Norma Dunning
Norma Dunning is a Padlei Inuk writer, professor, and grandmother who works across poetry, literature for young people, fiction, and nonfiction. Dunning has won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award for her collection Annie Muktuk and Other Stories, received a Governor General’s Literary Award for Tainna (The Unseen Ones), and was shortlisted for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing for Kinauvit? (What’s Your Name?). Her books have been translated into French, Greek, and Amharic. Dunning lives in Regina, where she teaches at the First Nations University of Canada.
Writers & Books
Award History
2023 - Finalist
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
forKinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for her Grandmother
Jury Citation
“Norma Dunning shares a powerful and masterful story about the government of Canada’s implementation of Eskimo Identification Numbers — the little-known system that identified Inuit through digits on physical discs in place of their traditional names. With Kinauvit?, Dunning balances memoir and information, breaking ground with a uniquely Inuit story that contributes to the broader topic of Indigeneity in Canada, especially in the North. Deeply analyzed and with a matter-of-fact writing style, Kinauvit? is a must-read for all Canadians that shines a spotlight on a vital national story told through Dunning’s personal journey of discovery.” — 2023 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Jury (Terri E. Givens, Nik Nanos, and Jacques Poitras)Program History
Works Recognized by WT
