Description
Merging poetry and historical records, Zits masterfully (re)creates a poetic view of the Frog Lake Massacre of April 2, 1885. His collage and cut-up techniques challenge the histories penned by the event’s recorders and reflect upon the difficult and painful complexities of past and present. He weaves together voices of Métis and First Nations participants, settlers, and military officials, using tape transcripts, historical accounts, memoirs, and footnotes to create a unique, non-narrative historiography of fragmented poetic language. This innovative work of literary montage digs deep into a historic period that continues to garner scholarly and public interest. Readers interested in poetry and Canadian history will find this an intriguing new collection.
Awards
- Winner, Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry 2014
- Winner, AAUP Book, Jacket & Journal Show, Poetry and Literature 2014
- Short-listed, Robert Kroetsch Poetry Book Award 2014
- Short-listed, Book Design of the Year - Alberta Book Awards 2014
Reviews
"...Zits' book juxtaposes fragments of others' writing to invite readers to ponder the concept of reconstituting history when the low fog of racism attends cultural difference and shrouds events, when personal investments of witnesses to that history are so divergent, and when oral and written versions of events tell incommensurable stories."
- Susan Gingell