Klee Wyck

by Emily Carr, Kathryn Bridge (Introduction)

Overview

The title of artist, writer, and rebel Emily Carr's first book means "Laughing One," the nickname given her by the Native people of Canada's west coast. She returned the favor with Klee Wyck, a collection of 21 "word portraits" of their lives and ways. The memoir describes in witty, vivid detail Carr's visits and travels as she painted their totem poles and villages and got to know a people whose "quiet strength healed my heart." The book is reissued here with restored text and features the original introduction by Ira Dilworth and a new introduction by Carr scholar Kathryn Bridge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781926706382
Publisher:	D & M Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	565,568
File size:	330 KB

About the Author

"Young, spirited and rebellious, Emily Carr escaped a strict Victorian household to study art in the Paris of Picasso and Matisse. In middle age, she shook the dust of acceptable society from her shoes and began a passionate journey into the wilderness of British Columbia; the power of her genius made her one of the twentieth century's great painters. Fortunately, she also wrote. In her books, her warmth, her humanity, her sense of fun and the ridiculous combine to present a self-portrait of a remarkable woman and artist."–Mary Pratt

Kathryn Bridge is an archivist and manager of the British Columbia Archives. In 2001 she was curatorial chair for the exhibit Emily Carr: Eccentric, Artist, Author, Genius. She has written three books about women in Canadian history: Henry&Self: The Private Life of Sarah Lindley Crease, By Snowshoe, Buckboard and Steamer: Women of the Frontier (Winner of the 1998 Lieutenant-Governor's Medal for Historical Writing) and Phyllis Munday: Mountaineer.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Lost Klee Wyck by Kathryn Bridge / 1
Foreword to the 1941 Edition by Ira Dilworth / 16
Foreword to the 1951 Educational Edition by Ira Dilworth / 19

Ucluelet / 31
Tanoo / 43
Skedans / 49
Cumshewa / 52
Sophie / 55
D'Sonoqua / 66
The Blouse / 75
The Stare / 77
Greenville / 79
Two Bits and a Wheel-Barrow / 88
Sleep / 91
Sailing to Yan / 94
Cha-Atl / 98
Wash Mary / 103
Juice / 106
Friends / 109
Martha's Joey / 115
Salt Water / 118
Century Time / 134
Kitwancool / 138
Canoe / 149

Editorial Reviews

One of Canada's most talented artists, Emily Carr (1872-1945) painted her country's native people and the magnificent totem poles they built before civilization completely changed their way of life. To do so, she traveled the rugged coastal islands of British Columbia. Sometimes she explored abandoned villages; other times she found warm hospitality in so-called hostile villages. Always she lamented the mistreatment of natives by the Canadian government and by misguided missionaries, a controversial viewpoint at that time. In her sixties, when her doctor forbade her to paint owing to ill health, she turned to writing, using old journals as material for a series of new sketches. This collection of 21 stories, first published in 1941, re-creates her past adventures and accords the natives the dignity they deserve. Carr writes with an unpretentious, economical clarity, much in the way she painted. Klee Wyck means "Laughing One," a name the natives gave to Carr when she painted among them as a young woman. Enthusiastically recommended for public and academic libraries.-Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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