McKay, Ami 1968-

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McKay, Ami 1968-

PERSONAL:

Born 1968, in IN; married; children: two sons. Education: Indiana State University, B.A.; completed some graduate studies.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Canning, Nova Scotia, Canada. Agent—Helen Heller, The Helen Heller Agency, 892 Avenue Rd., 3rd. Fl., Toronto, Ontario M5P 2K6, Canada. E-mail—[email protected]; [email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, novelist, journalist, radio writer, documentary producer, and educator. Worked as a music teacher at an inner-city high school in Chicago, IL. Writer and producer of documentaries for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Radio for programs such as Maritime Magazine, This Morning, OutFront, and the Sunday Edition.

MEMBER:

Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia (member of Writers' Council), PEN Canada, PEN Canada Rapid Action Network.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Excellence in Journalism Medallion, Atlantic Journalism Awards, 2003, for documentary Daughter of Family G; Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture, and Heritage grant; Short Prose Competition finalist, Writers' Union of Canada.

WRITINGS:

The Birth House (novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 2006.

Antigonish Review, associate editor of fiction.

SIDELIGHTS:

Born and raised in rural Indiana, Ami McKay spent years as a music teacher in Chicago while nurturing her desire to write fiction. A single mother of a two-year-old at the time, McKay "kept my words to myself, having decided that a career in writing would have to wait," she commented on her home page. In 2000, she moved to Scots Bay, Nova Scotia, to be with the man who would later become her husband. While waiting for her residency to be approved, and with encouragement from her partner, she began to submit her writing. Her first projects involved writing and sending thank-you notes to people she did not know. Her goodwill efforts landed her an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show. Galvanized by this success, McKay attended a workshop on writing for radio, which led to freelance work writing and producing documentaries for Canadian radio. An apprenticeship in the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia mentorship program afforded her the opportunity to work on what would become her debut novel, The Birth House.

The Birth House originated in stories McKay heard from local women in Scots Bay while she was pregnant with her second child, she related in an interview on the Birth House Web site. At one time, a local midwife named Rebecca Steele had lived in the home where McKay and her family resided. She visited a local woman, now ninety years old and living in a nursing home, who was the daughter of the midwife. The woman, who had been adopted by the midwife after the death of her biological mother, told McKay numerous stories about her adopted mother's skill and compassion. The experience led McKay to seek the assistance of a midwife for the birth of her second child. Additional information on Rebecca Steele's life proved difficult to find, but McKay felt hers was an important story to tell. These events provided the foundation for The Birth House.

In the novel, set in the early twentieth century, seventeen-year-old Dora Rare has become the apprentice of midwife Marie Babineau, who has long practiced her healing arts in an isolated rural village in Nova Scotia. Dora quickly learns the skills of midwifery and intends to carry on the tradition. Shortly before Dora's wedding to Archer Bigelow, Marie abruptly disappears, leaving Dora to carry on her practice. Conflict arises when Dr. Gilbert Thomas, a modern medical doctor, arrives in the area with the intention of convincing the local women to abandon their reliance on the area's midwives and instead turn to his modern maternity hospital. The expectant mothers of the area, as well as their husbands, become bitterly split on the issue of midwifery, even as Thomas's attacks against Dora become more vengeful while he continues to portray midwife-assisted births as dangerous. Adding to Dora's troubles are her own difficult marriage, the ongoing pressures of her duties, a newborn unexpectedly left with her to raise, and the outbreak of World War I. "This sensitively written novel … will appeal to readers who enjoy gentle humor and plenty of homespun wisdom," commented Sarah Johnson, writing in Booklist. Mary Margaret Benson, writing in the Library Journal, called McKay a "wonderful storyteller with a strong sense of place and time," while a Publishers Weekly contributor noted that "McKay handles the proceedings with winning, unsentimental care."