The next author in our series of readings sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts is Garry Gottfriedson of the Secwepemc First Nation. His work is of particular importance today, because he aggressively confronts those indigenous issues that appear daily in our media.
From his large, ranching family Gottfriedson inherits his love of stories, song and dance. He has earned degrees in education and creative writing, written eight books of poetry and been nominated for awards including the Canadian Authors Association Award for Poetry. In 1997 he was inducted into the International Poetry Hall of Fame.
Gottfriedson’s poetry tells of the injustices of colonization, of residential schools and missing indigenous women. Of the first sections in his latest collection, Deaf Heaven, one critic wrote: “These pieces are a screaming indictment that rips away any comfortable delusions.”
By contrast, when writing of the land, of the sufferings of his people, his poetry is loving and tender. That he still remains optimistic is, as Rita Wong writes, thanks to his “grounded strength … from strong connection to grandmothers, grandfathers, horses and the land.”
Gottfriedson will be reading at the Arts Centre in Sechelt on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. Admission is by donation.
– Submitted by Paddy Blenkinsop
