Elephants in the Room, a collection of fourteen jewel-like stories by award-winning Calgary author Betty Jane Hegerat
Calgary author Betty Jane Hegerat, recipient of the Writers Guild of Alberta Golden Pen Award for lifetime achievement in writing, adds to her literary legacy this fall with the November 18 release of her new short-story collection Elephants in the Room, published by Shadowpaw Press.
“What a gift to have fourteen stories come out into the world between the gorgeous covers designed by Shadowpaw Press,” says Hegerat. “I’m especially happy to have a Saskatchewan publisher because one of my earliest dives into short fiction was at the Sage Hill Writing Experience.”
“I’m thrilled to be able to publish this collection of fourteen amazing stories,” says Edward Willett, publisher of Shadowpaw Press. “I have to thank Dave Margoshes, himself an award-winning author and one of the members of my editorial advisory board, for bringing the book to my attention and for editing it.
“Shadowpaw Press was recently honoured with Certified Canadian Publisher status by the Association of Canadian Publishers. This wonderful book by an Alberta author is part of the press’s ongoing effort to publish deserving work by authors across the country. I hope readers will enjoy these finely crafted tales as much as I did.”
More about Elephants in the Room
Fourteen jewel-like stories unveil the tender chaos of lives unlived and loves unspoken
In Elephants in the Room, Betty Jane Hegerat masterfully uncovers the quiet fractures of ordinary lives—the unspoken regrets, the buried griefs, and the fragile threads of connection that bind families across generations.
From a devoted son’s frantic dash to help his mother glimpse the Queen to a reluctant father’s stunned reunion with the daughter he never knew, from a woman dressing her mother-in-law for an eternal rest to a boy’s guilty reckoning with a bully’s untimely death, these unforgettable stories illuminate the elephants in our lives we ignore at our peril.
With tender wit and unflinching insight, Hegerat explores the weight of what we leave unsaid: the ache of lost chances, the solace of small mercies, and the stubborn grit that carries us through. As poignant as a stolen glance, as resonant as a half-forgotten lullaby, the stories in Elephants in the Room whisper the unvarnished secrets of family ties—where regrets loom large, and small acts of grace light the way home.
Praise for Elephants in the Room
“Betty Jane Hegerat is a meticulous observer of the human condition, and the family in particular. The stories inElephants in the Roomare written with succinct, unadorned prose and a gentleness that belies the strength of their messages. With warmth, humour, empathy, and intimacy, her characters search for the connection and remembrance we seek in those moments of heartbreak that punctuate all of our lives. A most moving collection of short fiction.” – Lori Hahnel, author of Flicker and Vermin: Stories
“Elephants in the Roomis a gorgeously beguiling collection. Individual stories are beautifully paced, with a skilful interplay between past and present. Delightful.”–Peter Midgely, writer, editor, and translator
“Betty Jane Hegerat tells her stories with intense care and in a soft-voiced, clear way that is lean on descriptions, explanations, and emotional fireworks. Even the passages of dialogue are kept short. The stories range from family members struggling to deal with everyday problems familiar to most of us that are nevertheless inescapable and painful, to the heart-shattering issues in the aftermath of broken marriages, to what to do with the willfully (or not) unfailingly incompetent family members of whom most families have at least one, to the deep love for friends whose suffering one is helpless to alleviate. In this collection, Hegerat examines with admirable restraint the serious and mostly unanswerable questions about living the ordinary life with dignity and kindness. This is a book to be loved.”–Sharon Butala, award-winning author of Leaving Wisdom
More about the author
Calgary author Betty Jane Hegerat was a social worker in a long-ago life. The stories she has written since she left that career behind reflect an ongoing need to make sense of conflict and chaos in relationships, and to find moments of laughter and even glimmers of redemption. That seriousness aside, she loves the Calgary writing community. She has taught at the Alexandra Writers’ Centre, Fernie Writers’ Conference, for Continuing Education at the U of C, and was Writer in Residence for the Calgary Public Library. In 2015, she was honoured to receive the Writers Guild of Alberta Golden Pen Award for lifetime achievement in writing. Betty Jane’s stories have been published in anthologies and magazines. She has five previous books: an adult novel, Running Toward Home (Newest Press), a collection of stories, A Crack in the Wall (Oolichan Books), another adult novel, Delivery (Oolican Books), and two young adult novels, Odd One Out (Oolichan Books) and The Boy (Oolichan Books). The Boy, a French braid of investigative journalism, fiction, memoir, and meta-fiction, was shortlisted for the Calgary Book Prize, the High Plains Book Awards, and the Alberta Writers Guild Wilfrid Eggleston Non-Fiction Award.
About Shadowpaw Press
Shadowpaw Press, a Certified Canadian Publisher, is located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and was founded in 2018 by award-winning author Edward Willett. Shadowpaw Press is a member of Literary Press Group (Canada) and the Association of Canadian Publishers and publishes an eclectic selection of books by both new and established authors, including adult fiction, young adult fiction, children’s books, nonfiction, and anthologies.
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