Shelagh's extended conversation about new aboriginal writing
Many aboriginal writers were introduced to storytelling in its original form: as a spoken word, face-to-face experience passed down through generations. Storytelling was both entertainment and a way of continuing cultural traditions and beliefs. Those same writers who listened as children have taken the story-sharing customs into the pages of their books and we are all the richer for it. ...
Many aboriginal writers were introduced to storytelling in its original form: as a spoken word, face-to-face experience passed down through generations. Storytelling was both entertainment and a way of continuing cultural traditions and beliefs. Those same writers who listened as children have taken the story-sharing customs into the pages of their books and we are all the richer for it.
Canada has received a wealth of novels, graphic novels, children's books, and non-fiction that explores many aspects of aboriginal identity and the diversity of these writers' worlds. Over the past seasons on The Next Chapter, Shelagh has read some phenomenal books and talked with many indigenous writers and she is certainly convinced that the field is flourishing.
To get a sense of the literary lay of the land for indigenous writing today, we brought together two people who know the scene well.
Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is a writer and publisher and the editor of skins: Contemporary indigenous writing and Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica. She lives and works at Neyaashiinigmiing, the Cape Croker Reserve in Ontario.
Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is a writer, an editor, and a professor in the Native Studies Department at the University of Manitoba.
Shelagh spoke with Kateri and Niigaan about new aboriginal writing in Canada, the range of voices, and the preoccupations and themes that emerge across genres. We also played excerpts from Shelagh's past conversations with iconic writers like Tom King, Richard Wagamese, Eden Robinson, and David Bergen, and got Kateri and Niigaan's take on what they had to say.
We hope you enjoy this special podcast.