Yukon, North of Ordinary: In This Issue: Contributors Bios

Contributors' bios

Cathie Archbould lives in Whitehorse and can often be seen, camera in hand, capturing Yukoners, and their community, on film.

Brenda Barnes is the president and former producer of the Frostbite Music Festival. She is also a freelance artist promoter, event presenter, broadcaster and writer in Whitehorse.

Leighann Chalykoff As a child, Leighann always wished she had the power to see the future, fly and read minds. Today, she’s happy with the powers she has.
“I was able to talk to some really interesting, forward-thinking people in the process of writing this article,” she says. “I have no worries about the future of the Yukon.” (p. 39 Vol. 3 Iss. 1 Spring 2009).

Heather Cleland is an Ontarian-turned-B.C.er and calls Vancouver home. She spends her days writing about travelling Western Canada. Her writing has appeared in BeyondRobson.com, Monday Magazine and Maisonneuve magazine.

Claire Festel Many long-time Yukoners lead colourful lives, but Claire says it’s hard to be anything less than superlative about Alex Van Bibber’s experiences. “His exploits and bush skills are truly legendary, his personality is larger than life, and he is a spellbinding storyteller. He brings Yukon history alive.” (Vol. 3 Iss. 2).

Louise Freeman (Vol 2, Iss 2, p. 38, "Meeting of the river peoples") lives near Eagle, Alaska, where she is working on a book. "I loved seeing new parts of the Yukon, and I didn't even mind when the plane from Old Crow to Dawson was detoured through Inuvik because now I can say I've been to the Northwest Territories as well."

Erling Friis-Baastad is encouraged by the arrival of the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Centre (Vol 1 Iss 4, p. 70, "Taking on the cold"). "We northerners are justifiably proud of our colourful history, but the future is challenging; we must put our heads together to meet it," he says.

André Gagné André’s second Yukon, North of Ordinary contribution took him to Taku River Tlingit country. “I could have written a comprehensive history of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival if only I had been given a 20,000 word limit instead of 2,000,” he says. “There were so many fascinating details.”. (Vol. 3 Iss. 2).

Miche Genest is one of the editors of the Urban Coyote anthology series. She lives, writes and cooks in Whitehorse and she’s still trying to get her highbush-cranberry jelly to set.

Paul Gowdie is a visual-media specialist whose expertise includes photography, graphic design, fine art, and film and video production. A gardener, cook, mechanical tinkerer, bushwhacker and third-string athlete, he's at home in the Yukon. Gowdie took the photographs for "The boreal chef: Simply sizzlin'" (Vol. 2 Iss. 3).

Beverley Gray is a herbalist, registered aromatherapist and an award-winning natural health product formulator. She owns Aroma Borealis Herb Shop in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Janelle Hardy works as a Hellerwork structural integrator, writes, mothers and makes art. “Biting into my Great Aunt Lil’s homegrown tomatoes, I could feel the rich, deep soil distilled into the juiciest tomato I’d ever tasted,” says Janelle. Researching community gardening in the North gives her hope for more experiences like that. (p. 36 Vol. 3 Iss. 1 Spring 2009).

Darrell Hookey is the editor of What's Up Yukon and How's Business Yukon and has been a freelance writer for 25 years. His stories have appeared in Reader's Digest, Up Here, Maturity, BOOK Magazine and Spirit of Canada.

George K. Ilsley is from the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia
and now lives in Vancouver. He is the author of two works of
fiction, Random Acts of Hatred and ManBug. While writer-in-
residence at Berton House Writers’ Retreat (Vol 2 Iss 1, Yukon
spotlight, “The golden rule”), he worked on a new novel and
listened to ravens.

Chris McNutt is an observer of the northern experience and thinks everyone should spend more time looking out of the windows of airplanes.

Mitch Miyagawa: “My first trip to Whitehorse was during Rendezvous,” says Mitch, who remembers buying raffle tickets from a Rendezvous Queen candidate at the Capital Hotel. Mitch arrived that February to visit his girlfriend and stayed 10 years. He’s working on a book of essays about contemporary Yukon. (See “Hail to the Queen”, p.36; Winter 2008/09).

Al Pope: Over winters of travelling the Yukon River by dogsled, author and journalist Al Pope became fascinated with its history and with places like Fort Selkirk, that reveal their stories layer by layer, from ancient to present day (Vol 1 Iss 4 "Digging in the dirt"). His novel of Yukon adventure, Bad Latitudes, is published by Turnstone Press.

Wayne Potoroka: While the Yukon serves up its own great music festivals, Wayne found several in the gateway cities that are worth the trip south. “If you need a reason to pry yourself away from the Yukon this summer, one of these ‘outside’ music festivals is it,” says Wayne. (Vol. 3 Iss. 2).

Patricia Robertson knows from experience that acquiring a second language is hard work. "When I was first learning Spanish, my jaw actually hurt from using different muscles." Robertson's fiction has twice been nominated at the National Magazine Awards. Her most recent book is The Goldfish Dancer: Stories and Novellas. Read Robertson's article about the young First Nation language teachers who are passing on their cultures and languages to the next generation, "Tongues untied" (Vol. 2 Iss. 3).

Eva Salinas began her journalism career as a late-night copy editor for a small-town Ontario newspaper. A reporting stint with the Globe and Mail brought her to the West Coast, where she continues to work as a freelancer.

Diane Selkirk had no idea that to find the exotic all she needed to do was cross a bridge to the town next door. Next time she goes to Richmond, she may even order the white jelly fungus (Vol 1 Iss 4, Travel outside, "Tea in two Richmonds"). Or, maybe not.

Jessica Simon Adventurous youth feature in Jessica’s first crime novel, Terror in the Arctic. “Our kids can do anything,” she says, “and Yukoners encourage that. Local resources provide an impressive array of activities so youth can play hard under the Midnight Sun.”
Read Jessica’s guide to Yukon summercamps, starting on p. 43 (Vol. 3 Iss. 1 Spring 2009).

Jerome Stueart Jerome sees a similarity between the first Klondike Gold Rush and geocaching. “Who can resist a treasure hunt when you know there’s something valuable down there or, with geocaching, something interesting? I can understand how this kept the gold rushers rushing.” Jerome’s work has been heard on CBC Radio, and his fiction has been published in Fantasy, Strange Horizons, and other magazines.”. Check out his blog at jeromestueart.com.

Jen Williams' artwork has been exhibited in galleries in Yukon and beyond, and her publication credits include Geez Magazine and the Globe and Mail.

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