In the Worshipful Company of Skinners

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

In The Worshipful Company of Skinners is a collection of poems that
reads like a journal. It is the story of a young boy from the Orkneys
who comes to Canada to work in the early years of the fur trade. Endre
Farkas, who based his fictional account on historical journals by early
fur traders, relates all aspects of the life of a newcomer to early
Canada—from dealing with “the Savages” to learning the day-to-day
business of the fur trade (“Ledgers do not lie / Debits and credits
add up to who we are / And how far we’ve come in this world”). It is
a harsh and difficult world, filled with both danger and awesome beauty.
Farkas’s poetry is simple free verse, yet it creates vivid images that
bring the early struggles and small victories to life.

During his research into the lives of early fur traders and settlers,
Farkas noticed that their journals recorded both the mundane business
transactions and the terrible struggle to survive starvation, disease,
and violence in the same flat tone. He has followed suit in his poetry.
In the book’s afterword, he explains his belief that trade is the main
Canadian “myth” and that this should be understood and celebrated as
the foundation of Canada as we know it today.

Farkas and his family emigrated to Canada from Hungary in 1956. He has
published eight volumes of poetry. His latest book is recommended for
anyone wishing to understand the lives of the early fur traders and the
importance of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the formation of the
Canadian mindset.