Eloquent, poignant and witty, Garry Gottfriedson’s new collection of poetry explores themes of duality in the parallel world of cowboys and Indians. Whiskey Bullets speaks to the unique experience of growing up aboriginal while remaining immersed in cowboy and ranching culture. Gottfriedson unveils hidden truths, bringing to the fore inescapable issues of gender, sexuality, race and politics. Candid and challenging, Whiskey Bullets is thought provoking and deeply engaging.

Garry Gottfriedson, a member of the Secwepemc First Nation, was born, raised and lives in the Kamloops area. He was awarded the Gerald Red Elk Creative Writing Scholarship by the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. There, he studied under Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Marianne Faithful and others. He later gained a Masters Degree in Education at Simon Fraser University. Gottfriedson is currently a writer, educator and self-employed rancher who breeds quarter horses and sells them across North America. His published works include In Honor of Our Grandmothers: Imprints of Cultural Survival (Theytus Books, 1994), 100 Years of Contact (Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, 1990), and the children’s book, Painted Pony (Partners in Publishing, 2005). His first book of poetry, Glass Tepee (Thistledown Press, 2002), was nominated for the First People's Publishing Award 2004. Gottfriedson’s “Forgotten Soldiers,” a poem about Aboriginal war veterans in Canada, served as the basis for a documentary by aboriginal filmmaker Loretta Todd and was translated into Spanish. Gottfriedson has read from his work across North America and Europe, and more recently, in Taiwan.  In early 2007 he will return to Europe to read from his bodies of work.

Garry Gottfriedson will be reading from Whiskey Bullets: Cowboy and Indian Heritage Poems at the Vancouver launch of this new book.  The reading and book launch will take place on Thursday, October 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 405 at the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design, 1399 Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver. This is an event in the "On Edge" series at ECIAD; co-presented by Ronsdale Press; co-sponsored by The Canada Council for the Arts.

Source: Ronsdale Press

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