comparative literature and taught creative writing at the University of British Columbia, translated the poetry of others from Polish to English, and began to write. Her poems and short stories have appeared in a number of English-language periodicals and anthologies. The publication of her poetry in Garden of Steel in 1993 was a therapeutic exercise which helped her to deal with the memories of her childhood. Another stage in the process was the publication of the autobiographical novel for young adults, The Old Brown Suitcase. Lillian Boraks-Nemetz is working on a sequel to this award-winning novel and is planning a third volume in the future. French-language rights have been sold and a TV/movie option has been negotiated.

Awards

• 1995 Rachel Bessin Memorial Prize for Young Readers Literature for The Old Brown Suitcase: A Teenager's Story of War and Peace.
  
• 1995 Sheila A. Egoff Children's Prize for The Old Brown Suitcase: A Teenager's Story of War and Peace.

Selected Bibliography

The Old Brown Suitcase: A Teenager's Story of War and Peace. Brentwood Bay, B.C.: Ben-Simon Publications, c1994.
xii, 148 p.; 21 cm.
ISBN 0914539108

Garden of Steel. Written by Jagna Boraks. Victoria, B.C.: Ekstasis Editions, c1993.
53 p.; 21 cm.
ISBN 0921215673