Celebrated author Katherena Vermette will returns as a guest to York University's Canadian Writers in Person Lecture Series on Feb. 12, and will discuss her highly acclaimed novel The Break.
The series, presented by the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, runs Tuesday evenings from 7 to 10 p.m. in 206 Accolade West Building.
A Métis writer from Treaty One territory in Winnipeg, Vermette has earned much acclaim as both a writer and filmmaker. Her debut book, North End Love Songs (The Muses’ Company), won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry.
Vermette’s novel The Break (House of Anansi) was awarded the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction (2017), the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award (2017), the McNally Robinson Book of the Year (2017) and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award (2017). It was also shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction (2016), the Rogers Trust Fiction Prize (2016), and the Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Young Adult Literature (2017).
The fictional story begins one evening when young Métis mother Stella looks out her window and sees someone in trouble on the break (an isolated piece of land) and calls the police.
The story is told through shifting narratives of those connected to the victim. The reader learns of their personal stories leading up to the event, and a larger story unfolds.
Vermette has also published a seven-volume children’s picture book series, The Seven Teachings Stories.
In addition, she has earned the Coup de coeur at the Montreal First Peoples Festival and a nomination for a Canadian Screen Award for her National Film Board short documentary, This River.
Vermette has a master of fine arts degree from the University of British Columbia and she is involved in co-ordinating arts programs in Winnipeg, where she lives with her family.
The series continues with:
- March 5 – Kim Fu, The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore; and
- March 19 – David Chariandy, Brother.
For more information on the series, visit the event website.