love letters to storytellers: sabrina janke
This email was initially sent via Mailchimp December 1, 2021.
featured storyteller
It was a cold, snowy day in February and the first day at my new office job downtown, one of my first “real” jobs out of university. The office only had two windows in the front, and was just a long hallway that seemed to go back into darkness. I was anxious and uncertain, so I was quiet, waiting for people to talk to me first.
I got paired up with Sabrina, the tour manager, for training on reception and the phone system. I was immediately shocked awake by her energy and enthusiasm, her brightly coloured sweatshirt sleeves pushed up to her elbows, her shoulder-length reddish-brown hair, and her bright rosy cheeks. Her smile was wide and full, and she talked a mile a minute about everything, unashamed to share with me on my first day all the quirks and gossip of the office. We quickly learned we were the same age, in similar stages of life at the end of university, and wondering what the heck to do with our lives. I immediately warmed to Sabrina’s unabashed nerdiness and weirdness.
One of the things I love about Sabrina is how much she owns her weirdness. I quickly learned two things about Sabrina: her affinity for storytelling, and her affinity for finding herself in weird situations. I have heard many times the story of the date she went on where the guy was allergic to everything in her apartment, and every time I get together with her, she has another weird story to tell me about her life.
Sabrina, a freelance historian (“freelance historian is just code for unemployed”), has been interested in history since she was a young girl reading Dear Canada books about the Halifax Explosion and watching the movie Anastasia. She was especially fascinated when her grandmother told her Anastasia was based on a real story, and that everyone had been murdered. (“In hindsight, that everyone was murdered is a strange thing to mention to a child.”) Sabrina didn’t initially have the intention to pursue a career in history; she was a theatre kid in high school and dreamed of being an actor. Instead, she realized she had skills in writing and research, was interested in weird stories, and loved solving puzzles. History is extremely weird, and involves solving puzzles, as finding out what happened in any given historical event requires a lot of digging through often disjointed and contradictory sources.
Over years of knowing Sabrina, I’ve also learned Sabrina’s affinity for trashy TV and movies. I have either listened to Sabrina talk about many a Law & Order or Hallmark movie binge or watched along with her. Her interest in trashy media goes hand in hand with the kind of history she is interested in, always gravitating towards the odd and eccentric. “I just like a little bit of garbage,” she told me.
Sabrina earned a degree in history at the University of Winnipeg while spending the rest of her time working as a tour guide and tour manager, as well as with the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation and Heritage Winnipeg. Now, she is a co-host of the award-winning Winnipeg history podcast, One Great History.
The heritage sector is not an easy place to work in, though, especially for young people. History is often seen as boring, and the heritage sector in Winnipeg is largely made up of older generations, and governments that don’t see the value in heritage funding because, ironically, it requires looking ahead. As a result of lack of funding, there are no jobs, so young people don’t stay and the cycle continues. History information isn’t that accessible either, as you have to know where to look for it, and academic historians often don’t have the skills to communicate with others who are not historians. “It is a nightmare and I’m mad I work in it every day,” Sabrina told me.
One of the main reasons Sabrina and her co-host and friend, Alex, created One Great History (which is produced by our friend Nick, who was August’s featured storyteller) was because they saw the gap in history between academics and the general public. They wanted to make history a bit more accessible, and the way they decided to do that was through entertainment. “My goal is mostly to entertain people,” Sabrina says of her history work now. “We’re really tricking people into learning.” And the best way to trick people into learning, as Sabrina and Alex learned well in their previous experience as tour guides, is to tell stories.
On tours, people can tell when tour guides aren’t interested in the content, so on One Great History they make sure to talk about things that interest them, as well as topics relevant to current events, like polio or fascism. Sabrina’s favourite stories are the weirdest ones. One particular story, which everyone who knows Sabrina has heard, is that of Ginger Snooks, a Winnipeg garbage man who tormented Winnipeg mayors and wasn’t really anything special except an oddball Winnipeg character that everyone seemed to know, which is exactly what drew Sabrina to him. There is an entire One Great History episode (which is hilarious) on Ginger Snooks because Sabrina is so passionate about the subject. “That’s my legacy,” Sabrina said with a laugh. “I’m a Ginger Snooks prophet.”
Even though One Great History was created with the gap between popular history and the academic in mind, the main goal of One Great History isn’t to address these huge issues: “I don’t care what people do, I just want to tell people,” Sabrina said. “The podcast is entirely for me, and I don’t care what people take from it. I like sharing weird things with the world, and I hope people like it.”
Sabrina Janke is an occasionally employed historian and award-winning tour guide. Once, years ago, she spilled a can of Heinz Baked Beans in her backpack and her friends will not let her forget about it. You can find all information about her podcast, One Great History, at onegreathistory.wordpress.com, as well as on Twitter @1GreatHistory, Facebook and Instagram @OneGreatHistory.
updates
As I mentioned last month, the next step in the publishing process for my book is illustration and design. My illustrator and I have been working hard on finalizing a contract for weeks now, and are *this close* to signing it. I realized, though, that most of the work for a while will be on her end, so I need something to do.
The thing that people in the publishing world recommend when you have time to wait (so much WAITING in publishing) is to... write! Who would have guessed, right? A writer, writing!? So the two goals I've come up with for this next season are: 1. Write and 2. Make connections!
I was able to do a lot of both this month as I attended the Wild Writing in the Boreal writing retreat at Falcon Trails Resort, hosted by Donna Besel and Lauren Carter. It was an amazing time of learning, unlearning, and feeling incredibly safe and encouraged by a group of 25 talented women of all ages. I wrote a love letter about my experience here.
As always, thanks for following my journey and if you want to know what I'm up to on a daily basis, you can follow my Facebook or Instagram.
Happy DECEMBER!
Alyssa