Collected here for the first time in book form are the expurgated sections of artist, writer, and rebel Emily Carr's unpublished journals, her important "Lecture on Totems" about Native art and people, and letters to and from several key figures in her life. The unpublished journal entries include long passages about her first meeting with Sophie Frank, a Squamish basket maker who became a confidante; anguished meditations on her spiritual mission; musings about Native culture and the white community's reaction to it; and thoughts about her sisters and relatives. This collection also features commentary by noted literary historian Susan Crean that offers cultural and historical context.

Beloved Canadian artist and writer Emily Carr (December 13, 1871—March 2, 1945) was born in Victoria, British Columbia. She studied art in the U.S., England and France until 1911, when she moved back to British Columbia. Carr was most heavily influenced by the landscapes and First Nations cultures of British Columbia and Alaska. In the 1920s she came into contact with members of the Group of Seven and was later invited to submit her works for inclusion in a Group of Seven exhibition. They named her The Mother of Modern Arts about five years later.

Emily Carr's profile page

Susan Crean was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, and is of Scots-Irish descent. She began travelling in the sixties, studying at universities in France and Italy. In 1989 she moved to British Columbia where she spent a decade researching, writing and teaching. Her articles and essays have appeared in magazines and newspapers across Canada, and she is the author of seven books. The first, Who’s Afraid of Canadian Culture, appeared in 1976. Her landmark work, The Laughing One: A Journey to Emily Carr, was nominated for five awards including the Governor General’s Literary award and won the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize in 2002. Crean currently lives in Toronto.

Susan Crean's profile page