Poetry. Native American Studies. Having developed an impressive reputation for his many novels and nonfiction works, Richard Wagamese now presents a collection of stunning poems ranging over a broad landscape. He begins with an immersion in the unforgettable world where "the ancient ones stand at your shoulder...making you a circle / containing everything." These are Medicine teachings told from the experience of one who lived and still lives them. He also describes his life on the road when he repeatedly ran away at an early age, and the beatings he received when the authorities tried "to beat the Indian right out of me." Yet even in the most desperate situations, Wagamese shows us Canada as seen through the eyes and soul of a well-worn traveller, with his love of country, his love of people. Through it all, there are poems of love and music, the language sensuous and tender.

Author City: Kamloops, BC CAN

Richard Wagamese is Ojibway and a member of the Sturgeon Clan. Separated from his people by foster care and adoption he effectively disappeared for twenty years. When he reconnected with his people, elders told him that his role was to be a storyteller. What resulted was an award-winning career of thirty-two years as a journalist in radio, television and newspapers and then beginning in 1994, as a published and award-winning author. He has published eight titles in nonfiction and fiction. He lives with his wife, Debra Powell, in the mountains outside of Kamloops.

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