ILSA launch of Honouring the Strength of Indian Women

  • June 4, 2019

Please join the University of Manitoba Press for the ILSA launch of Honouring the Strength of Indian Women: Plays, Stories, Poetry by Vera Manuel, Edited by Michelle Coupal, Deanna Reder, Joanne Arnott, and Emalene Manuel, Introduction by Emalene Manuel.

Date: Tuesday, June 4, 4:00 – 5:00 pm
Location: Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall, First Nations House of Learning (1985 West Mall), Vancouver
Cost: FREE

Featuring Emalene Manuel, Joanne Arnott, Deanna Reder, and Michelle Coupal discussing and reading excerpts from this amazing collection of work.

This critical edition delivers a unique and comprehensive collection of the works of Ktunaxa-Secwepemc writer and educator Vera Manuel, daughter of prominent Indigenous leaders Marceline Paul and George Manuel. A vibrant force in the burgeoning Indigenous theatre scene, Vera was at the forefront of residential school writing and did groundbreaking work as a dramatherapist and healer. Long before mainstream Canada understood and discussed the impact and devastating legacy of Canada’s Indian residential schools, Vera Manuel wrote about it as part of her personal and community healing. She became a grassroots leader addressing the need to bring to light the stories of survivors, their journeys of healing, and the therapeutic value of writing and performing arts.

Michelle Coupal (Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation) is Canada Research Chair in Truth, Reconciliation, and Indigenous Literatures, and Associate Professor at the University of Regina.

Deanna Reder (Métis), Associate Professor in First Nations Studies and English at Simon Fraser University, leads The People and the Text.

Joanne Arnott (Métis/Mixed Blood), writer, editor, and arts activist, received the League of Canadian Poets’ Gerald Lampert Award and Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for Literary Arts.

Emalene A. Manuel (Ktunaxa-Secwepemc) worked with her sister, Vera, in Storyteller Theatre. In 2018 she completed her Masters of Education at the University of British Columbia.