In Antarctica

Jay Ruzesky recalls a childhood of snow caves, literary ambitions, and a fascination with polar exploration that was ignited by the genes he shares with famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Now a poet and teacher of English at a small university on Vancouver Island, Ruzesky became motivated by the approaching centennial of Amundsens South Pole accomplishment to pursue his own quest to Antarctica. He books his voyage aboard a 71-metre ice-strengthened research vessel, Polar Pioneer, bound for Antarctica. Ruzesky skillfully interweaves three stories creatively extrapolated from Amundsens experiences on both Belgica and Fram, and his own observations leading up to and during his voyage on Polar Pioneer. In the tradition of Bruce Chatwin and with a poets heart, Ruzesky offers a historically accurate tale while traversing both time and placeparalleling a century of explorers dreams from Pole to Pole with stops in Canada, Norway, Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Antarctica.