Refugee

Benjamin Drew (1812–1903) was an American abolitionist from Boston whose work was made possible thanks to the support of the Canadian Anti-Slavery Society and John P. Jewett, a renowned anti-slavery sympathizer from Boston who had unexpectedly reaped a fortune from publishing Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852.George Elliott Clarke is the E.J. Pratt Professor of Canadian Literature at the University of Toronto. An award-winning poet, playwright, and screenwriter, he is the author of Execution Poems, winner of the 2001 Governor General’s Award for Poetry.

"Through its abundance of firsthand testimony, The Refugee provides a long and heart-wrenching glimpse into a chapter of both U.S. and Canadian history. The eloquent narratives reveal the courage and ingenuity of men and women who first succeeded in escaping the physical and mental torments of slavery, and then built livelihoods from scratch in a different frontier land ... Regardless of the choice of edition, The Refugee is an emotionally powerful and factually detailed nonfiction classic - essential reading for anyone who wants to hear and understand the voices of slavery survivors, and early black settlers in Canada."