Ernest Hekkanen
Finnish North American Literature Association
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Biographical Information
Ernest Michael Hekkanen was born on April 27, 1947 in Seattle, Washington. His
father, from Lohtaja, Finland, arrived as a child in 1918 with his parents and
siblings. Ernest currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and writes short
stories and other creative works. He received a B. A. from the University of
Washington and an MFA from the University of British Columbia.
Ernest Hekkanen would have to be called a publishing dynamo. He lists 41 books
and oodles of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that has been anthologized in larger
collections. Here, I list the published books, and below a list of poetry,
His web page can be accessed from the link here:
http://www3.telus.net/neworphicpublishers-hekkanen/
Publications
Books of Poetry
Straying from Luminosity. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
The Wedding Cycle. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1996)
Individual Poems
“The Word Mechanic.” New Orphic Review. 4.1(2001).
“View of the Hinterlands.” New Orphic Review. 3.2 (2000).
"Reaching for Word.” New Orphic Review. 3.1 (2000).
“I Did This.” New Orphic Review. 2.2 (1999).
“Ode to Dad.” Dandelion. 18.1 (1991).
“Veering out of Ice.” Event 20.1 (1991).
“The Doughnut Pantry” and “Humor off My Coast.” Descant 71-72 (1990); 91.
“The Last Rites Hotel.” Ariel 18.2 (1987),
"Today a Flight of Tongues” and “Hidden in the Flesh near the Heart.” Matrix 24
(1987).
“Training the Beast to Fly.” Ariel 16.1 (1984).
“The Flying Embrace.” Wascana Review 16.1 (1984).
“The Rustling You Faintly Hear.” Fiddlehead 141 (1984).
“The Stone Wafer” and “The Myriad Footprints.” Dandelion 11.1 (1984).
“Breathing Sparrows into Me” and “This Morning the Birds.” Matrix 18 (1984).
“Dance the Jolly Jugman.” Quarry 91.2 (1984).
“The Myth Dreamed into Flesh.” Queen's Quarterly 91.2 (1984).
“Festooned with Feathers.” Dandelion 10.20 (1983).
“The Dancing in the Wind.” Canadian Literature 97 (1988).
“A Woman Whose Flesh Would Dream.” Dalhousie Review 62.4 (1982-83).
“When I Bathe” and “Garden, Resuscitated.” Wascana Review 17.1 (1982).
“Once Again As I Dysfunction.” Antigonish Review 47 (1981).
“The Way We Go.” Matrix 18 (1991).
“Our Precious Health.” Canadian Author and Bookman 57.1 (1981).
“Laughter of the Crows.” Canadian Literature 84 (1980).
“Hunt as I Hunt” and “Minimal Being.” Quarry 29.3 (1980).
“Love Ballad of a Neurotic.” Alpha 4.3 (1980).
“This, Our Purpose” and “Shelter, what Shelter.” Origins 9.1 (1979).
“Notes to a Friend.” Waves 7.3 (1979).
“The Last Rites Hotel,” “A Sanctuary of Smell,” “Reaching for Words,” “View from
the Hinterlands,” “Straying from Luminosity,” and “I Was as Light Is.” Connecting
Souls: Finnish Voices in North America. Varpu Lindström & Börje Vähämäki,
editors. Beaverton, Ontario, Canada: Aspasia Books, 2000.
Novels
Of a Fire Beyond the Hills: A Novel Based on News Stories. New Orphic Publishers
(Nelson 2008)
Up & Coming (In Seattle). New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2003)
The Misadventures of Bumbleberry Finn. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
Good Ol’ Boy: Willis V. McCall, (with Ed Roy) New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver
1999)
The Last Thing My Father Gave Me. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
The House of Samsara. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Chasing After Carnivals (revised). New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Black Snow: An Imaginative Memoir (with Margrith Schraner). New Orphic
Publishers (Vancouver 1996)
From a Town Now Dreaming. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1995)
Chasing After Carnivals. Stoddart (Don Mills 1985)
Novellas
Shadows on a Cave Wall. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2007)
The Life of Bartholomew G. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2005)
Man’s Sadness. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 2000)
The Island of Winged Wonders. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 2000)
My Dog Is More Than Just A Dog To Me. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
Dementia Island. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
You Know Me Better Than That. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1998)
Short Story Collections
Melancholy and Mystery of a Street. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2004)
The Big Dave (and Little Wife) Convention. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2004)
Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind: The Revised, Expanded Edition. New Orphic
Publishers (Nelson 2003)
Writing Through to the End, #1 Editor NUC Press (Nelson 2002)
The Flat Earth Excavation Company: A Surreal Fiction Anthology Editor. New
Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2002)
The Shipwrecked Heart: Tales of the Fantastic and the Macabre. New Orphic
Publishers (Nelson 2001)
Bridge Over the Tampere Rapids and Other Finnish Stories. New Orphic
Publishers (Vancouver 1998)
Those Who Eat at My Table. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver1998)
The Soul You Call Your Own. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Journeys That Bring Us Here. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1996)
The Violent Lavender Beast. Thistledown Press (Saskatoon 1988)
Medieval Hour in the Author's Mind. Thistledown Press (Saskatoon 1987)
Plays
The Expulsion (Goodbye, Chubby Chickens) Goodbye. New Orphic Publishers
(Nelson 2002)
The Radio Interview. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
The Clown Act. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
Harbinger of Fall. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
The Well. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2000)
The Lambing. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2000)
Beyond The Call. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Essays and Criticism
Kafka: The Master of Yesno: A Critical Study of the Writer and His Work. New
Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2006).
Heretic! New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2005).
Sometimes I Have These Incendiary Dreams. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver
2000).
Turning Life into Fiction: An Aesthetic Manifesto. New Orphic Publishers
(Vancouver 1996).
Individual Works of Prose
FICTION:
“The Maquette,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 9, no. 1, 2006
“The Puukko,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, no. 2, 2005
“The Last Spike, Circa 2004,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2005
“The Old Dog’s Opera Company,” New World Finn, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2005
“Along the Silk Road,” New World Finn, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2004
“Uncle Reino’s Nagging Problem, New World Finn, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2004
“When Death Comes Home to Roost,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004
“Dad Went Back to Finland,” New World Finn, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2003
“Along the Silk Road,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2003
“Melancholy and Mystery of a Street,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2003
“The Malingerer's Bureau,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2003
“The Odd Cane Out,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2002
“The Misadventures of Bumbleberry Finn,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2001
“Goodfellow Finds It Deep,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2001
“The Merry Voyager,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2000
“The Lost Boy,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2000
“Arms Like Coiled Serpents,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1999
“Journeys That Bring Us Here,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1998
“The Priest Fainted,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 1., No.1, 1998
“Miasma: An Imaginative Memoir,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #77, 1992
“Never Trust Anyone with $400 Boots,” Minus Tides, Vol.5, No.1, 1992
“The Rite,” The Finnish American Reporter, Vol.4, No.11, 1991
“Pale Suitor,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #71, 1990
“Flesh & Spirit: The Rasputin Meditations,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #70, 1990
“Ice Reports,” Grain, Vol.17, No. 4, 1989
“The Wooden Arms of the Angel,” Wascana Review, Vol.21, No.2, 1987
“The Violent Lavender Beast,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #58, 1986
“Preface: The Influence of Alexander Mikkonen,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #54,
1985
“The Tick,” Descant, #50, Vol.16, No.3, 1985
“The Merry Voyager,” Prism International, Vol.24, No.1, 1985
“The Aviarium, Fantastikka,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, No.48, 1984
“The Barb Arm King of the World,” Prism International, Vol.22, No.4, 1984
“The Taking of Lake Shutney,” Event, Vol.12, No.2, 1983
“All Night Gas Bar,” Event, Vol.11, No.1, 1982
“The Successor,” The Malahat Review, No.62, 1982
“Bring Back the Bands, Please,” Fiddlehead, No.129, 1981
“In the New World,” Northward Journal, Nos.18/19, 1980
“The Rite,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, Nos.32/33, 1980
“The Fatal Error,” The Malahat Review, No.55, 1980
“The Black Tom,” Waves, Vol.8, No.3, 1980
“The Bather,” Event, Vol.9, No.2, 1980
“Chasing After Carnivals,” Fiddlehead, No.120, 1979
“The Day After,” Pierian Spring, fall, 1978
“Plut's Discovery,” Chelsea Journal, No.4, No.2, 1978
“Have a Little Decency,” Quarry, Vol.27, No.1, 1978
“A Faithful Friend,” Descant, Vol.9, Nos.1/2, 1978
“In the New World,” CutBank, No.9, 1977
“Cadillacs and Chevies Don't Mix,” Waves, Vol.5, Nos.2/3, 1977
“I Work in the City,” Prism International, Vol.15, Nos.2/3, 1976
“Twenty Feet Down,” Event, Vol.5, No.2, 1976
NON-FICTION:
“The Slavery of Our Times,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 9, no. 1, 2006
“Heretic & Infidel,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, no. 2, 2005
“Ruling Fictions,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, no. 1, 2005
“Being Here,” a review, Books in Canada, Vol. 34, No. 4, 2005
“Finnish Masterpiece,” Books in Canada, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2005
“Lost in a Labyrinth but Unwilling to Escape,” Books in Canada, Vol. 33, No. 4,
2004
“No Exit Except Through Magic,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004
“Feats of the Imagination,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004
“Wrestling with Demons,” B.C. BookWorld, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2003
“Resiliently Yours,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2001
“Alienation and the Kingdom,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2001
“Surrealism and the Environment,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2000
“Taxidermy, and the Writer,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2000
“Incendiary Dreams,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2000
“In Search of a New Orphic Hero,” The New Orphic Review, Vol.2, No.2, 1999
“Inducing Millennium Psychosis,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1999
“Graffiti, Canadian Style,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1999
“Taking Risks,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1998
“An Exploration into the Viability of the Global Economic Design,” The New Orphic
Review, Vol. 1, No.1, 1998
“Finnish-American-Canadian Literature and Art,” Kaiku/Echo, Vol. 6, Nos.9-11,
1996
“Ernest Hekkanen: United States, 1969,” Voices in Exile: Refugees Speak Out,
Thinkware Publishers, 1994
“Cambie Hall: a metaphor for cooperation,” The Finnish American Reporter, Vol.6,
No.11, 1994
“Cambie Hall: a metaphor for cooperation: Kaiku/Echo, Vol.4, No.11, 1994
“Folklore Seminar Revisited,” Kaiku/Echo, Vol.4, No.4, 1994
“Clayoquot Sound and the Väinämöinen Complex,” The Finnish American
Reporter, Vol.7, No.3, 1994
“On Trial: Clayoquot Arrestee Fights Back,” Ever Wild, Vol.5, No.1, 1994
“An Exploration into the Viability of the Global Economic Design,” Common Sense,
Vol.1, No.1, 1993
“Sober Thoughts on the Big Drunk,” Vancouver Sun, Dec. 12, 1992
“Beyond the Blooze,” Vancouver Sun, Oct. 10, 1992
“Death's Door,” Vancouver Sun, May 8, 1992
“Silence is deafening when Humans Hunt,” Vancouver Sun, Apr.25, 1992
“How low will you go for a buck?” Vancouver Sun, March 28, 1992
“Citizens Band,” The Vancouver Review, No.7, 1991
“Questionable Practices,” The Vancouver Review, No.3, 1990
“Thoughts on the Novella,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, No.48, 1984
Book Reviews
Hekkanen’s Of a Fire beyond the Hills
Certain to Enflame the Establishment but Delight the True Patriot
A Review by Beth L. Virtanen, PhD
Bravo, Ernest! Of a Fire Beyond the Hills chronicles the verbal confrontation of
pro- and anti-war groups that culminates on his front lawn in Nelson, British
Columbia, in 2007 and the preamble to it in the weeks preceding the event. Of
course, the story is fictional, much like some work by G. K. Wuori, but the drama of
the story brings to the forefront of our attention the importance of examining the
interests vested in national and international politics.
We as Americans—and Hekkanen as a former American—must stand up and
take notice of what is happening in our world as a result of our politics. In true
American fashion—in the fashion of our forefathers who dared to stand up for our
rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—Hekkanen caustically calls to
accounting pro-war individuals of both Canadian and American extraction. In his
account of the confrontation, no pro-war individual owns his own stance on the war
by signing his name to a petition that names Hekkanen as an anti-war protester
who should be induced to remove himself from the community.
As usual, Hekkanen engages in deep and serious criticism of American
politics and, here, of Canadian complicity in them. While his writing is as nuanced
and subtle as any notable author and more well-crafted than many, Hekkanen’s
most important contributions are made in the substance of his work.
The political commentary he engages rests on and reminds us of the bedrock of
democracy, the right of the individual to speak without fear of reprisal, upon which
our society was formed. In these difficult times when civil rights have been eroded
under pressure from a government that has sought to extend its power to include
torture and to fabricate bases to justify an unfounded war, voices such as
Hekkanen’s remind us of what is truly at stake.
In the novel that details a span of time of no more than a few days, Hekkanen’
s characters engage in acts of resistance against a small-scale public official who
seeks to end Hekkanen’s dissent by bullying him into silence. Of course, grounded
in the kind of tradition of sisu that allowed Finns to fight the Red Army of the
Russians to a draw in WWII, Hekkanen’s characters do not and can not cow tow to
the threats of the petty tyrant.
Of course, while the primary characters in the novel board a plane for an
extended vacation in Switzerland at the end of the action, many citizens in the
same situation have no such luxury. They must stay put and engage continuously
in meaningful resistance that forces response from the government. Hopefully, that
response is compliance with the will of the people rather than retaliation against it.
In a post-Bush era, perhaps a figure who is representative of the people, such as
Barack Obama is, will provide a venue for a welcome respite from the kinds of
political practices that are disparaged in this work.
Hekkanen does not use large online retailers. To purchase the book, go to
www3.telus.net/neworphicpublishers-hekkanen/.
The Existential Hekkanen
By Beth L. Virtanen, PhD
(This is a condensed version of a review that appeared in the New World Finn. To
locate a complete copy, check out the New World Finn website at the following link:
http://www.kantele.com/nwfwebsite/index.html.)
Reading Ernest Hekkanen’s Life of Bartholomew G is like volunteering for an
afternoon of laughter and tears with a manic depressive who is both elated by and
ashamed of himself. In its existentialist qualities, the text is like reading James
Welch’s Life of Jim Loney or Camus’ L’Etranger. Of course, Hekkanen draws on
Kafka’s work in writing the book, creating a parallel between “Mewgy,” his antihero,
and Kafka’s protagonist in Metamorphosis in some ways and in others with the
Kafka’s protagonist in The Penal Colony.
The novel is a brilliant portrayal of a man who almost was what he wanted to be,
even though no one else wanted the same for him. He represents, perhaps, the
fate of man who won’t live up to others’ expectations and can’t live up to his own.
Mewgy is, nevertheless, a likeable guy who just can’t seem to get it together. As we
watch him disappear from rationality, we are both morbidly attracted to and
repelled by his actions. Mewgy is not an accident waiting to happen—he is an
accident that happens again and again and again.
The book is published by Hekkanen’s imprint, the New Orphic Publishers, and is
available by writing to the Publisher at 706 Mill Street, Nelson, British Columbia,
V1L 4S5, CANADA. The ISBN is 1-94842-06-5. The New World Finn bookstore
also carries the volume. The cost is $18 US.
Slaves or Infidels:
A Review of Ernest Hekkanen’s Heretic
(This is a condensed version of a review that appeared in the New World Finn. To
locate a complete copy, check out the New World Finn website at the following link:
http://www.kantele.com/nwfwebsite/index.html.)
Heretic, by Ernest Hekkanen, came out in 2005 and was virtually ignored by the
scholarly and intellectual community. In it he goads the reader into entertaining his
ideas with astute examples drawn from current events.
Hekkanen’s work asks the reader to step out of the commonplace, to think outside
the box, to read against the grain. He goads the reader to reach beyond the easy
narratives we’ve come to rely on in our affluent Western culture and to dig deep
within ourselves to think critically and to write substantively. He challenges us to do
better and to be better than we would be if we were left with only the voices of the
larger narratives that are employed to placate us and allow us to voluntarily remain
“slaves” to masters of the modern world.
So what does Hekkanen think a heretic is? He opens the book with an anecdote in
which he immediately sets the tone of the work. In a lecture he gave at a Canadian
University, he opened the lecture by announcing that he was a heretic. Then he
asked the audience what indeed was a heretic. The audience shared the common
definition, which he shares: “that a heretic is someone who practices religious
heresy or doesn’t believe in what is generally accepted.” According to Hekkanen,
“that is what the word, ‘heretic’ has come to mean . . . [but] the word ‘heretic’ came
to us from the Greek via the Latin and originally it meant ‘able to choose.’ So when
heretics are burned at the stake or otherwise persecuted, the ones doing the
persecuting are telling us that we don’t have the right to choose . . .” (11).
You can get a copy of the text from New Orphic Publishers, 706 Mill Street, Nelson,
British Columbia, V1L 4S5, CANADA. The Canadian Telephone is (250) 354-0494
and the FAX is (250) 352-0743.The cover price is $18.00, the ISBN is 1-894842-
08-1, and the book, Heretic, is well worth the cost.
Ernest Michael Hekkanen was born on April 27, 1947 in Seattle, Washington. His
father, from Lohtaja, Finland, arrived as a child in 1918 with his parents and
siblings. Ernest currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and writes short
stories and other creative works. He received a B. A. from the University of
Washington and an MFA from the University of British Columbia.
Ernest Hekkanen would have to be called a publishing dynamo. He lists 41 books
and oodles of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction that has been anthologized in larger
collections. Here, I list the published books, and below a list of poetry,
His web page can be accessed from the link here:
http://www3.telus.net/neworphicpublishers-hekkanen/
Publications
Books of Poetry
Straying from Luminosity. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
The Wedding Cycle. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1996)
Individual Poems
“The Word Mechanic.” New Orphic Review. 4.1(2001).
“View of the Hinterlands.” New Orphic Review. 3.2 (2000).
"Reaching for Word.” New Orphic Review. 3.1 (2000).
“I Did This.” New Orphic Review. 2.2 (1999).
“Ode to Dad.” Dandelion. 18.1 (1991).
“Veering out of Ice.” Event 20.1 (1991).
“The Doughnut Pantry” and “Humor off My Coast.” Descant 71-72 (1990); 91.
“The Last Rites Hotel.” Ariel 18.2 (1987),
"Today a Flight of Tongues” and “Hidden in the Flesh near the Heart.” Matrix 24
(1987).
“Training the Beast to Fly.” Ariel 16.1 (1984).
“The Flying Embrace.” Wascana Review 16.1 (1984).
“The Rustling You Faintly Hear.” Fiddlehead 141 (1984).
“The Stone Wafer” and “The Myriad Footprints.” Dandelion 11.1 (1984).
“Breathing Sparrows into Me” and “This Morning the Birds.” Matrix 18 (1984).
“Dance the Jolly Jugman.” Quarry 91.2 (1984).
“The Myth Dreamed into Flesh.” Queen's Quarterly 91.2 (1984).
“Festooned with Feathers.” Dandelion 10.20 (1983).
“The Dancing in the Wind.” Canadian Literature 97 (1988).
“A Woman Whose Flesh Would Dream.” Dalhousie Review 62.4 (1982-83).
“When I Bathe” and “Garden, Resuscitated.” Wascana Review 17.1 (1982).
“Once Again As I Dysfunction.” Antigonish Review 47 (1981).
“The Way We Go.” Matrix 18 (1991).
“Our Precious Health.” Canadian Author and Bookman 57.1 (1981).
“Laughter of the Crows.” Canadian Literature 84 (1980).
“Hunt as I Hunt” and “Minimal Being.” Quarry 29.3 (1980).
“Love Ballad of a Neurotic.” Alpha 4.3 (1980).
“This, Our Purpose” and “Shelter, what Shelter.” Origins 9.1 (1979).
“Notes to a Friend.” Waves 7.3 (1979).
“The Last Rites Hotel,” “A Sanctuary of Smell,” “Reaching for Words,” “View from
the Hinterlands,” “Straying from Luminosity,” and “I Was as Light Is.” Connecting
Souls: Finnish Voices in North America. Varpu Lindström & Börje Vähämäki,
editors. Beaverton, Ontario, Canada: Aspasia Books, 2000.
Novels
Of a Fire Beyond the Hills: A Novel Based on News Stories. New Orphic Publishers
(Nelson 2008)
Up & Coming (In Seattle). New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2003)
The Misadventures of Bumbleberry Finn. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
Good Ol’ Boy: Willis V. McCall, (with Ed Roy) New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver
1999)
The Last Thing My Father Gave Me. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
The House of Samsara. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Chasing After Carnivals (revised). New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Black Snow: An Imaginative Memoir (with Margrith Schraner). New Orphic
Publishers (Vancouver 1996)
From a Town Now Dreaming. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1995)
Chasing After Carnivals. Stoddart (Don Mills 1985)
Novellas
Shadows on a Cave Wall. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2007)
The Life of Bartholomew G. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2005)
Man’s Sadness. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 2000)
The Island of Winged Wonders. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 2000)
My Dog Is More Than Just A Dog To Me. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
Dementia Island. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1999)
You Know Me Better Than That. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1998)
Short Story Collections
Melancholy and Mystery of a Street. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2004)
The Big Dave (and Little Wife) Convention. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2004)
Medieval Hour in the Author’s Mind: The Revised, Expanded Edition. New Orphic
Publishers (Nelson 2003)
Writing Through to the End, #1 Editor NUC Press (Nelson 2002)
The Flat Earth Excavation Company: A Surreal Fiction Anthology Editor. New
Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2002)
The Shipwrecked Heart: Tales of the Fantastic and the Macabre. New Orphic
Publishers (Nelson 2001)
Bridge Over the Tampere Rapids and Other Finnish Stories. New Orphic
Publishers (Vancouver 1998)
Those Who Eat at My Table. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver1998)
The Soul You Call Your Own. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Journeys That Bring Us Here. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1996)
The Violent Lavender Beast. Thistledown Press (Saskatoon 1988)
Medieval Hour in the Author's Mind. Thistledown Press (Saskatoon 1987)
Plays
The Expulsion (Goodbye, Chubby Chickens) Goodbye. New Orphic Publishers
(Nelson 2002)
The Radio Interview. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
The Clown Act. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
Harbinger of Fall. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2001)
The Well. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2000)
The Lambing. New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2000)
Beyond The Call. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver 1997)
Essays and Criticism
Kafka: The Master of Yesno: A Critical Study of the Writer and His Work. New
Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2006).
Heretic! New Orphic Publishers (Nelson 2005).
Sometimes I Have These Incendiary Dreams. New Orphic Publishers (Vancouver
2000).
Turning Life into Fiction: An Aesthetic Manifesto. New Orphic Publishers
(Vancouver 1996).
Individual Works of Prose
FICTION:
“The Maquette,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 9, no. 1, 2006
“The Puukko,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, no. 2, 2005
“The Last Spike, Circa 2004,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2005
“The Old Dog’s Opera Company,” New World Finn, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2005
“Along the Silk Road,” New World Finn, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2004
“Uncle Reino’s Nagging Problem, New World Finn, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2004
“When Death Comes Home to Roost,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004
“Dad Went Back to Finland,” New World Finn, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2003
“Along the Silk Road,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2003
“Melancholy and Mystery of a Street,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2003
“The Malingerer's Bureau,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, 2003
“The Odd Cane Out,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2002
“The Misadventures of Bumbleberry Finn,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2001
“Goodfellow Finds It Deep,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2001
“The Merry Voyager,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2000
“The Lost Boy,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2000
“Arms Like Coiled Serpents,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1999
“Journeys That Bring Us Here,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1998
“The Priest Fainted,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 1., No.1, 1998
“Miasma: An Imaginative Memoir,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #77, 1992
“Never Trust Anyone with $400 Boots,” Minus Tides, Vol.5, No.1, 1992
“The Rite,” The Finnish American Reporter, Vol.4, No.11, 1991
“Pale Suitor,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #71, 1990
“Flesh & Spirit: The Rasputin Meditations,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #70, 1990
“Ice Reports,” Grain, Vol.17, No. 4, 1989
“The Wooden Arms of the Angel,” Wascana Review, Vol.21, No.2, 1987
“The Violent Lavender Beast,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #58, 1986
“Preface: The Influence of Alexander Mikkonen,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, #54,
1985
“The Tick,” Descant, #50, Vol.16, No.3, 1985
“The Merry Voyager,” Prism International, Vol.24, No.1, 1985
“The Aviarium, Fantastikka,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, No.48, 1984
“The Barb Arm King of the World,” Prism International, Vol.22, No.4, 1984
“The Taking of Lake Shutney,” Event, Vol.12, No.2, 1983
“All Night Gas Bar,” Event, Vol.11, No.1, 1982
“The Successor,” The Malahat Review, No.62, 1982
“Bring Back the Bands, Please,” Fiddlehead, No.129, 1981
“In the New World,” Northward Journal, Nos.18/19, 1980
“The Rite,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, Nos.32/33, 1980
“The Fatal Error,” The Malahat Review, No.55, 1980
“The Black Tom,” Waves, Vol.8, No.3, 1980
“The Bather,” Event, Vol.9, No.2, 1980
“Chasing After Carnivals,” Fiddlehead, No.120, 1979
“The Day After,” Pierian Spring, fall, 1978
“Plut's Discovery,” Chelsea Journal, No.4, No.2, 1978
“Have a Little Decency,” Quarry, Vol.27, No.1, 1978
“A Faithful Friend,” Descant, Vol.9, Nos.1/2, 1978
“In the New World,” CutBank, No.9, 1977
“Cadillacs and Chevies Don't Mix,” Waves, Vol.5, Nos.2/3, 1977
“I Work in the City,” Prism International, Vol.15, Nos.2/3, 1976
“Twenty Feet Down,” Event, Vol.5, No.2, 1976
NON-FICTION:
“The Slavery of Our Times,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 9, no. 1, 2006
“Heretic & Infidel,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, no. 2, 2005
“Ruling Fictions,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 8, no. 1, 2005
“Being Here,” a review, Books in Canada, Vol. 34, No. 4, 2005
“Finnish Masterpiece,” Books in Canada, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2005
“Lost in a Labyrinth but Unwilling to Escape,” Books in Canada, Vol. 33, No. 4,
2004
“No Exit Except Through Magic,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004
“Feats of the Imagination,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2004
“Wrestling with Demons,” B.C. BookWorld, Vol. 17, No. 4, 2003
“Resiliently Yours,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, 2001
“Alienation and the Kingdom,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, 2001
“Surrealism and the Environment,” New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2000
“Taxidermy, and the Writer,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2000
“Incendiary Dreams,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2000
“In Search of a New Orphic Hero,” The New Orphic Review, Vol.2, No.2, 1999
“Inducing Millennium Psychosis,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1999
“Graffiti, Canadian Style,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1999
“Taking Risks,” The New Orphic Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, 1998
“An Exploration into the Viability of the Global Economic Design,” The New Orphic
Review, Vol. 1, No.1, 1998
“Finnish-American-Canadian Literature and Art,” Kaiku/Echo, Vol. 6, Nos.9-11,
1996
“Ernest Hekkanen: United States, 1969,” Voices in Exile: Refugees Speak Out,
Thinkware Publishers, 1994
“Cambie Hall: a metaphor for cooperation,” The Finnish American Reporter, Vol.6,
No.11, 1994
“Cambie Hall: a metaphor for cooperation: Kaiku/Echo, Vol.4, No.11, 1994
“Folklore Seminar Revisited,” Kaiku/Echo, Vol.4, No.4, 1994
“Clayoquot Sound and the Väinämöinen Complex,” The Finnish American
Reporter, Vol.7, No.3, 1994
“On Trial: Clayoquot Arrestee Fights Back,” Ever Wild, Vol.5, No.1, 1994
“An Exploration into the Viability of the Global Economic Design,” Common Sense,
Vol.1, No.1, 1993
“Sober Thoughts on the Big Drunk,” Vancouver Sun, Dec. 12, 1992
“Beyond the Blooze,” Vancouver Sun, Oct. 10, 1992
“Death's Door,” Vancouver Sun, May 8, 1992
“Silence is deafening when Humans Hunt,” Vancouver Sun, Apr.25, 1992
“How low will you go for a buck?” Vancouver Sun, March 28, 1992
“Citizens Band,” The Vancouver Review, No.7, 1991
“Questionable Practices,” The Vancouver Review, No.3, 1990
“Thoughts on the Novella,” Canadian Fiction Magazine, No.48, 1984
Book Reviews
Hekkanen’s Of a Fire beyond the Hills
Certain to Enflame the Establishment but Delight the True Patriot
A Review by Beth L. Virtanen, PhD
Bravo, Ernest! Of a Fire Beyond the Hills chronicles the verbal confrontation of
pro- and anti-war groups that culminates on his front lawn in Nelson, British
Columbia, in 2007 and the preamble to it in the weeks preceding the event. Of
course, the story is fictional, much like some work by G. K. Wuori, but the drama of
the story brings to the forefront of our attention the importance of examining the
interests vested in national and international politics.
We as Americans—and Hekkanen as a former American—must stand up and
take notice of what is happening in our world as a result of our politics. In true
American fashion—in the fashion of our forefathers who dared to stand up for our
rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness—Hekkanen caustically calls to
accounting pro-war individuals of both Canadian and American extraction. In his
account of the confrontation, no pro-war individual owns his own stance on the war
by signing his name to a petition that names Hekkanen as an anti-war protester
who should be induced to remove himself from the community.
As usual, Hekkanen engages in deep and serious criticism of American
politics and, here, of Canadian complicity in them. While his writing is as nuanced
and subtle as any notable author and more well-crafted than many, Hekkanen’s
most important contributions are made in the substance of his work.
The political commentary he engages rests on and reminds us of the bedrock of
democracy, the right of the individual to speak without fear of reprisal, upon which
our society was formed. In these difficult times when civil rights have been eroded
under pressure from a government that has sought to extend its power to include
torture and to fabricate bases to justify an unfounded war, voices such as
Hekkanen’s remind us of what is truly at stake.
In the novel that details a span of time of no more than a few days, Hekkanen’
s characters engage in acts of resistance against a small-scale public official who
seeks to end Hekkanen’s dissent by bullying him into silence. Of course, grounded
in the kind of tradition of sisu that allowed Finns to fight the Red Army of the
Russians to a draw in WWII, Hekkanen’s characters do not and can not cow tow to
the threats of the petty tyrant.
Of course, while the primary characters in the novel board a plane for an
extended vacation in Switzerland at the end of the action, many citizens in the
same situation have no such luxury. They must stay put and engage continuously
in meaningful resistance that forces response from the government. Hopefully, that
response is compliance with the will of the people rather than retaliation against it.
In a post-Bush era, perhaps a figure who is representative of the people, such as
Barack Obama is, will provide a venue for a welcome respite from the kinds of
political practices that are disparaged in this work.
Hekkanen does not use large online retailers. To purchase the book, go to
www3.telus.net/neworphicpublishers-hekkanen/.
The Existential Hekkanen
By Beth L. Virtanen, PhD
(This is a condensed version of a review that appeared in the New World Finn. To
locate a complete copy, check out the New World Finn website at the following link:
http://www.kantele.com/nwfwebsite/index.html.)
Reading Ernest Hekkanen’s Life of Bartholomew G is like volunteering for an
afternoon of laughter and tears with a manic depressive who is both elated by and
ashamed of himself. In its existentialist qualities, the text is like reading James
Welch’s Life of Jim Loney or Camus’ L’Etranger. Of course, Hekkanen draws on
Kafka’s work in writing the book, creating a parallel between “Mewgy,” his antihero,
and Kafka’s protagonist in Metamorphosis in some ways and in others with the
Kafka’s protagonist in The Penal Colony.
The novel is a brilliant portrayal of a man who almost was what he wanted to be,
even though no one else wanted the same for him. He represents, perhaps, the
fate of man who won’t live up to others’ expectations and can’t live up to his own.
Mewgy is, nevertheless, a likeable guy who just can’t seem to get it together. As we
watch him disappear from rationality, we are both morbidly attracted to and
repelled by his actions. Mewgy is not an accident waiting to happen—he is an
accident that happens again and again and again.
The book is published by Hekkanen’s imprint, the New Orphic Publishers, and is
available by writing to the Publisher at 706 Mill Street, Nelson, British Columbia,
V1L 4S5, CANADA. The ISBN is 1-94842-06-5. The New World Finn bookstore
also carries the volume. The cost is $18 US.
Slaves or Infidels:
A Review of Ernest Hekkanen’s Heretic
(This is a condensed version of a review that appeared in the New World Finn. To
locate a complete copy, check out the New World Finn website at the following link:
http://www.kantele.com/nwfwebsite/index.html.)
Heretic, by Ernest Hekkanen, came out in 2005 and was virtually ignored by the
scholarly and intellectual community. In it he goads the reader into entertaining his
ideas with astute examples drawn from current events.
Hekkanen’s work asks the reader to step out of the commonplace, to think outside
the box, to read against the grain. He goads the reader to reach beyond the easy
narratives we’ve come to rely on in our affluent Western culture and to dig deep
within ourselves to think critically and to write substantively. He challenges us to do
better and to be better than we would be if we were left with only the voices of the
larger narratives that are employed to placate us and allow us to voluntarily remain
“slaves” to masters of the modern world.
So what does Hekkanen think a heretic is? He opens the book with an anecdote in
which he immediately sets the tone of the work. In a lecture he gave at a Canadian
University, he opened the lecture by announcing that he was a heretic. Then he
asked the audience what indeed was a heretic. The audience shared the common
definition, which he shares: “that a heretic is someone who practices religious
heresy or doesn’t believe in what is generally accepted.” According to Hekkanen,
“that is what the word, ‘heretic’ has come to mean . . . [but] the word ‘heretic’ came
to us from the Greek via the Latin and originally it meant ‘able to choose.’ So when
heretics are burned at the stake or otherwise persecuted, the ones doing the
persecuting are telling us that we don’t have the right to choose . . .” (11).
You can get a copy of the text from New Orphic Publishers, 706 Mill Street, Nelson,
British Columbia, V1L 4S5, CANADA. The Canadian Telephone is (250) 354-0494
and the FAX is (250) 352-0743.The cover price is $18.00, the ISBN is 1-894842-
08-1, and the book, Heretic, is well worth the cost.
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