Three MORE books by Hamiltonians

Earlier this month urbanicity composed a minute list of notable Hamiltonian authors, in correspondence with Bryan Prince Booksellers. The goal was to introduce readers to the endemic literary talents connected to the city. Now, we continue the journey of exploring the rich figures of Hamilton’s literary achievements.

RELATED: Three amazing books by Hamilton authors

Thanh Campbell – “Orphan 32”
As a toddler, Thanh Campbell, along with 56 other children, were loaded onto a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft destined for Canada. Campbell was part of Operation Babylift—an extensive evacuation mission conducted in 1975, during the Vietnam War—which sought the evacuation of orphaned children from the moribund city of Saigon that was destined to succumb to the communist regime. Only, they had made an egregious error. Campbell wasn’t an orphan. During the war it was common for soldiers to place their children into orphanages while they were away. Thanh Campbell’s book, Orphan 32, chronicles his life growing up in Canada, from being adopted by a Hamilton couple, to reuniting with many of the children airlifted out of the country that fateful day, and reconnecting with his biological family. Currently, Thanh Campbell dedicates much of his time to motivational speaking. Campbell uses his life story to reach out to elementary and high school students across Ontario with his message of hope.

Jeffery Donaldson – “Slack Action”
It’s difficult for me to describe Professor Donaldson. Likely because that is precisely who he was to me nearly 5 years ago, a professor. Actually, Jeffery Donaldson hosted the first lecture I attended during my time at McMaster. I’d assert that he is an extraordinary lecturer. Donaldson speaks as a man enamoured by the humanities, and on the occasion one should get the opportunity to hear Donaldson speak, one would not be surprised to learn he is a poet. That is, if he’s not already in the middle of reading Beowulf aloud—or as he calls it, ‘the world’s first action story’, preceding Die Hard by approximately 12 centuries—in its original Anglo Saxon text, no less. Donaldson’s passion and writing has translated to impressive achievements outside of the lecture hall. Donaldson is also a member of the executive of the Hamilton Poetry Centre. His poetry has been published in a plethora of prestigious literary journals, including: Exile, Partisan Review, Western Humanities Review, The New Republic, and The Yale Review. Donaldson has published 5 books of poetry; his latest, published last year, is titled “Slack Action”.

Synopsis:
‘Slack Action’ refers to the free movement experienced by the boxcar of a train, when the car coasts free, neither pushed nor pulled. Jeffery Donaldson’s fifth collection, in which single words, images and even poems coast free, suggests that all life is middle life, and that we live in a present moment that coasts between a beginning we can’t remember and an end we can’t predict.

Amanda Leduc – “The Miracles of Ordinary Men”
Amanda Leduc is a well-established short stories writer that has recently established her claim to the title of novelist. Leduc was born in British Columbia and grew up in Ontario. Leduc has lived in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Scotland, before moving to Hamilton, where she currently resides. She was shortlisted for the 2006 CBC Literary Awards, and the PRISM International’s Short Fiction Contest in 2008 and 2012. In 2012, she was also shortlisted for the TNQ Edna Staebler CNF Contest.

Synopsis:
Amanda Leduc’s stunning novel, “The Miracles of Ordinary Men” is the tale of two unlikely dreamers: Sam, a man who wakes up one day to find himself growing wings, and Lilah, a woman who has lost her brother to the streets of Vancouver. As Sam finds himself falling away from the world as he grows feathers from his back, Lilah seeks sexual penance under the harsh hand of her boss, her own transformation subtle and terrifying. Sam and Lilah fall deeper into their separate spiritual paths, and the two hurtle closer and closer to a dark, unknown destiny — one that changes all that they know about life and pain, love and God, and how to find light in the most unlooked-for of places.

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