Trinity Western University (TWU) professor Dr. Monika Hilder introduces her new fiction book on fairy tales at a book-signing in Abbotsford on Saturday, Oct. 22.
The event takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at House of James (2743 Emerson St.). Hilder’s book is titled Letters to Annie: A Grandmother’s Dreams of Fairy Tale Princesses, Princes and Happily Ever After.
In the voice of a grandmother writing to her granddaughter over the first 25 years of her life, Hilder invites readers into a dual coming-of-age story – that of young Annie and of her Omi as they grow their relationship.
Over the course of 33 letters, Letters to Annie explores how to live a meaningful life.
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“The best fairy tales teach us that we live in community, and that we are offered countless gifts to help us on our way,” Hilder said.
The book explores the moral and spiritual wisdom in some of the best fairy tales, Narnian and other fantasy stories
Hilder has published fiction, poetry, drama, articles and a three-volume study of C.S. Lewis and gender: The Feminine Ethos in C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia (2012), The Gender Dance: Ironic Subversion in C.S. Lewis’s Cosmic Trilogy (2013), and Surprised by the Feminine: A Rereading of C.S. Lewis and Gender (2013).
She is co-editor of The Inklings and Culture: A Harvest of Scholarship from the Inklings Institute of Canada (2020).
Hilder has appeared on CBC Radio and has spoken at conferences across Canada and in the United States, England, Scotland and Romania.
She received her PhD from Simon Fraser University, and she is professor of English at TWU and co-founder and co-director of the Inklings Institute of Canada.
As the first Canadian-born member of her family, Hilder explores the meaning of homeland, the plight of the refugee, and identity – in short, the importance of story.