One Story, One Song

In One Story, One Song, Richard Wagamese invites readers to accompany him on his travels.

His focus is on stories: how they shape us, how they empower us, how they change our lives. Ancient and contemporary, cultural and spiritual, funny and sad, the tales are grouped according to the four Ojibway storytelling principles: balance, harmony, knowledge and intuition.

Whether the topic is learning from his grade five teacher about Martin Luther King, gleaning understanding from a wolf track, lighting a fire for the first time without matches or finding the universe in an eagle feather, these stories exhibit the warmth, wisdom and generosity that make Wagamese so popular. As always, in these pages, the land serves as Wagamese's guide. And as always, he finds that true home means not only community but conversation—good, straight-hearted talk about important things. We all need to tell our stories, he says. Every voice matters.