 | |
| Author | Tomson Highway |
|---|---|
| Translator |
|
| Language | English |
| Genre | novel |
| Published |
|
| Publication place | Canada |
| ISBN | 9780385256520 |
Kiss of the Fur Queen is a novel by Tomson Highway,[1] first published by Doubleday Canada in September 1998.[2]
The novel's main characters are Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis, two young Cree brothers from Eemanipiteepitat in northern Manitoba who are taken from their family and sent to a residential school.[2] Their language is forbidden, their names are changed to Jeremiah and Gabriel, and the boys are sexually abused by priests. However, a wily trickster figure, the Fur Queen, watches over the boys as they fulfill their destiny to become artists.[2]
The novel, a fictionalized account of the real-life childhood of Tomson Highway and his brother René,[2] was a nominee for the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award in 1998.
Francophone Ontarian poet and academic Robert Dickson translated the novel into French,[3] under the title Champion et Ooneemeetoo, which was published by Prise de parole in 2004. The German edition Der Kuss der Pelzkönigin. Ein indianischer Lebensweg was translated by Thomas Bauer and published in 2001 by Frederking & Thaler (Munich).
Under the title Le Baiser de la reine blanche, the book was selected for the 2024 edition of Le Combat des livres, where it was defended by Jocelyn Sioui.[4]
- ^ Tomson Highway at The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- ^ a b c d Kiss of the Fur Queen review at Quill & Quire, September 1998.
- ^ "Who’s Who: Robert Dickson". Sudbury Living, January 3, 2013.
- ^ Daphné Santos-Vieira, "Meet the 2024 Combat national des livres contenders". CBC Books, April 24, 2024.