Following the River ─ Traces of Red River Women

Lorri Neilsen Glenn first discovered her great-grandmother’s tragic death in a passing comment from an aunt. Startled, she began to search out the history of her family, to understand the life of this woman she knew nothing about. Along the way Neilsen Glenn works to unravel the issues of racism, sexism and colonial nation building that haunt us still. In elegant prose and poetry she has created a story of pieces, bringing to life what she could find in newspaper reports and museums. Through these fragments and portraits she gives the reader a glimpse of the lives lived by her ancestors and by women like them. Following the River is a lyric reflection on women that have been erased from our history and what that means for today.

Lorri Neilsen Glenn is a poet, essayist, teacher and researcher. Her most recent books include the bestselling Untying the Apron: Daughters Remember Mothers of the 1950s, an anthology of prose and poetry, and an acclaimed book of lyric essays in bricolage form, Threading Light: Explorations in Loss and Poetry. The former poet laureate of Halifax, she has won awards for her writing, her innovative teaching, her research and her work in the arts. She is a professor at Mount Saint Vincent University and a mentor in the University of King’s College MFA program in creative nonfiction. She lives with her family in Nova Scotia.