Fuchsia Dragon | [email protected]
On the outskirts of a Yukon town stands the century-old home of one of Canada’s most popular and prolific authors, Pierre Berton.
Every year, Canadian writers fight for the chance to use the home as a private retreat.
And next summer, Jasper’s Ailsa Ross will call the Berton House her own to work on a new book.
She said: “I had a housemate in Scotland who was obsessed with Jack London, I felt like we were always reading Shakespeare and Jack London, reading about bears and wolves.
“Now I want to know the real stories in the Yukon, not just the white male perspective of that situation.
“It’s really exciting to learn other things in the Yukon and beyond just the Jack London idea of it.
“I will be book writing all the time, making the most of the liberty, meeting people and getting the stories.
“Writing sometimes doesn’t feel like a real job but being there will feel like I’m justifying it. I will maybe feel less guilty for spending time getting inspiration.
“I’m looking forward to getting away from it all.”
Ross, a journalist and editor, is a contributor to BBC History, Outside Online and National Geographic Travel.
She will be staying at Berton House from July to September 2020 and working on A Field Guide for Feeling Free - a mix of biography and memoir on the subjects of curiosity, freedom and fear told through the lives of eight iconic women who were drawn to remote places.
She said: “It’s in 2020 so plans could change, but I’m working on non-fiction book program with each chapter being an account of a woman drawn to a remote place, and telling their stories.
“It’s bigger than personal issues, it will be cultural history and tell how they felt in these places, how they choose to live."
Ross’ debut book, The Woman Who Rode a Shark, comes out this year. It is a nonfiction book for young readers about bold women who have gone on big adventures.
She said: “I have been a full time writer and editor for about seven years, mostly travel writing.
“But as climate change becomes more obvious I become less enthusiastic about travel writing - About 10 per cent of carbon emissions comes from the travel industry.”
Ross said she took part in a three-week writing workshop in Banff last year and was inspired to broaden her horizons.
She said: “It was such a great experience and I wanted to see what other opportunities were available.
"I spent hours Googling and applied for the writers’ residency, not expecting to get it - but I got it. I had to send a writing sample of 10 to 15 pages and why I wanted to do it - being in the Yukon and three months’ uninterrupted writing.”
Pierre Berton wrote more than 50 books during his career. From narrative histories to picture books, and from children’s stories to readable, historical works for youth, many of his books are now Canadian classics.
The Berton House, in Dawson City, is in Dawson City, a remote community of just over 1,000 people. It was built in 1901 and was the childhood family home of Pierre Berton from 1920 to 1932.
The dwelling was bought by Yukon Arts Council in 1989 thanks to a donation of $50,000 from Berton himself, and is now the official home of the Berton House Writers’ Retreat Program.
