Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney - Softcover

Ruffo, Armand G.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1550501097 ISBN 13: 9781550501094

Publisher: Coteau Books, 2003

Synopsis

Armand Ruffo creates a complex and wonderfully textured portrait of one of Canada's most fascinating public figures in Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney. This unique, accessible collection of narrative poetry examines a dynamic, often contradicory, always fascinating man who reconstructed his character to deliver his message of conservation to the world. Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney is a compelling study of an intriguing character – a white man who assumed a native "voice" to promote his ideas and ideals to an international audience. In turn, the book raises difficult questions about identity and voice, aboriginal culture, human rights, and the environment.Ruffo draws on extensive archival research, and family memories – Grey Owl lived for three years with Ruffo's grandmother's family in the small northern Ontario community of Biscotasing – to offer new insights about the man and his mission. With clear, direct, and evocative language, Ruffo writes from Grey Owl's own perspective as well as from the viewpoints of women he loved and men with whom he worked. The poems detail both his professional achievements and his personal failures.Ruffo brings a deep understanding of aboriginal thought, excellent research skills, and a mature craft to this collection. Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney marks a significant contribution to aboriginal writing and to Canadian literature.

About this title

About the Author

Armand Garnet Ruffo was born and raised in northern Ontario and draws upon his Ojibwe heritage for much of his writing. A multi-genre writer, he is the author of Grey Owl: The Mystery of Archie Belaney and Norval Morrisseau: Man Changing into Thunderbird, a finalist for the 2015 Governor General's Literary Awards. Other projects include "Sounding Thunder: The Song of Francis Pegahmagabow," a musical drama that premiered in the summer of 2018, and "On the Day the World Begins Again," a short film about Indigenous incarceration that premiered in October 2018. His writing most recently appeared in ARC Poetry, GRANTA: Canada issue, EVENT and 150, Canada's History in Poetry (Nimbus Publishing). Ruffo is the recipient of a Honourary Life Member Award from the League of Canadian Poets and an inaugural Mayor's Arts Award from the City of Kingston. He is currently the Queen's National Scholar in Indigenous Literature at Queen's University in Kingston. He lives in Kingston, Ontario.

Edition details

• Publisher: Coteau Books
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1550501097
• ISBN 13: 9781550501094
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 214