Rise, Red River

By Tara Beagan

Winner of the 2025 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama

A woman trawls the bottom of a riverbed with a makeshift plough, hoping to dislodge something--anything. The world has drastically changed: rivers run dry, rampant bushfires leave little left to burn. Still she persists searching for the stories of her loved ones, maybe even her own. She is not alone--an ancestor watches nearby. This desolate landscape is about to unearth its long-held secrets.

Inspired by the grassroots organization Drag the Red, which searches for evidence of missing Indigenous women, girls, and 2 Spirit people in the Red River of Treaty One Territory, this ethereal and engrossing drama is a profound offering to those who persevere in spite of sorrow. Told in Anishinaabemowin, English, and French, Tara Beagan's prophetic play draws a direct connection between the treatment of Indigenous peoples and the abuse inflicted on the land. Fluid and majestic like the river itself, Rise, Red River is an invocation, a revelation, and a call to action.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0369105486
• ISBN13: 9780369105486
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Playwrights Canada Press
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.4" x 8.3"