The Last Will and Testament

The Last Will and Testament of Jon Martinez de Larrume explores Labrador South and the people who were drawn to its resources and wild beauty from the 1500s to the present day. From one of the first wills written in Canada, the collection moves to a recreation of voices from the 1893 journal of photographer Eliot Curwen combined with a description of the Straits coast today, before the main voice becomes that of Jon Martinez himself, a Basque adventurer from Orio in Spain who died at Red Bay in June 1577. The central section of 25 linked poems explores his state of mind during the voyage to Labrador and a hard overwintering, focussing on his changing attitudes towards his ambition, his desire for wealth, his religion and his wife Ana and daughter Marie who wait for his return