Join us for a conversation between Carleigh Baker, Alfian Sa’at and Ali Cobby Eckermann.
This panel discussion brings Indigenous writers from three different countries together in conversation about their creative work, their experiences navigating creative industries and colonial histories, and writing as a means of resistance to prevailing colonial (and supposedly “post-colonial”) structures. Where do the experiences of Indigenous writers intersect or diverge and what sorts of solidarities can be built across borders?
This event is moderated by Professor Billy-Ray Belcourt.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend. Please register by clicking the link below.
Speaker Biographies
Carleigh Baker is an author and teacher of nêhiyaw âpihtawikosisân and European descent. Born and raised on Stó:lō territory, she currently lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwəta (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Her debut story collection, Bad Endings (Anvil Press, 2017), won the City of Vancouver Book Award, and was also a finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Emerging Indigenous Voices Award for fiction. Her short stories and essays have been translated into several languages and anthologized in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Her newest collection, Last Woman, and Mudlarkers, a novel, are forthcoming with McClelland & Stewart. As a teacher and researcher, she is particularly interested in how contemporary fiction can be used to address the climate crisis. Her novel-in-progress, Mudlarkers, is a darkly satirical look at how modern conservationist movements have displaced Indigenous voices on issues of land stewardship. She was a 2019/20 Shadbolt Fellow in the Humanities at Simon Fraser University, where she sometimes teaches creative writing.
Ali Cobby Eckermann is an Aboriginal poet, visual artist and recipient of the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize. Her debut collection of poetry, Little Bit Long Time, was published in 2009 as part of the New Poets Series of the Australian Poetry Centre. Since then, she has produced a substantial and formally innovative body of work, including the award- winning 2015 collection Inside My Mother. Eckermann’s other books include the prose memoir Too Afraid to Cry (2013) and the verse novel Ruby Moonlight (2012), which was named the New South Wales Book of the Year and also won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry.
Alfian Sa’at is a Resident Playwright with Wild Rice. His published works include three collections of poetry, One Fierce Hour, A History of Amnesia, and The Invisible Manuscript, a collection of short stories, Corridor, a collection of flash fiction, Malay Sketches, three collections of plays as well as the published play Cooling Off Day. Alfian has won Best Original Script at the Life! Theatre Awards four times, in 2004 for Landmarks, in 2010 for Nadirah, in 2013 for Kakak Kau Punya Laki (Your Sister’s Husband) and in 2016 for Hotel (with Marcia Vanderstraaten). In 2001, Alfian won the Golden Point Award for Poetry as well as the National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature. He has also been nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize three times, for Corridor (1999, Commendation Prize), A History of Amnesia (2004) and his translation of the novel The Widower (2016).
Visiting Writers Program
The School of Creative Writing’s Visiting Writers Program provides an opportunity for our students, alumni and faculty to connect with insightful writers in small group settings. We encourage everyone in Creative Writing to take advantage of this opportunity – it’s a unique benefit of being involved in the School.
These events are open to all Creative Writing students, alumni and faculty. If you’d like to bring a friend, please do!
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required to attend. Follow the link provided at the top of this event listing to register.
