Avenue of Champions, Conor Kerr
Avenue of Champions, Conor Kerr
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Avenue of Champions

Author: Conor Kerr

Narrator: Jani Lauzon, Shane Ghostkeeper

Unabridged: 5 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Strange Light

Published: 09/05/2023


Synopsis

Daniel is a young Métis man searching for a way to exist in a world of lateral violence, intergenerational trauma and systemic racism. Facing obstacles of his own at every turn, he observes and learns from the lived realities of his family members, friends, teachers and lovers. He finds hope in the inherent connection of Indigenous Peopls to the land, and the permanence of culture, language and ceremony in the face of displacement.

Set in Edmonton, this story considers Indigenous youth in relation to the urban constructs and colonial spaces in which they survive—from violence, whitewashing, trauma and racism to language revitalization, relationships with Elders, restaking land claims and ultimately, triumph. Based on Papaschase and Métis oral histories and lived experience, Conor Kerr’s debut novel will not soon be forgotten.

About The Author

Conor Kerr is a Métis Ukrainian writer. A member of the Métis Nation of Alberta, he is a descendant of the Lac Ste. Anne Métis and the Papaschase Cree Nation. His Ukrainian family are settlers in Treaty Four and Six territories in Saskatchewan. In 2020 he received The Fiddlehead 's Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize and in 2021 was awarded The Malahat Review 's Long Poem Prize. His work has been anthologized in Best Canadian Poetry 2020 and Best Canadian Stories 2020 and published in literary magazines across Canada. He is the author of the poetry collection An Explosion of Feathers and the novel Avenue of Champions , which was shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award, won a 2022 ReLit Award and was longlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize. His poetry collection Old Gods is forthcoming with Nightwood Editions in 2023.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Maria on September 14, 2022

Phenomenal writing and storytelling! I loved every second of this book. It definitely reads not quite like a short story collection, but also like a novel in fragments, in a way (due to the timelines being not that linear, and different POVs each chapters). Granny is such a badass queen.......more

Goodreads review by Darryl on September 18, 2022

The last two chapters/stories made me feel so incredibly sad, especially the second to last one titled “Anytime, Anywhere.” Not going to lie, I got quite emotional. I felt like I knew these people: Daniel, Granny, and all the folks in and out of their lives. The book tackles Indigenous youth, urban......more