BC Indigenous Writers Win Top Governor General’s Literary Awards

Two Indigenous authors took home Governor General’s Literary Awards for 2020: Kim Senklip Harvey won the Drama category for her book Kamloopa: An Indigenous Matriarch Story, and Michelle Good won the fiction category for Five Little Indians.

Kim Senklip Harvey, via kimsenklipharvey.com.

Kim Senklip Harvey is a Syilx and Tsilhqot'in writer, director, actor and more. She describes Kamloopa as a high energy Indigenous matriarchal story, that follows two urban Indigenous sisters and a lawless trickster as they travel to the largest powwow on the West Coast, and face the world head-on as they battle to come to terms with what it means to honour who they are and where they come from.

The play had a 3 city world premiere (including at the Cultch in Vancouver) and was nominated for 8 Jessie Richardson awards and 4 SATAwards. The production won the 2019 Jessie Richardson award for Significant Artistic Achievement for Decolonizing Theatre Practices and Spaces and was the first Indigenous play in the Jessie Richardson's history, to win Best Production.

Five Little Indians tells the story of five Indigenous children who are taken from their families and sent to a residential school, and end up in Downtown Eastside Vancouver when they are released. The teens cling together, striving to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that doesn’t want them. The paths of the five friends cross and crisscross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they endured during their years at the Mission.

Michelle Good, via michellegood.ca.

Michelle Good is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, and now resides in Kamloops. On top of being a writer she is a lawyer and manages a law firm, primarily advocating for Residential School Survivors. While celebrating her win, she has also called for action and spoken up about the grief and trauma of the discovery of 215 children found buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, and how she wrote Five Little Indians about the trauma and healing she has seen in her community.

The Governor General's Literary Awards are awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. They celebrate the best of Canadian literature, and are among the country’s most prestigious arts awards. For the full list of winners, and more information about the titles, visit the GGBooks website.