My Brother Is A River

Abstract

My Brother Is A River is a full length work of creative nonfiction that charts my journey back to the Harricana River in Northern Quebec where my little brother, Luke, drowned in 2005. As I follow and finish his canoe trip sixteen years later, I weave together personal memories, interviews with people who were on his trip, and research into the historical context of the waterways where these stories take place, in an attempt to understand what happened. This sense making operates on different levels; what literally happened that day, how it affected me and my family, and how our story is connected to the world we live in, the culture, institutions and landscapes that shape our understandings of grief, water, and storytelling.