Writing With a Broken Tusk
Writing With a Broken Tusk began in 2006 as a blog about overlapping geographies, personal and real-world, and writing books for children. Since March 2024, Jen Breach (writer, VCFA graduate, and former student) has helped me curate and manage guest posts and Process Talk pieces on this blog.
The blog name refers to the mythical pact between the poet Vyaasa and the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha who was his scribe during the composition of the epic narrative, the Mahabharata. It also refers to my second published book, edited by the generous and brilliant Diantha Thorpe of Linnet Books/The Shoe String Press, published in 1996, acquired and republished by August House, now part of Reading Is Fundamental, and still miraculously in print.
Posts on this site reflect personal opinion and commentary protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
Above All, the Children
Russian authorities, Masha Gessen tells us in her New Yorker article, have banned words like “war” or “invasion” to describe what they want to call a “special operation” in Ukraine. Whatever they may choose to call it, it’s about walking into someone else’s home and suggesting that it’s not a home at all, and the people in it are not who they think they are.
And what about the children? I’m reminded of the Ukrainian folktale retold in America by Jan Brett in her beloved book, The Mitten.