First published in 2000, Angel Wing Splash Pattern is where Richard Van Camp’s love of the short story began. In these stories he demonstrates the range of his talent and the pursuit of excellence in his craft as a writer and storyteller. Honoring his Tłįchϙ ancestry and celebrating life in northern Canada, the stories in Angel Wing Splash Pattern are playful, moving, and starkly honest in their portrayal of contemporary Indigenous life. There is pain in these stories and there is loss. There is death, but there is also rebirth, and there is always the search from each of the narrators for personal truth. Readers will recognize Larry Sole from The Lesser Blessed in his story “How I Saved Christmas,” along with several other characters from Van Camp’s later works. There are other voices and characters here, too, other secrets and stories from communities across the north and the south. They are all linked by themes of hope, the spirit of friendship, and hunger. This special 20th Anniversary edition of an Indigenous classic contains additional material, including a new introduction by the author and two new stories in illustrated format.
