kipocihkân Poems New and Selected

by Scofield, Gregory

• ISBN13: 9780889712287
• ISBN10: 088971228X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-05-01
• Publisher: Nightwood Editions

Summary

The first anthology of urban Aboriginal songs by Gregory Scofield is a retrospective of the award-winning poet's pivotal work to date. The word kipocihk'n is Cree slang for someone who is mute or unable to speak, and charted in this book is Scofield's journey out of that silence to become one of the most powerful voices of our time. "I make offerings to my Grandmothers and Grandfathers when I write. I ask them to come and sit with me, to give me courage and strength. I ask them to help me be honest, reflective of the ceremony that I am about to begin. I ask them to guide me, to help me touch people. I ask to make good medicine, even out of something bad. When people read my work it's not just the book that they read, it's the medicine behind the words. That's where the power comes from. That's where the healing comes from." --Scofield in January Magazine

Author Biography

Gregory Scofield is Red River Metis of Cree, Scottish and European descent whose ancestry can be traced to the fur trade and to the Metis community of Kinesota, Manitoba. He has taught First Nations and Metis Literature and Creative Writing at Brandon University, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and the Alberta College of Art + Design. He currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in English at Laurentian University where he teaches Creative Writing. Scofield won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 1994 for his debut collection, The Gathering: Stones for the Medicine Wheel, and has since published seven further volumes of poetry as well as a memoir, Thunder Through My Veins (1999). Scofield has served as writer-in-residence at the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and Memorial University.