Agassiz Stories - Readings

Description

The superbly crafted stories in this internationally acclaimed collection trace four generations of the Lafrenière family in the fictional small town of Agassiz, Manitoba, from the time of the great flood of 1950 to the present. There is Mika, the matriarch of the family, tired of being a mother to her children, and her Métis husband, Maurice, who is by turns fascinated and ashamed of his Native heritage. Their marriage has long been an uneasy truce. As their children grow up to pursue their own lives, the frustrations of one generation will collide with the dreams of another, and the past will leave an indelible mark on all that is to come. Agassiz Stories is at once funny and heartbreaking, and written with a rare, illuminating honesty.

About the Author

Sandra Louise Birdsell (née Bartlette) is a Canadian novelist and short story writer of Métis and Mennonite heritage.Birdsell was the fifth of eleven children. She lived most of her life in Morris, Manitoba and now lives in Regina, Saskatchewan.Birdsell left home at the age of fifteen. At the age of thirty-five, she enrolled in Creative Writing at the University of Winnipeg. Five years later, Turnstone Press published her first book, the Night Travellers. Two years later, Ladies of the House was published. Both books are now published as a single volume as Agassiz stories.There are two main events that have shaped her worldview and influenced her writing. The first incident happened when Birdsell was six and a half. Her sister died from leukemia. That left a four year gap between her and her next older sister. She felt ignored and alone even though she was surrounded by 9 other siblings. Her loneliness led her to ponder by herself to the nearby parks and rivers allowing her imagination to go wild.The second event that shaped her worldview and influenced her writing was the massive flood of Morris in 1950. Her first three successful stories in Night Travellers are based on that flood.She is a mother to three children and a grandmother to four children. Her husband, Jan Zarzycki, is a filmmaker.[wikipedia]