elected Titles for the Indigenous Literature Award Announced


Toronto June 12, 2018
– First Nation Communities READ 2018-2019 announces the selected titles in the Children’s and YA/Adult Categories.  Chosen by a jury of Indigenous librarians from across Ontario, these titles represent the best of Indigenous literature.  The selected titles’ authors will be presented with the Periodical Marketers of Canada Indigenous Literature Award on June 27th in Toronto at Yonge/Dundas Square as part of National Indigenous History Month celebrations.  The Indigenous Literature Award comes with a prize of $3000 for each author.
Children’s Category Selected Title

The Water Walker by Joanne Robertson
Published by Second Story Press
The story of a determined Ojibwe Grandmother (Nokomis) Josephine Mandamin and her great love for Nibi (water).
Nokomis walks to raise awareness of our need to protect Nibi for future generations, and for all life on the planet.
Joanne Robertson is AnishinaabeKwe and a member of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. She continues to help water walkers through live GPS spotting to make sure the water is safe on their journeys. Joanne lives near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Young Adult/Adult Selected Title
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
Published by House of Anansi Press
This is the story about seven Indigenous high school students who died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The students were far away from home, forced to attend school in the northern city and were ultimately found dead in the region.
Tanya Talaga has been a journalist at the Toronto Star for twenty years. Tanya is of Polish and Indigenous descent. Her great-grandmother, Liz Gauthier, was a residential school survivor. Her great-grandfather, Russell Bowen, was an Ojibwe trapper and labourer. Her grandmother is a member of Fort William First Nation. Her mother was raised in Raith and Graham, Ontario. Tanya lives in Toronto with her two teenage children.
Click here to read the official press release.

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