1.

Raison d’ être

 

Margrith Schraner has been urging me over this past year to create a WordPress site, now referred to as Ernest Hekkanen: New Orphic Landmark. It draws upon material that Alan Twigg has amassed on Literary Landmark #123, where you can learn a great deal more about me than you might wish to know, and archival material that Margrith has sorted through in my less than tidy office. My response to her suggestion has always been: “Who would want to know anything more about me? I’m a has-been who never was.” Margrith thinks otherwise. I suspect her of trying to help me recover some of my former enthusiasm for all things literary, before we retired The New Orphic Review at the end of 2017.

In the spring of 2017, I was struck by a bout of lethargy that persisted for more than a year. At one point, when I lay down on a mat on the floor, to have a short rest, I was unable to get back up again. Upon pushing myself to my hands and knees, I would start to tremble so badly I’d end up collapsing on my chest. My condition was later diagnosed as viral polyneuritis, or Guillian-Barré syndrome. I have yet to return to the peak of health I was at prior to being hit by the syndrome, when I had run 4.5 kilometers every other day. Guillian-Barré affected me in other ways, too; for instance, my ability to fruitfully concentrate on a task for very long had almost vanished and, as well, I could no longer rely upon my imagination to come up with anything interesting to write.

This, in part, is why we decided to retire The New Orphic Review. Formerly, it had taken me around six weeks of jubilant effort to produce an issue, but after I was struck by Guillain-Barré syndrome it took me eight weeks of arduous effort. I could no longer see the point in carrying on—with anything.

Margrith’s persistent effort to get me to value what I’ve done for the past fifty years is the reason I’ve decided to engage in this project. My hope is that it will bring sufficient clarity to my mind to continue with my creative endeavors.

We shall see.

2.

Modus Operandi

 

There is something distinctly Finnish about my drive to pursue an artistic and literary career. For me, engaging in these activities was a matter of defying the odds; it was my way of consciously attempting to define my life. Finns might refer to my stubborn pursuit in these areas of endeavor as a display of sisu, a highly prized trait among people of that Nordic country. I think you could even make the claim that my stubbornness far exceeded my skills and talents, and that might certainly be the case, because I’ve had very little success in either of my chosen fields—almost none, in fact.

Alan Twigg has addressed my predicament in this manner: “Seriously comic, fabulist, theatrical, iconoclastic and shrewd, Ernest Hekkanen is a literary outsider by temperament and necessity but probably not by choice. He has done too much, too well, too fast, too independently, too far away from Ontario, to be fashionable.”

I think I should interject a comment here. What prevents me from becoming fashionable has nothing to do with geography. I am as unfashionable in British Columbia as I am in Ontario. To sell forty copies of a book—province- or nationwide—is a publishing success for me. If I am expert at anything, it is the ability to drive readers from my door. The question is: why would anyone engage in so much folly, for such a long time? Was it a matter of making life more difficult for myself? Was it a matter of vanity? What did it amount to, anyway? I have certainly put an inordinate amount of time, money and energy into my chosen endeavors—to the point of neglecting other areas of life, like putting a new roof on my house. Is this an intelligent way to live one’s life? I don’t think so.

In part, this site could be viewed as an attempt to subscribe to the Socratic dictum that an unexamined life isn’t worth living. It could also be seen as an open invitation to psychiatrists and PhD candidates of every stripe to fathom why a person would engage in so much futile effort. Couldn’t I have poured my limited talents into pursuits that wouldn’t have tilted at quite so many windmills? What the hell makes someone like me tick?

Not long ago, a fellow on LinkedIn approached me with a question that had to do with whether I was still ghostwriting books. I wrote back to say that I had given up that sideline. He in turn wrote back to me, saying he wasn’t sure whether he was addressing himself to the real Ernest Hekkanen or perhaps to Alexander Mikkonen, a character in my story “The Influence of Alexander Mikkonen,” in which I used every technique available to defeat the idea that I was telling a story. Without knowing it, the fellow had approached me with his question at a critical juncture in my life, because it made me reflect upon whether my writing career might be little more than a hoax played on myself. The question threw many of my assumptions into disarray and that, by the way, has been a modus operandi of mine from the very start of my so-called career.

Ernest Hekkanen’s Literary Footprints

photo: Margrith Schraner

from

Black Snow: an imaginative memoir

“Literary footprints are like those of a man who has walked off across the desert; the wind blows and they are gone.”    Ernest Hekkanen

2020, July 1

Another literary footprint. Barbara Curry Mulcahy wrote a wonderful review of The Ventriloquist Dummy Tells All. It appeared in the Spring/Summer issue of ARTiculate magazine, on page 29. It is included, below.

2020, January 18

Please take a look at Sean Arthur Joyce’s excellent review of The Ventriloquist’s Dummy Tells All at: 

2019, December post

On November 13th, I gave a reading with Josh Massey at the Oxygen Art Centre. It resulted in a large audience, due largely to the wonderful write-up below by Tom Wayman in the Nelson Star.

2019, July

Announcement:

For Hekkanen, everything is coming up midgets and giants. The Ventriloquist’s Dummy Tells All (ISBN 978-1-894842-27-3) is now available for purchase.  ($20.00 + $7.00 shipping. Address: 706 Mill Street, Nelson, B.C. Canada V1L 4S5)

According to the back-cover blurb:

“Otto and Hugo are cousins, born in the late 1920s and early 1930s respectively. One is a midget of 3’1”, the other a giant of 7’9”. Children of a strict Mennonite upbringing in Virginia, they happen one day to observe a ventriloquist plying his trade in a nearby town, and instantly Otto conceives of how they might be able to escape their home town of Holzkopfville.

“These oddball characters take us on a humorous romp back and forth across America, as they play the vaudeville circuit of the nation. They perform on popular TV shows, and they are even invited to the While House, where President Kennedy plays a practical joke on them.

“But, as Otto can testify, life isn’t always smooth sailing. His much larger cousin is endowed with an alarming sexual appetite, and we never know when that will make things go sideways for them.”

Hekkanen reports that “The Dummy Tells All might very well be my last novel. My imagination is no longer as forthcoming as it used to be. I don’t know if this is a function of old age, or a condition even worse than that. Could Dummy be a portent? I would hate to think so.”

2018

Articles:

1) “The Heroism of the Outsider, #246,” with Margrith Schraner, The Ormsby Review, BC BookLook, online, February 11^th

2) “Recalling the New Orphic Review,” by Margrith Schraner, The Ormsby Review, BC BookLook, online, April 13, 2018

Reviews:

1) “All Night Gas Bar illuminates…” by Jill Mandrake, The Peak, Vol. 160, Number 6, page 10

2) “Recall, Retention, Recognition,” review of False Memories, by Jill Mandrake, Geist, #108, pp 67-68

Awards, etc.:

1) Richard Carver Award, Certificate of Achievement, Kootenay Literary Society

2017

Journals:

1) “Final Year,” editorial, pp 4-8; “The Little Constable,” story, pp 81-105, The New Orphic  Review, Volume 20, Number 1

2) “Farewell Issue,” editorial, pp 4-5; “Of All Men: A Short Memoir,” memoir/story, pp 92-114, The New Orphic Review, Volume 20, Number 2

Awards, etc.:

1) Ernest Hekkanen, p 8, Accomplished Finnish-Canadians, edited by Veli M. J. Niinimaa, Friesens Book Division

2) Kunniakirja, a certificate, Finnish-Canadian contribution to literature. Suomi-Seura, Finland, plus a Silver Badge of Merit

2016

Journals:

1) “Attempt to Fly,” editorial, pp 4-5; “I Seem to Recall This,” story, pp 97-106, The New  Orphic Review, Volume 19, Number 1

2) “A Solace of Crows,” editorial, page 4, “Death by Meteorite,” story, page 88, The New Orphic  Review, Volume 19, Number 2

Literary Landmark #123, declared by Alan Twigg, biographical details included, B.C.  BookLook, February 9

2015

Journals:

1) “The People’s Poet,” story, pp 311-320, The Nashwaak Review, Volume 34/35, Number 311

2) “Dysnarrativia,” editorial, pp 4-7, “Swamp Luck,” story, pp 102-114, The New Orphic Review, Volume 18, Number 1

3) “Pivotal Events,” editorial, pp 4-5, “Remedial Reading,” story, pp 92-103, The New Orphic Review, Volume 18, Number 2

Books:

1) False Memories and Other Likely Tales, stories, 147 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2014

Journals:

1) “e-Hobbyists in the Land of e-Literature,” editorial, pp 4-6; “Deadly Family Matters,” novel excerpt, pp 91-104 The New Orphic Review, Volume 17, Number 1

2) “When Lit Happens,” editorial, pp 4-6, “Little Ears,” story, pp 103-113, The New Orphic  Review, Volume 17, Number 2

Interview Excerpt:

1) Quote by Ernest Hekkanen, pp 30-31, Welcome to Resisterville: American Dissidents in British Columbia, UBC Press, by Kathleen Rodgers

Books:

1) I’m Not You, novella, 125 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2013

Journals:

1) “Addicted to Story,” editorial, pp 4-6; “I’m Not You,” excerpt of novella pp 94-104, The New Orphic Review, Volume 16, Number 1

2) “Entropy,” editorial, pp 4-6, The New Orphic Review, Volume 16, Number 2

Books:

1) Heretic Hill, novel, 252 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2012

Journals:

1) “Literary Gift Box,” editorial, pp 4-5, The New Orphic Review, Volume 15, Number 1

2) “Writing the Local,” editorial, pp 4-7; “Violent Friday,” story, pp 96-103, The New Orphic  Review, Volume 15, Number 2

Books:

1) Flesh and Spirit: The Rasputin Meditations, with a commentary by the author, prints, poems, essays, 55 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2011

Journals:

1) “The Pathetic Habit,” editorial, pp 4-6; “Chair, with Infrastructure,” poem, pp 83-85, “Heretic Hill,” novel excerpt, pp 100-105, The New Orphic Review, Volume 14, Number 1

2) “Stories from Life,” editorial, pp 4-6; “All I Really Want on New Year’s Day,” story, pp 75-83; “Story Autopsy #5,” memoir, pp 84-87; “Today is Good Friday,” story, pp 88-94, The New Orphic Review, Volume 14, Number 2

Books:

1) All Night Gas Bar, and Ten Story Autopsies, stories, memoir, 153 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) Wintering Over: Poems Strewn on Snow, poems, 100 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2010

Journals:

1) “Uncle Reino’s Nagging Problem,” story, pp 87-95, The Antigonish Revew #161

2) “The Lost Boy,” story, pp 150-161, The Nashwaak Review, Volume 24/25, Number 1

3) “Hubris,” editorial, pp 4-6,” “Homicide Survivors  Picnic: Lorraine M. Lopez’s Story Collection,” review, pp 38-40, “Don’t Be Such a Cockroach,” story, pp 99-104, The New Orphic Review, Volume 13, Number 1

4) “Telling Ourselves Stories,” editorial, pp 4-7; “Brutalized Oranges, Gutted Trout,” poem,p 53; “Halloween Costume Night,” story, pp 99-105, The New Orphic Review, Volume 13, Number 2

Books:

1) Elämän Taipaleet ja Muita Tarinoita, stories, 83 pages, translated by Rayana Erland, New Orphic Publishers

2) The Collected Stories of Ernest Hekkanen, Volume One, stories, 427 pages, New Orphic Publishers

 

 

 

 

 

3) The Collected Stories of Ernest Hekkanen, Volume Two, stories, 457 pages, New Orphic Publishers

 

 

 

 

 

2009

Journals:

1) “Review of The Animal by Louis E. Bourgeois,” The Potomac, June, 2009

2) “Review of The Animal by Louis E. Bourgeois,” The Local Voice, Oxford, Mississippi, Jan. 19, 2009

3) “Muse, Amuse, Bemuse,” editorial, pp 4-6; “The Animal: a review of Louis E. Bourgeois’s Prose Poetics, pp 43-45; “An Equation for Snow and Silence,” “Winter’s Weight,” poems, pp 54-55, “The Painful Lavender Sky,” story, pp 88-103, The New Orphic Review, Volume 12, Number 1

4) “Story Autopsy,” editorial, pp 4-6, “The Successor,” story, pp 77-90, The New Orphic Review, Volume 12, Number 2

Anthologies:

1) “View Across the Meadow,” story, pp 345-364; “Chapter Seven, The Life of Bartholomew G.,” novel excerpt, pp 365-374, Finnish-North American Literature in English: A Concise Anthology, edited by Beth L. Virtanen, The Edwin Mellen Press

Books:

1) Kafka: The Master of Yesno, a critical Study, 2^nd edition, 214 pages, New Orphic Publishers

Reviews:

1) Listed in Contemporary Authors, Volume 240, Thomson Gale

2008

Journals:

1) “Driven to Distraction,” editorial, pp 4-5; “Reviewing Susan Andrews Grace,” review, pp 50-52; “The Tick,” story, pp 82-89, The New Orphic Review, Volume 11, No 1

2) “Blurring Fictitious Lines,” editorial, pp 4-7; “Cutlass Time: A Review,” pp 56-57; “Gas Bill Reflections,” “Frigid Eloquence,” “Wrestling with Demons,” poems, pp 84-86; “Fleshand Spirit: The Rasputin Meditations,” poems and prints, pp 87-102, The New Orphic Review, Volume 11, Number 2

Anthologies:

1) “Sad Men,” “I Did This,” poems, pp 109-112, Crossing Lines: Poets Who Came to Canada in the Vietnam War Era, Seraphim Editions, editors: Allan Briesmaster & Steven Michae Berzensky

2) “The Flat Earth Excavation Company,” interview, pp 34-39, Complete with Missing Parts,  Interviews with the Avant-Garde, VOX Press, edited by Louis E. Bourgeois

Books:

1) Of a Fire Beyond the Hills, novel, 214 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) Of a Fire Beyond the Hills, finalist for the George Ryga Award

Reviews:

1) “Ernest Hekkanen: Determinedly Independent,” by Margret Tessman, p 19, 29, Articulate magazine, Fall/Winter, 2008-2009

2007

Journals:

1) “The Luddite’s Lament,” editorial, pp 4-6; “Saint Julian of Southwest Wyoming,” novel excerpt, page 109-115, The New Orphic Review, Volume 10, Number 1

2) “Literature as an Oppositional Disorder,” editorial, pp 4-6; “Reviewing Clarise Samuels,” review, pp 47-49; “Of a Fire Beyond the Hills,” novel excerpt, pp 95-108, The New  Orphic Review, Volume 10, Number 2

Reviews:

“Inside the Maverick Mind,” B.C. BookWorld, Volume 21, Number 3, 2007

Books:

1) Shadows on a Cave Wall, novella, 98 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2006

Journals:

1) “The Slavery of Our Times,” editorial, pp 4-8; “Dear Herbalist,” poem, p 50; “The Maquette,” story, pp 111-130, The New Orphic Review, Volume 9, Number 1

2) “Led Astray by Idealism,” editorial, pp 4-7; “Ned’s Place,” story, pp 105-117, The New Orphic Review, Volume 9, Number 2

Books:

1) Kafka: The Master of Yesno, a critical study, 216 pages, New Orphic Publishers

Books about the Author:

1) The Reluctant Author: The Life and Literature of Ernest Hekkanen, an informal study, by Margrith Schraner, 149 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2005

Journals:

1) “Finnish Masterpiece,” review of Väinö Linna’s Under the North Star, Books in Canada, Volume 34, Number 2, 2005

2) “Ruling Fictions,” editorial, pp 4-8; “Far From the Regions of Hope,” review, pp 83-85; “The Last Spike, Circa 2004,” story, pp 99-117, The New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, Number 2

3) “Heretic and Infidel,” editorial, pp 4-5; “Gilgamesh Revisited,” essay, pp 57-60, “ThePuukko,” story, page 109-121; “A Political Postscript,” pp 122-123, The New Orphic Review, Volume 8, No. 2

Books:

1) The Life of Bartholomew G., novella, 124 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) Heretic, essays, 103 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2004

Journals:

1) “Lost in a Labyrinth but Unwilling to Escape,” Books in Canada, Volume 33, Number 2, 2004

2) “Feats of the Imagination,” editorial, pp 4-7; “No Exit Except Through Magic,” review, pp 58-59; “When Death Comes Home to Roost,” story, pp 102-130, The New Orphic Review, Volume 7, Number 1

3) “The Power of a Good Hoax,” editorial, pp 4-8; “The Old Dog’s Opera Company,” story, pp 108-119, The New Orphic Review, Volume 7, Number 2

Books:

1) Melancholy and Mystery of a Street, stories, 216 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) The Big Dave (and Little Wife) Convention, stories, 298 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2003

Journals:

1) “The Seeing Hand,” editorial, pp 4-7; “This Morning the Birds,” poem, p 53; “The

Malingerers Bureau,” story, pp 107-15, The New Orphic Review, Volume 6, Number 1

2) “Wrestling with Demons,” editorial, pp 4-6; “Along the Silk Road,” story, pp 87-94;

“Melancholy and Mystery of a Street,” story, pp 105-115, The New Orphic Review,

Volume 6, Number 2

Books:

1) Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind: The Revised, Expanded Edition, stories, 269 pages, New Orphic Publishers

 

 

 

 

 

2) Up & Coming (in Seattle), novel, 446 pages, New Orphic Publishers

 

 

 

 

 

2002

Journals:

1) “Switzerland: A Jungian Conundrum,” editorial, pp 4-8; “The Captive Bears of Bern,” story, as Bruno Widler, story, pp 63-69, “Death in Other Words,” story, as Eduardo Morelli, pp 70-74;”Exhuming Carl Jung,” play, as Heinrich Muller, pp 75-111, The New Orphic Review, Volume 5, Number 1

2) “Artists, Writers, and Redundancy,” editorial, pp 4-8, “What’s More,” p 8, “A Woman Whose Flesh Would Dream,” poem, p 38; “The Odd Cane Out,” story pp 96-101, The New Orphic Review, Volume 5, Number 2

Anthologies:

1) “The Rite,” story, pp 77-84, Saunas, Otsa Press, Minnesota, edited by David William Salmela

2) “Introduction,”  pp 5-6, Writing Through to the End, #1, NUC Press, edited by Ernest Hekkanen

3) “Surreal Surrebutter Rebutter Sandwich Spread,” pp 5-19, “Death in Other Words,” story, pp 151-158 , as Eduardo Morelli; “The Dead Always Get the Best Views,” story, pp 161-169, as Pekka Salmi; “The Mime,” story, pp 229-243, “The Shipwrecked Heart,” pp 244- 278, The Flat Earth Excavation Company: A Surreal Fiction Anthology, edited by Ernest Hekkanen, New Orphic Publishers

Books:

1) The Expulsion, play, 80 pages, New Orphic Publishers

Reviews:

1) Listed in the Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada, edited by William H. New, University of Toronto Press, 2002

2001

Journals:

1) “Alienation and the Kingdom,” editorial, pp 4-7; “The Word Mechanic,” poem, p 54;“Goodfellow Finds It Deep,” story, pp 102-111, New Orphic Review, Volume 4, Number 1

2) “Resiliently Yours,” editorial, pp 4-6; “The Stool Diviner,” story, as Pekka Salmi, pp 7-25;“Louhi”s Child,” “Indirect Seeing, “The Moon is Wrong,” poems, as Brent Maallinen pp 26-28; “I Did This,” Journey to Milarepa’s Cave,” poems, pp 51-56; “All You Need to Know about Sisu,” play as Michael Mäkelä, pp 67-80; “The Misadventures of Bumbleberry Finn,” novel excerpt, pp 81-104, The New Orphic Review, Volume 4, Number 2

Books:

1) The Misadventures of Bumbleberry Finn, novel, 201 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) The Shipwrecked Heart: tales of the fantastic and the macabre, stories, 137 pages, New Orphic Publishers

3) The Clown Act, play, 86 pages, New Orphic Publishers

4) Exhuming Carl Jung, a burlesque, play, 64 pages, New Orphic Publishers

5) The Radio Interview, play, 52 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2000

Journals:

1) “Taxidermy, and the Writer,” editorial, pp 4-6; “Let’s Not Play it so Safe,” essay, pp 7-8;“Reaching for Words,” poem, p 48; “Incendiary Dreams,” essay, pp 102-108, The New Orphic Review, Volume 3, Number 1

2) “Surrealism and the Environment,” editorial, pp 4-6; “The Merry Voyager,” story pp 72-76; “View of the Hinterlands,” poem, p 84, “The Lost Boy,” story, pp 96-103, The New Orphic Review, Volume 3, Number 2

Anthologies:

1) “The Last Rites Hotel,” “A Sanctuary of Smell,” “Reaching for Words,” “View of theHinterlands,” “Straying from Luminosity,” “I Was as Light Is,” poems, pp 109-116,Connecting Souls: Finnish Voices in North America, Aspasia Books, edited by Varpu Lindström and Börje Vähämäki, ISBN 0-9685881-2-3

2) “Assailing the Fortifications of Culture,” essay, pp 60-75; “Sometimes I Have TheseIncendiary Dreams,” essay, pp 116-125, The Culture of Rage, Thinkware Publishers,edited by Jurgen Hesse

Books:

1) Man’s Sadness, novella, 115 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) The Well, play, 224 pages, New Orphic Publishers

3) The Lambing, play, 69 pages, New Orphic Publishers

4) Harbinger of Fall, play, 55 pages, New Orphic Publishers

5) The Island of Winged Wonders, novella, 120 pages, New Orphic Publishers

6) Sometimes I have These Incendiary Dreams, essays, 184 pages, New Orphic Publishers

1999

Journals:

1) “Graffiti, Canadian Style,” editorial, pp 4-11; “Arms like Coiled Serpents,” story, pp 95-105, The New Orphic Review, Volume 2, Number 1

2) “In Search of a New Orphic Hero,” editorial, pp 4-12; “The Last Rites Hotel,” poem, p 52, “I Did This,” “What My Heroes Did to Me,” poems, pp 98-102; “Inducing Millennium Psychosis,” essay, pp 130-136, The New Orphic Review, Volume 2, Number 2

Anthologies:

1) “Inducing Millennium Psychosis,” essay, pp 34-45, The Sky is Falling, Thinkware Publishers, edited by Jurgen Hesse

Books:

1) Straying from Luminosity, poems, 73 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) Dementia Island, novella, 107 pages, New Orphic Publishers

3) My Dog is More Than Just a Dog to Me, novella, 94 pages, New Orphic Publishers

4) The Last Thing My Father Gave Me, novel, 359 pages, New Orphic Publishers

5) Good Ol’ Boy: Willis V. McCall, with Ed Roy, historical novel, 530 pages, New OrphicPublishers

Reviews:

1) Quill and Quire, March, Katja Pantzar, review of The Last Thing My Father Gave Me, pp 61- 62

1998

Journals:

1) “The New Orphic Mandate, editorial, pp 4-8; “An Exploration into the Viability of the Global Economic Design, essay, pp 77-89; “The Priest Fainted,” story, pp 108-116, The New  Orphic Review, Volume 1, Number 1

2) “Taking Risks,” editorial, pp 4-14, “Journeys That Bring Us Here,” story, pp 101-116, The  New Orphic Review, Volume 1, Number 2

Anthologies:

1) “Miasma,” story, pp 164-178, Fresh Blood, Ravenstone/Turnstone Press, editors, EricHenderson/Madeline Sonik

Reviews:

1) “Publish Or Be Damned,” review, Jeremy Twigg, BC BookWorld, p 20, autumn

Books:

1) Bridge Over the Tampere Rapids, and other Finnish Stories, stories, 224 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) You Know Me Better Than That, novella, 102 pages, New Orphic Publishers

3) Those Who Eat at My Table, stories, 182 pages, New Orphic Publishers

Productions:

1) Beyond the Call by Theatre in the Raw, directed by Jay Hamburger, at the Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival

1997

Anthologies:

1) “The Dancing in the Wind,” “The Singing Fragrance,” “Easter Sunday.” poems, pp 7-9 A  Light in the Darkness; editor Angelique Kambeitz, The Rescue Project

Books:

1) The Soul You Call Your Own, stories, 201 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) The House of Samsara, novel, 169 pages, New Orphic Publishers

3) Chasing After Carnivals, novel, 334 pages, New Orphic Publishers

4) Beyond the Call, play, with original story and brief history, 110 pages, New Orphic Publishers

Productions:

1) Beyond the Call, by Theatre in the Raw, directed by Jay Hamburger, at The Havana on  Commercial Drive, March 20-22, 28-30

2) Beyond the Call by Theatre in the Raw, directed by Jay Hamburger, at the Purple Onion, May 25 and June 1

1996

Journals:

“Finnish-American-Canadian Literature and Art,” Kaiku/Echo, Volume 6 Number 9

Books:

1) Journeys That Bring Us Here, stories, 195 pages, New Orphic Publishers

2) Black Snow: an imaginative memoir, memoir with photos, 202 pages, with Margrith Schraner, New Orphic Publishers

3) The Wedding Cycle, poems, 126 pages, New Orphic Publishers

4) Turning Life into Fiction: an aesthetic manifesto, essays, 216 pages, New Orphic Publishers

Reviews:

1) Books in Canada, May, 1996, Eva Tihanyi, review of From a Town Now Dreaming, p 35

1995

Anthologies:

1) “The Fatal Error,” story, pp 164-170, What is Already Known, Thistledown Press, edited by Seán Virgo

Books:

1) From a Town Now Dreaming, novel, 338 pages, New Orphic Publishers

1994

Journals:

1) “Cambie Hall: a metaphor for cooperation,” The Finnish American Reporter, Volume 6, Number 11

2) “Cambie Hall: a metaphor for cooperation,” Kaiku/Echo, Volume 4, Number 11

3) “Folklore Seminar Revisited,” Kaiku/Echo, Volume 4, Number 4

4) “Clayoquot Sound and the Vainamoinen Complex,” The Finnish American Reporter, Volume 7, Number 3

5) “On Trial: Clayoquot Arrestee Fights Back,” Ever Wild, Volume 5, Number 1, 1994

Anthologies:

1) Interview of Hekkanen, pp 79-87, United States, Voices in Exile: Refugees Speak Out, an oral history, editor Jurgen Hesse

1992

Journals:

1) “Miasma: An Imaginative Memoir,” story, Canadian Fiction Magazine #77. pp 20-31

2) “Never Trust Anybody with $400 Boots,” story, Minus Tides, Volume 5, Number 1 (lost)

Newspapers:

1) “How low will you go for a buck?” Vancouver Sun, March 28

2) “Silence is deafening when humans hunt,” article, Saturday Review section, Vancouver Sun, April 25^th

3) “Death’s Door,” article, Op/Ed section, Vancouver Sun, May 8

4) “Beyond the Blooze,” Vancouver Sun, October 10

5) “Sober Thoughts on the Big Drunk,” Vancouver Sun, December 12

1991

Journals:

1) “Ode to Dad,” poem, Dandelion, Volume 18, Number 1, p 30

2) “Veering Out of Ice,’ poem, Event, Volume 20, Number 1, p 85

3) Cover Print, Writers in Prison, Mother Tongues, issue 2, winter, editor: Mona Fertig

Anthologies:

1) “The Mime,” story, pp 160-171, Fire Beneath the Cauldron, Thistledown Press, editor: Geoff Hancock

Newspapers:

“Citizens Band,” The Vancouver Review, Number 7

1990

Journals:

1) “The Price of Some Things,” story, Descant #69, Volume 21, Number 2, pp 8-32

2) “Eating by the Light of the Sun,” print, Descant #s 71/72, Volume 21, Number 4, p 10

3) “Humors off my Coast,” “The Doughnut Pantry,” poems, Descant #s71/72, Volume 21, Number 4, pp 139-140

4) Photo of Hekkanen by Margrith Schraner, Descant #s 71/72, Volume 21, Number 4, p 140

5) “Flesh and Spirit: The Rasputin Meditations, poems and prints, Canadian Fiction Magazine #70, pp 18-32

6) “Pale Suitor,” story, Canadian Fiction Magazine #71, pp 39-59

Anthologies:

1) “The Rite,” story, Words We Call Home, pp 150-156, UBC Press, editor Linda Svendsen

Newspapers:

“Questionable Practices,” The Vancouver Review, Number 3

Reviews:

1) Canadian Literature, winter, Tanya Gardiner-Scott,” Hesitation,” review of The Violent  Lavender Beast, pp134-135

1989

Journals:

1) “Ice Reports,” story, Grain, Volume 17, Number 4, pp 78-79

Anthologies:

1) “The Fatal Error,” story, pp 94-100 The Last Map in the Heart, Thistledown Press

2) “In the New World,” story, pp 139-146, Sampo: The Magic Mill, New Rivers Press, edited by Aili Jarvenpa and Michael G. Karni

Reviews:

1) Canadian Literature, spring, Gary Boire, “Forger & Parrot,” review of Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind, pp 175-177

2) Canadian Review of Materials, January, 1989, Judy Baxter, review of The Violent Lavender Beast

3) Choice, fall, R.H. Solomon, review of The Violent Lavender Beast, p 939

1988

Anthologies:

1) “The Violent Lavender Beast,” story, Best Canadian Stories, page 88, editors: David Helwig, Maggie Helwig

Books:

1) The Violent Lavender Beast, stories, 151 pages, Thistledown Press

Reviews:

1) Choice, March, 1988, R.H. Solomon, review of Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind, p 1094

1987

Journals:

1) “The Last Rites Hotel,” poem, Ariel, Volume 18, Number 2, p 80

2) “Today a Flight of Tongues,” “Hidden in the Flesh Near Her Heart,” poems, Matrix #24, p 37

Books:

1) Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind, stories, 140 pages, Thistledown Press

Reviews:

1) Quill & Quire, June, Clark Blaise, “Stories of the Medieval in the Present Day,” review of Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind, p 34

1986

Journals:

1) “The Wooden Arms of the Angel,” story, Wascana Review, Volume 21, Number 2, pp 79-98

2) “The Violent Lavender Beast,” story, Canadian Fiction Magazine #58, pp 74-87

1985

Journals:

1) “Training the Beast to Fly,” poem, Ariel, Volume 16, Number 1, p 44

2) “The Tick,” story, Descant #50, Volume 16, Number 3, pp 116-123

3) “Preface: The Influence of Alexander Mikkonen,” story, Canadian Fiction Magazine #54 pp 47-64

4) “The Merry Voyager,” Prism international, Volume 24, Number 1, pp 7-12

Books:

1) Chasing After Carnivals, novel, bound galley proof, Stoddart Publishing, 281 pages

Reviews:

1) Quill & Quire, April, Louise Longo, review of Chasing after Carnivals, p 72

1984

Journals:

1) “The Myriad Footprints,” “The Stone Wafer,” poems, Dandelion, Volume 11, Number 1 pp 93-95

2) “Thoughts on the Novella,” essay, Canadian Fiction Magazine #48, pp 7-8

3) “The Aviarium Fäntastikka,” novella, Canadian Fiction Magazine #48, pp 9-43

4) “The Rustling You Faintly Hear,” “A Woman Whose Flesh Would Dream,” poems, The Fiddlehead #141, pp, 40-41

5) “This Morning the Birds,” “Breathing Sparrows into Me,” poems, Matrix #18, p 15

6) “The Barb Arm King of the World,” story, Prism international, Volume 22, Number 4, pp 7-17

7) “The Myth Dreamed into Flesh,” poem, Queen’s Quarterly, Volume 91, Number 2, p 301

8) “The Dance of the Jolly Jugmen,” poem, Quarry, Volume 33, Number 1, p 44

9) “The Flaying Embrace,” poem, Wascana Review, Volume 19, Number 1, p 44

1983

Journals:

1) “The Dancing in the Wind,” poem, Canadian Literature #97, p 38

2) “Festooned with Feathers,” poem, Dandelion, Volume 10, Number 2, p 79

3) “The Taking of Lake Shutney,” story, Event, Volume 12, Number 2, pp 48-64

1982

Journals:

1) “A Woman Whose Flesh Would Dream,” poem, The Dalhousie Review, Volume 62, Number 4, 1982/83, winter, p 557

2) “The Successor,” story, The Malahat Review, #62, pp 129-143

3) “When I Bathe,” “Garden, Resuscitated,” poems, Wascana Review, Volume 17, Number 1, pp 55-57

4) “All Night Gas Bar,” story, Event, Volume 11, Number 1, pp 124-129

1981

Journals

1) “During Eclipses,” “Death Ward,” poems, The Antigonish Review #46, pp 35-36

2) “Once Again, As I Dysfunction,” poem The Antigonish Review #47, p 10

3) “Bring Back the Bands, Please,” story, The Fiddlehead #129, pp 15-30

4) “The Way We Go,” poem, Matrix #13, p 33

Anthologies:

1) “Cadillacs and Chieves Don’t Mix,” “Chasing After Carnivals,” “The Rite,” “Have a LittleDecency,” stories, Second Impressions, pp 75-131, Oberon Press, editor John Metcalf

1980

Journals:

1) “The Black Tom,” story, Waves, Volume 8, Number 3, pp 15-17

2) “Laughter of Crows,” poem, Canadian Literature #84, p 29

3) “Poems for the Neurotic and the Suicidal,” prints, Descant #25, Volume 11. Number 3, pp 62-66

4) “The Bather,” story, Event, Volume 9, No. 2, pp 50-56

5) “The Fatal Error,” story, The Malahat Review, #55, pp 124-130

6) “Hunt as I Hunt,” “Minimal Being,” poems, Quarry, Volume 29, Number 3, pp 50-51

7) “In the New World,” story, Northward Journal #18/19, Nordic Issue, pp 110-115

1979

Journals:

1) “Notes to a friend,” poem, Waves, Volume 7, Number 3, p 64

2) “Eyeless Visions,” print, Waves, Volume 7, Number 3, p 65

3) “The Rite,” story, Canadian Fiction Magazine, Numbers 32/33, 1979/80, pp 15-21

4) “Chasing After Carnivals,” story, The Fiddlehead #120, pp 48-59

5) “This, Our Purpose,” “Shelter, What Shelter?” poems, Origins, Volume 9, Number 1, pp 19-20

1978

Journals:

1) “The Day After,” story, Pierian Spring, Fall, pp 10-17

2) “A Faithful Friend,” story, Descant, #20-21, Volume 9, Numbers 1&2, pp 72-79

3) “Have a Little Decency,” story, Quarry, Volume 27, Number 1, pp 23-30

4) “Plut’s Discovery,” story, The Chelsea Journal, Volume 4, Number 2, page number missing, journal not in author’s possession

1977

Journals:

1) “Cadillacs and Chevies Don’t Mix,” story, Waves, Numbers 2&3, pp 10-22

2) “In the New World,” story, Cutbank 9, Fall/Winter, pp 91-98

1976

Journals:

1) “I Work in the City,” story, Prism international, Volume 15 Numbers 2&3, pp 79-84

1975

Journals:

1) “Twenty Feet Down,” story, Event, Volume 5, Number 2, pp 60-75

1970

Journals:

1) “Antique Gertie Laughed,” story, The Literary Review, Volume 14, Number 2, pp 168-178

2) “The Tick,” story, Carolina Quarterly, Volume 22, Number 2, pp 20-27

1969

Journals:

1) “The Disarrayed,” story, The Literary Review, Volume 12, Number 4, pp 477-484

2) “Do Not Decry,” story, Carolina Quarterly, Volume 21, Number 3, pp 77-84

3) “Sharp Edge of the Knife,” story, Consumption, Volume 2. Number 2, pp 22-28

Landmark in Winter Slumber

Photo by Margrith Schraner

 

 

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton