Joseph
Kakwinokanasum
Joseph Kakwinokanasum is a member of James Smith Cree Nation. He is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s The Writer’s Studio and The Writer’s Studio Graduate Workshop. His work has been published in the 2022 anthology Resonance: Essays on the Craft and Life of Writing by Anvil Press, the Humber Literary Journal, and Emerge, The Writer’s Studio anthology. He was shortlisted for the 2020 CBC Nonfiction Prize and his manuscript "Woodland Creetures" was awarded the 2014 Canada Council for the Arts Creation Grant for Aboriginal Peoples, Writers, and Storytellers. Kakwinokanasum lives in White Rock, BC. He was selected as a 2022 Writers’ Trust Rising Star by Darrel J. McLeod.
Program History
Citation
"Joseph Kakwinokanasum’s writing is deliberate and skillful, magical and meticulously raw. In a lyrical style that is both intimate and hypnotic, Kakwinokanasum breathes life into his characters at their first mention and draws you into the gossamer web of his vibrant storytelling, from which there is no escape other than to read a story through to its end. The blank page is Kakwinokanasum’s canvas; his artistry is resplendent. Look forward to reading so much more from this gifted and passionate author."