In Memoriam: Renate Eigenbrod

All of us at University of Manitoba Press were deeply saddened to hear the news over the weekend that our friend and colleague Renate Eigenbrod had passed away.

Renate Eigenbrod talks to Al Hunter at the Winnipeg launch of Centering Anishinaabeg Studies and Beautiful Razor in April 2013.

Renate has been a valued and respected colleague for many years, and she will be greatly missed by us and by many others in the scholarly and literary community.

We first met Renate Eigenbrod shortly after she came to our university in 2002, and within a few years we were working together on the publication of her book Travelling Knowledges: Positioning the Im/Migrant Reader of Aboriginal Literatures in Canada. This book, like all of Renate’s other work, was marked by her humanity, deep respect for others, and love of literature.

Niigaan Sinclair, Stan Chung, Warren Cariou and Renate Eigenbrod at the launch of Stories in a New Skin in Winnipeg in January 2012.

Since then, Renate had been one of our guides through the world of literature by Indigenous writers, giving us advice and encouragement as we published new scholarship, met new authors, and embarked on a new series of reprints of Indigenous literary works.

The news of Renate’s passing seems even more unexpected and unnatural because it came just as we were working with her on her latest book, an edited new edition of George Kenny’s book of poetry Indians Don’t Cry.

We will always remember Renate’s enthusiasm, her good humour, and most especially her unlimited generosity, and our thoughts are with her family and many friends.

David Carr
Director, University of Manitoba Press