Underground is about the events that lead a Canadian soldier to fight in the Spanish Civil War. A journey of self-discovery, the story of Albert Fraser begins in the brutal battlefields of the Somme and then moves into the squalor and strife of the 1930s in Canada. Battle-scarred, Al searches for an answer to the question, Who am I? and, in a seemingly rash and contradictory act, returns to war--this time in Spain.

Both love story and social commentary, Underground (Cormorant Books, 2009) examines the timeless human conditions of passion, conflict and hope. In its depiction of swinging picks on a British Columbia mountainside to wielding scythes in a Spanish rye field, it is also a celebration of work and of the camaraderie of workers. Underground has been called “taut and lean, elegant and poetic” by The Globe and Mail, and compared to the works of Annie Proulx and Steinbeck. It is shortlisted for the Ontario Library Association’s Evergreen 2010 Award.

The fight against fascism in Spain became one of the greatest rallying cries of a generation, and yet the 1,700 who volunteered from this country are Canada’s forgotten soldiers. One quarter of them died in Spain, but they are seldom named at Remembrance Day ceremonies and are given only scant reference in school texts. Only four works of non-fiction have been written about Canada’s volunteers. The latest is the excellent Renegades: Canadians in the Spanish Civil War by Michael Petrou.

For more information about the Spanish Civil War, including photographs, see Shots of War: Photojournalism During the Spanish Civil War.

A former journalist and teacher, June's short fiction has appeared in Pottersfield Portfolio (she won its compact fiction competition), as well as in The Capilano Review, Other Voices, and Contemporary Verse 2. Check out June’s new website at www.junehutton.com for more details about her and her work. June is represented by John Pearce of Westwood Creative Artists.

Photo of June by Janet Baxter