About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Having developed an impressive reputation for his many novels and non-fiction 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.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 16
- Grade:
- 11
Awards
- Winner, George Ryga Award for Social Awareness
Editorial Review
“In Runaway Dreams, Richard Wagamese astounds us with his poetic breadth and spiritual alertness. He is equally comfortable and impressive writing about nature, love, jazz, spirituality, or the brutality of residential schools.” —Robert Hilles, Governor General Winner for Cantos from a Small Room
“Richard Wagamese’s first book of poetry, Runaway Dreams, is beyond a revelation, it is simply great stuff from beginning to end…. If more books of poetry were like this one — poetry would actually be popular.” —Michael Dennis
“Reading the long poem is normally a difficult pastime, Wagamese is in skilled command of his materials and makes following his longer efforts as easy as slipping into a warm bath.” —Pacific Rim Review of Books
“The poems in Runaway are introspective but not self-absorbed, intimate, nature imbued, respectful and reverent.” —BC Bookworld
“If I had to make a comparision, I would consider Wagamese, with his opposition to the prevailing culture of our time, in line with Allen Ginsberg, with a mission to uphold the ‘beaten down’ and oppressed of society. To some extent, Wagamese is incomparable because of his unique talent and singular frame of reference.” —Anne Burke, The Prairie Journal
“His style is free. It resembles prose and thought — the runaway thinking of us all.” —Joyce Atcheson, Anishinabek News
“If there is a theme to Runaway Dreams, it is the shared longing of all to leave a legacy when we go. The shared fear we will not…. Runaway Dreams is a magnificent story spoken in poetry.” —Media Indegina
“[These poems] possess a deep attraction because of the heartfelt honesty instilled in the writing. Wagamese embraces life in a huge bear hug, and his enthusiasm becomes unstoppable.” —Prairie Fire Review of Books
“If there is one theme that runs through this collection it is movement—as physical and spiritual travelling, as journeys toward the Old Ones, as displacement and as reconnection, as search for home and identity—”so that planting flowers becomes an Injun thing”—set against the theme of simply being: on the land and embraced by love.” —Canadian Literature
