Melissa Morelli Lacroix, winner of the 2023 Emerging Writers Short Prose Competition, has published a poignant, music-inspired novella titled Adventures of Ivan.
The novella, set during the early months of the COVID-19 lockdown, shares the adventures of Ukrainian Canadian Ivan Burtney, who is confined to his retirement residence. Amid solitude and uncertainty, his days are suffused with memories, regrets, and the lingering loneliness of widowhood, aging, and lost friends. Yet Ivan continues to find joy and purpose by connecting with family, friends, and community—whether masked, by phone, or through a pane of glass.
Portions of the novella appeared as Ivan and Irene, the winning submission in the TSF Short Prose Competition.
“Enriched with observations and of-the-moment context – residential lockdown during Covid-19 – Ivan’s adventure is propelled by a strong and compelling internal voice that is utterly sympathetic and engaging, and creates a world uniquely Ivan’s. A pleasure to read.”
– Myrna Kostash, Competition Adjudicator and KOBZAR Book Award winner
“From the opening we are immediately immersed into Ivan’s 97 years of survival, love, and a life defined by the challenges and beauty of Saskatchewan’s immense landscape. Lacroix then plunges us into Ivan’s new world defined by the confines of Riverrun Retirement home, now further narrowed by stifling individual isolation requirements of COVID protocols. What follows is a heartwarming engagement of the reader with Ivan’s lighthouse beacon – the heartwarming reconstructed refuge of memories of his departed love – Irene.”
– Gordon Gordey, Competition Adjudicator and librettist/writer
The title of the book and its chapters were taken from Aram Khachaturian’s 1948 piano collection. Adventures of Ivan: 8 Pieces for Students. The pieces animate Ivan’s story as he sings long-forgotten Ukrainian songs, recalls youthful adventures, and embarks on fantastic travels with a wise bear, a firebird, and even his departed sister. Ivan’s adventures carry him from 2020 back to World War II, through the polio epidemics of the 1950s, and into his childhood as the son of immigrants on the Canadian prairies.
Inspired by Melissa’s grandparents, Ivan’s name is also an homage to family friend Olga Burtney-Kondra, who epitomized the generation of Ukrainian Canadians who came of age in Saskatchewan during World War II.
Melissa Morelli Lacroix is a Saskatchewan-born writer, teacher, and editor who lives and works in Edmonton, Alberta. Her first book, a collection of poetry entitled A Most Beautiful Deception, was published by the University of Alberta Press in 2014.
TSF congratulates Melissa on her success! Her novella can be read and purchased at this LINK.