We are very proud to announce that Injichaag: My Soul in Story, the memoir of Anishinaabe elder and visual artist Rene Meshake, was recognized by Indigenous Voices Awards.
Injichaag was nominated in the Works in an Indigenous Language category.
‘Lockdown or not, I felt like going fishing the other day, and today, there’s a tug on the line!” said Rene Meshake when he heard the news. “Well to my big surprise! Injichaag: My Soul in Story has made the finals at the Indigenous Voices Awards, Simon Fraser University, BC. I don’t know what it means to land the big fish!”
Finalists announced for the third annual Indigenous Voices Awards
May 13, 2020 (Vancouver, B.C.): The finalists were announced today for the third annual Indigenous Voices Awards (IVAs), administered by Indigenous Literary Studies Association. The IVAs were established in 2017 to support and nurture the work of Indigenous writers in lands claimed by Canada. The awards honour the sovereignty of Indigenous creative voices and reject cultural appropriation.
The finalists represent emerging Indigenous voices, both published and unpublished. A total of $30,000.00 (CDN) will be given out to the winners on National Indigenous Day, June 21, 2020 at 4:00 pm PST / 7:00 pm EST. Please see www.indigenousvoicesawards.org for developing details.
The finalists are recognized in eight distinct categories, reflecting the diversity and complexity of Indigenous literary art:
PUBLISHED PROSE IN FRENCH
• Naomi Fontaine, Shuni — Ce que tu dois savoir, Julie (Mémoire d’encrier)
• J.D. Kurtness, Aquariums (L’instant même)
PUBLISHED PROSE IN ENGLISH
• Helen Knott, In My Own Moccasins (University of Regina Press)
• Kaitlyn Purcell, ʔbédayine (Metatron Press)
• Jesse Thistle, From the Ashes (Simon & Schuster)
PUBLISHED POETRY IN FRENCH
• Maya Cousineau-Mollen, Bréviaire du matricule 082 (Éditions Hannenorak)
• Marie-Andrée Gill, Chauffer le dehors (La peuplade)
PUBLISHED POETRY IN ENGLISH
• Brandi Bird, I Am Still Too Much (Rahila’s Ghost)
• Francine Cunningham, On/Me (Caitlin)
• Michelle Sylliboy, Kiskajeyi—I am Ready (Rebel Mountain)
• Arielle Twist, Disintegrate / Disassociate (Arsenal Pulp)
WORKS IN AN INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE
• Rene Meshake, Injichaag: My Soul in Story (University of Manitoba Press)
• Cole Pauls, Dakwäkãda Warriors (Conundrum)
UNPUBLISHED PROSE IN ENGLISH
• Cody Caetano, Excerpts from “Half-Bads in White Regalia”
• Treena Chambers, “Forest Fires and Falling Stars”
• Steven Hall, “Gatzi Naka”
UNPUBLISHED POETRY IN ENGLISH
• David Agecoutay, “Willow A Quartet”
• Corri Daniels, “A Memory of Mary”
• Keely Shirt, “Two Little Foxes, Buttertown Beach, I Will Never be Happier”
WORKS IN AN ALTERNATIVE FORMAT
• Elaine McArthur, Elizabeth Dances Pow-wow (Independently published)
• Phyllis Webstad, Phyllis’s Orange Shirt (Medicine Wheel Education)
This year’s IVAs jurors are acclaimed and award-winning writers themselves: Jordan Abel; Jeannette Armstrong; Joanne Arnott; Francis Langevin; Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley; Pierrot Ross-Tremblay; and Richard Van Camp.
Over the coming months, winners and finalists will be invited to participate in online mentorship initiatives, designed to cultivate relationships among emerging and established Indigenous writers and to provide practical tools for professionalization.
With many thanks to the supporters of the IVAs: Penguin Random House Canada; Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA); Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF); Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival; Pamela Dillon; Sylvia Moreno-Garcia; Robin Parker; and the countless supporters who have donated to the IVAs crowd-sourced fund over the past three years. Further donations are always welcome and deeply appreciated: please visit indigenousvoicesawards.org for more information.
Contact:
Deanna Reder [email protected]
Bios and photos of finalists available upon request
