Writer and activist Canyon Sam
Posted on Nov 18th, 2010 in Bio & FAQ
The Official PEN American Center Photograph. © Beowulf Sheehan/PEN American Center
Writer and activist Canyon Sam uncovers the history of Tibet from the perspective of its women in a lyrical memoir that spans more than twenty years. Traveling on the newly opened, Beijing-to-Lhasa train in 2007 she crossed the Himalayas to find women from her earlier oral history project and stayed with the Tibetan family with whom she'd lived in 1986. As she reveals the unexplored stories of women's resistance, courage and spiritual resilience through fifty years of Chinese occupation, and gives a first hand account of the changes brought by the controversial new railroad — Sky Train — she comes to embrace her own capacity for faith and acceptance.
"Illuminates a hidden history….A riveting work."
Valerie Matsumoto, UCLA
"Compels with page-turning intensity….This book has strengthened my
own devotion"
Sylvia Boorstein, Happiness Is An Inside Job
"A striking picture of Tibet…readers will be moved by these powerful tales"
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama