
Runaway Dreams
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Narrated by:
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Billy Merasty
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By:
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Richard Wagamese
About this listen
Having developed an impressive reputation for his many novels and non-fiction works, Richard Wagamese now presents a collection of stunning poems ranging over a broad landscape. He begins with an immersion in the unforgettable world where “the ancient ones stand at your shoulder … making you a circle / containing everything.”
These are Medicine teachings told from the experience of one who lived and still lives them. He also describes his life on the road when he repeatedly ran away at an early age, and the beatings he received when the authorities tried “to beat the Indian right out of me.” Yet even in the most desperate situations, Wagamese shows us Canada as seen through the eyes and soul of a well-worn traveler, with his love of country, his love of people. Through it all, there are poems of love and music, the language sensuous and tender.
Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.
©2011 Richard Wagamese (P)2022 Bespeak Audio EditionsListeners also enjoyed...
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- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
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Staring the modern world in the eye, Richard Wagamese confronts its snares and perils. He sees people coveting without knowing why, looking for roots without understanding what constitutes home, searching for acceptance without extending reciprocal respect, and longing for love without knowing how to offer it. He sees this because he lived it. For Joshua is Wagamese's love letter to his estranged son. Ojibway tradition calls for fathers to walk their children through the world and teach them their place in it. To teach them they belong.
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amazing and heartbreaking story
- By Anne on 10-24-22
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One Drum
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One Drum draws from the foundational teachings of Ojibway tradition, the Grandfather Teachings. Focusing specifically on the lessons of humility, respect, and courage, the volume contains simple ceremonies that anyone anywhere can do, alone or in a group, to foster harmony and connection. Wagamese believed that there is a shaman in each of us, that we are all teachers, and in the world of the spirit, there is no right way or wrong way.
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Stories transform
- By Christine Dietler on 07-29-24
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One Native Life
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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One Native Life is a look back down the road Richard Wagamese has traveled - from childhood abuse to adult alcoholism - in reclaiming his identity. It's about what he has learned as a human being, a man, and an Ojibway in his 52 years on Earth. Whether he's writing about playing baseball, running away with the circus, making bannock, or attending a sacred bundle ceremony, these are stories told in a healing spirit. Through them, Wagamese reveals to listeners how to appreciate life for the journey it is.
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Don’t Normally do this
- By Amber on 03-16-21
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Richard Wagamese Selected
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Performance
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Story
Richard Wagamese, one of Canada’s most celebrated Indigenous authors and storytellers, was a writer of breathtaking honesty and inspiration. Always striving to be a better, stronger person, Wagamese shared his journey through writing, encouraging others to do the same. Following the success of Embers, this new collection of Wagamese’s nonfiction works, curated by editor Drew Hayden Taylor, brings together more of the prolific author’s short writings - many for the first time in print - and celebrates his ability to inspire.
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Cannot stop listening to this author he is amazing
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Keeper'n Me
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When Garnet Raven was three years old, he was taken from his home on an Ojibway Indian reserve and placed in a series of foster homes. Having reached his mid-teens, he escapes at the first available opportunity, only to find himself cast adrift on the streets of the big city. Having skirted the urban underbelly once too often by age 20, he finds himself thrown in jail. While there, he gets a surprise letter from his long-forgotten native family. The sudden communication from his past spurs him to return to the reserve following his release from jail.
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If I could read only one book in my lifetime this would be it.
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Indian Horse
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Saul Indian Horse is in critical condition. Sitting feeble in an alcoholism treatment facility, he is told that sharing his story will help relieve his agony. Though skeptical, he embarks on a heartbreaking journey from the present - and into the woods of Northern Ontario, where his life began in a snowy Ojibway camp. The tale that follows is one of great pain and great determination from Richard Wagamese, an author who "never seems to waste a shot" ( New York Times).
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Important Read
- By ruthemily on 10-07-19
By: Richard Wagamese
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For Joshua
- An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son
- By: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Craig Lauzon
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Staring the modern world in the eye, Richard Wagamese confronts its snares and perils. He sees people coveting without knowing why, looking for roots without understanding what constitutes home, searching for acceptance without extending reciprocal respect, and longing for love without knowing how to offer it. He sees this because he lived it. For Joshua is Wagamese's love letter to his estranged son. Ojibway tradition calls for fathers to walk their children through the world and teach them their place in it. To teach them they belong.
-
-
amazing and heartbreaking story
- By Anne on 10-24-22
By: Richard Wagamese
-
One Drum
- Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet
- By: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous
- Length: 4 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Drum draws from the foundational teachings of Ojibway tradition, the Grandfather Teachings. Focusing specifically on the lessons of humility, respect, and courage, the volume contains simple ceremonies that anyone anywhere can do, alone or in a group, to foster harmony and connection. Wagamese believed that there is a shaman in each of us, that we are all teachers, and in the world of the spirit, there is no right way or wrong way.
-
-
Stories transform
- By Christine Dietler on 07-29-24
By: Richard Wagamese
-
One Native Life
- By: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Native Life is a look back down the road Richard Wagamese has traveled - from childhood abuse to adult alcoholism - in reclaiming his identity. It's about what he has learned as a human being, a man, and an Ojibway in his 52 years on Earth. Whether he's writing about playing baseball, running away with the circus, making bannock, or attending a sacred bundle ceremony, these are stories told in a healing spirit. Through them, Wagamese reveals to listeners how to appreciate life for the journey it is.
-
-
Don’t Normally do this
- By Amber on 03-16-21
By: Richard Wagamese
-
Richard Wagamese Selected
- What Comes from Spirit
- By: Drew Hayden Taylor - editor, Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous
- Length: 3 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Richard Wagamese, one of Canada’s most celebrated Indigenous authors and storytellers, was a writer of breathtaking honesty and inspiration. Always striving to be a better, stronger person, Wagamese shared his journey through writing, encouraging others to do the same. Following the success of Embers, this new collection of Wagamese’s nonfiction works, curated by editor Drew Hayden Taylor, brings together more of the prolific author’s short writings - many for the first time in print - and celebrates his ability to inspire.
-
-
Cannot stop listening to this author he is amazing
- By mary kling on 10-02-23
By: Drew Hayden Taylor - editor, and others
-
Keeper'n Me
- By: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Deneh'Cho Thompson, Sam Bob
- Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Garnet Raven was three years old, he was taken from his home on an Ojibway Indian reserve and placed in a series of foster homes. Having reached his mid-teens, he escapes at the first available opportunity, only to find himself cast adrift on the streets of the big city. Having skirted the urban underbelly once too often by age 20, he finds himself thrown in jail. While there, he gets a surprise letter from his long-forgotten native family. The sudden communication from his past spurs him to return to the reserve following his release from jail.
-
-
If I could read only one book in my lifetime this would be it.
- By J Kennedy on 03-05-19
By: Richard Wagamese
-
Indian Horse
- A Novel
- By: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Jason Ryll
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Saul Indian Horse is in critical condition. Sitting feeble in an alcoholism treatment facility, he is told that sharing his story will help relieve his agony. Though skeptical, he embarks on a heartbreaking journey from the present - and into the woods of Northern Ontario, where his life began in a snowy Ojibway camp. The tale that follows is one of great pain and great determination from Richard Wagamese, an author who "never seems to waste a shot" ( New York Times).
-
-
Important Read
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In the end we are nothing...
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The Author Once Said This Was His Favorite
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Critic reviews
“In Runaway Dreams, Richard Wagamese astounds us with his poetic breadth and spiritual alertness. He is equally comfortable and impressive writing about nature, love, jazz, spirituality, or the brutality of residential schools.” — Robert Hilles, Governor General Winner for Cantos from a Small Room
“[These poems] possess a deep attraction because of the heartfelt honesty instilled in the writing. Wagamese embraces life in a huge bear hug, and his enthusiasm becomes unstoppable.” — Prairie Fire Review of Books
“If there is one theme that runs through this collection it is movement—as physical and spiritual travelling, as journeys toward the Old Ones, as displacement and as reconnection, as search for home and identity— “so that planting flowers becomes an Injun thing”—set against the theme of simply being: on the land and embraced by love.” — Canadian Literature