Phantom Lake: North of 54

By Birk Sproxton

Phantom Lake explores the stories, legends, and tall tales that make up “Flin Flon,” a real imaginary place perched on rocky outcrops and lakes of the Canadian Shield. Birk Sproxton traverses the high latitudes of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in a quest for the mystery of Flin Flon and in search of himself. The northern stories, like Shield Lakes seen from the air, become ink-blots to test the writer’s mettle. Sproxton tells of the first gold rush, the draining of Flin Flon Lake, the emergence of the open pit, smelter smoke and slag pour, headframes, and tailings ponds. At the center of this fictional and historical mosaic lies the elusive Phantom Lake.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The University of Alberta Press
• Release date: Sep 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9780888647696

Birk Sproxton

Born on the edge of a lake in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Birk Sproxton currently lives in the heart of the Alberta greenbelt, where he teaches Canadian Literature and Creative Writing at Red Deer College. Editor of the best-selling Great Stories from the Prairies, he is the author of Headframe, The Hockey Fan Came Riding, and the award-winning novel, The Red-Headed Woman with the Black Black Heart.

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