SÂKIPAKAWI-PÎSIM

Gregory Scofield is one of Canada’s leading Aboriginal writers whose five collections of poetry have earned him both a national and international audience. He is known for his unique and dynamic reading style that blends oral storytelling, song, spoken word and the Cree language. His maternal ancestry can be traced back to the fur trade and to the Métis community of Kinosota, Manitoba, which was established in 1828 by the Hudson’s Bay Company. His paternal ancestry is Jewish, Polish and German that is reflective of the immigrant experience to Canada at the turn of the century. His poetry and memoir, Thunder Through My Veins (HarperCollins, 1999) is taught at numerous universities and colleges throughout Canada and the U.S., and his work has appeared in many anthologies. He was the subject of a feature length documentary, Singing Home The Bones: A Poet Becomes Himself (The Maystreet Group, 2007) that aired on CHUM TV, BRAVO!, APTN, and the Saskatchewan Television Network. He has served as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba and Memorial University of Newfoundland. His latest collection, Kipocihkan: Poems New & Selected (Nightwood Editions) and the republication of I Knew Two Metis Women, along with the Companion CD (Gabriel Dumont Institute) was released in Spring 2010. As well, his third collection of poetry, Love Medicine and One Song was re-released by Kegedonce Press in 2009. He currently lives in Maple Ridge, B.C.