Some recent media features
North by Northwest, with Sheryl MacKay: October 18th, 8:30 AM. I was so delighted to have this conversation with Sheryl MacKay about Petra Kelly, her general-for-peace lover, and the novel writing process.
Maclean’s Magazine: Three Governor General’s winners – two for fiction and one for non-fiction – chose Petra as a book to read during the pandemic!
Globe & Mail: A probing Question and Answer with arts journalist Emily Donaldson.
Toronto Star: A personal piece I wrote for the Toronto Star about meeting Petra Kelly and the seeds for my novel.
The National Observer (syndicated online in The Star): An interview with Rochelle Baker.
Pickle Me This: Novelist, book reviewer and blogger Kerry Clare explores the emotional landscape of Petra and how fiction veers from biography.
Book launch for PETRA, August 25, 2020
Island Launch: Big thanks to Karen Mahon Carrington, Robert MacLeod Carrington, Marnie’s Books, and others on Cortes Island, who organized my Island Launch (socially isolating, and completely wonderful). Please lie back on a blanket, in one of our blanket pods, and enjoy the entertainment as the sun sets – see video below! Poetry courtesy of Erin Robinson, music by Lucy Lambert and Rick Bockner, and a reading from Petra, plus on-stage interview about the novel, moderated by Karen Mahon Carrington.
Talk at Munro’s Books, October 13, 2020
Munro’s Books, October 13th, 2020. Three BC writers of historical fiction talk shop about their new novels. This was such a fabulous event! A Zoom show and share, using photographs to illustrate our research process! Then a conversation led by acclaimed novelist, Claire Mulligan. Featuring Dede Crane, author of the newly released One Madder Woman, the story of the brilliant impressionist painter Berthe Morisot – a woman who changed our relationship to light, shadow, figure and movement in painting, but whose name is far less known than her contemporaries, Degas and Manet, both of whom owe much to her innovations. And Caroline Adderson – the author, most recently, of A Russian Sister, which brilliantly tells the story of Masha Chekhov, the famous writer’s sister – whose watchful eye sees deeper into her brother than he can see into himself. I talk about my earliest drafts of Petra, how wolves haunted my drafts, and a single image that got under my skin for years.
Appearance on Ottawa Writers Festival podcast
Ottawa Writers Festival Podcast – Confronting History: Some think of history as something distinct from the here and now, but for bettor or worse, history is always with us. Clearly, some history needs to be confronted if we are ever going to learn from it. This episode features Francesca Ekwuyasi in conversation with Catherine Hernandez and Shaena Lambert in conversation with Peter Schneider.
Talk at Vancouver Writers Festival, October 25, 2020
Vancouver Writers Festival, Sunday, October 25th, 11 AM PST: Thrilled and honoured to be part of The Interviews with Marsha Lederman, featuring Seth Klein, Shaena Lambert and Amin Maalouf. This is sure to be a fascinating discussion. Amin Maalouf is the renowned scholar and author of The Crusades through Arab Eyes, and Samarkand. Policy expert and social thinker Seth Klein has just come out with a new book – The Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency – on how our society can and must flex World War 2-type muscle to fight climate change. I will dig into the story of ecological heroine Petra Kelly, and what we can learn from her incandescent – and complicated – example. Three consecutive solo interviews with Marsha Lederman followed by audience questions and answers. For more information, contact The Vancouver Writers Festival.
Canadian activists comment on Petra
Two Canadian activist leaders and feminists, Judy Rebick and Tzeporah Berman, have weighed in on Petra:
“I loved Petra… set in a modern social movement reflecting both the excitement and dysfunction. Petra is the story of a powerful woman leader of the Greens in Germany. A wonderful portrait of a woman leader caught in the contradictions of our generation of women.” —Judy Rebick, author, feminist, activist
“Petra is a captivating book about passion and purpose. Shaena Lambert manages to both capture the complexity and vision of Petra Kelly while digging deep into the history and politics of the green movement. I couldn’t put it down!” —Tzeporah Berman, Canadian environmental leader
Shelagh Rogers – The Next Chapter
Tune in for a discussion of the themes and story behind my new novel, Petra, with Shelagh Rogers, on The Next Chapter, CBC Radio. Recording in August for airing early September. Date and time to come. If you’d like info on when this interview will air, please join Shaena’s mailing list.
Gill Deacon — Here and Now
Join us for a CBC Radio Toronto conversation about Petra, my novel, and the fascinating woman behind the words. 1:55 pm, PST; 4:55 pm, EST.
Toronto Word on the Street
Saturday-Sunday, September 26th
A Festival of Ideas, Story Telling and Imagination. Join in a 30 minute on-line facilitated discussion on Petra, research, the ethics and boundaries of writing into the lives of real people, the seeds that started the book, and a reading. Precise time to come; visit the website.