The Wartime House in Shaughnessy Heights:
I wrote this memoir with poetry in 2009. It takes place in Shaughnessy Heights, a small neighborhood within North End Winnipeg. I have decided to publish it here, as a serial. The memoir is a series of episodes. They are all descriptions of memories that I had never shared. The memoir contains characters and locations, within the neighborhood as seen t
hrough my eyes and my memories from early child hood until I left Shaughnessy Heights. Everything is true; as true as I remember it. Of course, others from Shaughnessy Heights might remember things differently, but this is one young girl's version of that period, mostly the 1960's.
The poems were written before the memoir, but much later than the episodes they accompany, took place. To choose the poetry included in this piece, I reviewed each episode for the affect generated by the memory. Then I mined my database of poems and selected poems with similar affect, written by the woman, to accompany the memory, as told by the girl. So time is juxtaposed and sometimes the context may not seem clear. But if you can hardly imagine how the girl felt in her childhood situation, while you read an adjacent poem, that feeling might become more apparent.
The Wartime House in Shaughnessy Heights is a story of resilience.
I intend to publish this memoir weekly, in sequence, one episode at a time, right here.
I reserve copyright to this publication. Please use with permission only. You may reach me here.
I hope you enjoy it.
Nancy-Ellen McLennan
I wrote this memoir with poetry in 2009. It takes place in Shaughnessy Heights, a small neighborhood within North End Winnipeg. I have decided to publish it here, as a serial. The memoir is a series of episodes. They are all descriptions of memories that I had never shared. The memoir contains characters and locations, within the neighborhood as seen t
hrough my eyes and my memories from early child hood until I left Shaughnessy Heights. Everything is true; as true as I remember it. Of course, others from Shaughnessy Heights might remember things differently, but this is one young girl's version of that period, mostly the 1960's. The poems were written before the memoir, but much later than the episodes they accompany, took place. To choose the poetry included in this piece, I reviewed each episode for the affect generated by the memory. Then I mined my database of poems and selected poems with similar affect, written by the woman, to accompany the memory, as told by the girl. So time is juxtaposed and sometimes the context may not seem clear. But if you can hardly imagine how the girl felt in her childhood situation, while you read an adjacent poem, that feeling might become more apparent.
The Wartime House in Shaughnessy Heights is a story of resilience.
I intend to publish this memoir weekly, in sequence, one episode at a time, right here.
I reserve copyright to this publication. Please use with permission only. You may reach me here.
I hope you enjoy it.
Nancy-Ellen McLennan
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