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Drama Canadian

Two Words for Snow

A Play

by (author) Richard Sanger

Publisher
Red Deer Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2005
Category
Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780889953109
    Publish Date
    Jun 2005
    List Price
    $12.95

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Description

Governor General's Literary Award for Drama nomineeTwo Words for Snow is the story of a man who, forced to choose between two worlds,betrays a woman, and her tribe, for a leader who then betrays him. Despite his role on explorer Robert Edwin Peary's North Pole expeditions, Matthew Henson (1870-1955), has resigned himself to the shadows of history. A young man, Robert Peary Jr., wants to ensure his late father's name stands as the discoverer of the Pole. In 1935, these two men meet in the Eskimo Room of the American Museum of Natural History, home to the Inuit artifacts that Peary collected and the gruesome secret that haunts Henson. Inspired by historical fact, Two Words for Snow uses a chance fictional encounter to imagine the repercussions Peary's quest had on the psyches of its protagonists - and to tell a story of colliding cultures, ambition and betrayal.

About the author

Richard Sanger's poems have appeared in numerous publications in Canada, Britain and the U.S, including Descant, Fiddlehead, The London Review of Books, Queen's Quarterly, SouthWest Review, and The Times Literary Supplement; his first collection, Shadow Cabinet, appeared in 1996. His plays, Not Spain and Two Words for Snow among them, have been nominated for the Governor General's Award and the Chalmer's Prize.Torontonians were eager to share their favourite haunts and discoveries.

Richard Sanger's profile page

Editorial Reviews

"Two Words for Snow takes that single, imagined encounter and explodes it into a world - two or three worlds, really - of lies, death, betrayal and guilt. What emerges from that explosion is a smart, powerful and deeply moving examination of colonialism at home and abroad, and the damage it does to colonized and colonizer alike."
Globe & Mail

"Deeply affecting. A tale of friendship, love, betrayal and so much more."
Toronto Sun