At IntroSPECtion, we recognize that marginalised authors are under-represented in the speculative fiction genres. In this article, we compiled a list that highlights Indigenous-Canadian writers that have published speculative works in speculative.
Joseph A. Dandurand (he/him)
Joseph A. Dandurand is a member of Kwantlen First Nation located on the Fraser River, east of Vancouver. He resides there with his three children, Danessa, Marlysse, and
Jace. Joseph received a diploma in Performing Arts from Algonquin College, and studied Theatre and Direction at the University of Ottawa. He is currently Director of the Kwantlen Cultural Centre and the storyteller-in-residence of the Vancouver Public Library. He has published fourteen books of poetry, the most recent being I Will Be Corrupted and The East Side of It All. Joseph was recently awarded the Latner Writers’ Trust Poetry Prize.
Th’owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish
From the Kwantlen First Nation village of Squa’lets comes the tale of Th’owxiya, an old and powerful spirit that inhabits a feast dish of tempting, beautiful foods from around the world. But even surrounded by this delicious food, Th’owxiya herself craves only the taste of children. When she catches a hungry mouse named Kw’at’el stealing a piece of cheese from her dish, she threatens to devour Kw’at’el’s whole family, unless he can bring Th’owxiya two child spirits. Ignorant but desperate, Kw’at’el sets out on an epic journey to fulfill the spirit’s demands. With the help of Sqew`eqs, two Spa:th and Sasq’ets, Kw’at’el endeavours to find gifts that would appease Th’owxiya and save his family.
Similar to “Hansel and Gretel” and the Northwest First Nations stories about the Wild Woman of the Woods, Th’owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish—which integrates masks, song and dance—is a tale of understanding boundaries, being responsible for one’s actions, forgiving mistakes, and finding the courage to stand up for what’s right.
Karen McBride (she/her)
KAREN McBRIDE is an Algonquin Anishinaabe writer from the Timiskaming First Nation in the territory that is now Quebec. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and English, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. Karen works as an elementary school teacher on her home reserve. Crow Winter is her first novel.
Crow Winter
Nanabush. A name that has a certain weight on the tongue—a taste. Like lit sage in a windowless room or aluminum foil on a metal filling.
Trickster. Storyteller. Shape-shifter. An ancient troublemaker with the power to do great things, only he doesn’t want to put in the work.
Since coming home to Spirit Bear Point First Nation, Hazel Ellis has been dreaming of an old crow. He tells her he’s here to help her, save her. From what, exactly? Sure, her dad’s been dead for almost two years and she hasn’t quite reconciled that grief, but is that worth the time of an Algonquin demigod?
Soon Hazel learns that there’s more at play than just her own sadness and doubt. The quarry that’s been lying unsullied for over a century on her father’s property is stirring the old magic that crosses the boundaries between this world and the next. With the aid of Nanabush, Hazel must unravel a web of deceit that, if left untouched, could destroy her family and her home on both sides of the Medicine Wheel.
Waubgeshig Rice (he/him)
Waubgeshig Rice (he/him) is an author and journalist originally from Wasauksing First Nation. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe community and won an Independent Publishers Book Award in 2012. His debut novel, Legacy, followed in 2014. That year, he received the Anishinabek Nation’s Debwewin Citation for excellence in First Nation Storytelling. He now splits his time between Sudbury and Wasauksing.
Moon of the Crusted Snow
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
The community leadership loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve. Tensions rise and, as the months pass, so does the death toll due to sickness and despair. Frustrated by the building chaos, a group of young friends and their families turn to the land and Anishinaabe tradition in hopes of helping their community thrive again. Guided through the chaos by an unlikely leader named Evan Whitesky, they endeavour to restore order while grappling with a grave decision.
Blending action and allegory, Waubgeshig Rice demonstrates his powerful literary voice in Moon of the Crusted Snow, a daring post-apocalyptic novel that upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn.
For more listicles spotlighting Canadian writers in Speculative fiction, check out our “Canucks in Space” series!