Member of the Writers Union of Canada; the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP); the Federation of BC Writers.
In-person visits: $300 for one session, $500. All venues, library preferred. Equipment required: large table, microphone for larger groups, projector and screen for PowerPoint, and connectivity for laptop.
Virtual visits (via Zoom): $200 per session (1 hour).
Travel: Travel fees are waived within 100 km of Prince George. Beyond that, mileage is charged at $0.50 per km (round trip).
2022 winner of the Peterson Literary Emerging Writers Grant for a book that promotes a better understanding of the Ukrainian experience. Finalist for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes’ Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.
Cynthia LeBrun is a writer, educator, and former teacher who brings history to life through fact-based, carefully researched historical fiction. She is the author of Black Sunflowers and its forthcoming sequel, Stolen Sunflowers. Cynthia has presented at libraries, museums, and community events across British Columbia, offering engaging and interactive talks that connect past events to lived experience. Cynthia tailors her programs to appeal to both secondary students and adult audiences.
Program: (Grades 10–12 and Adults)
Surviving Darkness: A Ukrainian Family’s Resilience Through the Holodomor and Holocaust
Drawing from her book Black Sunflowers, which was inspired by a true story, Cynthia LeBrun brings to life one of the darkest and least understood chapters of Ukrainian history. Through vivid storytelling, audiences learn about the devastating impact of Stalin’s collectivization policies, the gulag system of exile, and the Holodomor (“death by hunger”), a famine weaponized to destroy Ukrainian identity. Cynthia also explores the Nazi invasion of Ukraine, highlighting both the Holocaust’s toll on Jewish communities and the forced labor of Ukrainian youth on German farms and in factories.
This presentation supports curriculum topics on the Holocaust, the Holodomor, genocide, and World War II, while also helping students connect Ukraine’s past to the present-day conflict. Above all, it is a powerful story of resilience and survival against both Stalin and Hitler—revealing how one family endured and how a people held on to their culture and humanity in the face of destruction.
Format: Here is what will be covered in the 60-minute session:
- Where I come from and how I became a writer
- My book and where I got the inspiration for it.
- PowerPoint presentation
- Author reading from Black Sunflowers
- Q&A
