Michelle Good | |
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Occupation | Author, poet, lawyer |
Nationality | Cree, Canadian |
Alma mater | University of British Columbia |
Genre | Fiction, Poetry, Essay |
Notable works | Five Little Indians , Defying Gravity, "Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada" |
Notable awards | HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize, 2020 |
Website | |
www |
Michelle Good is a Cree writer, poet, and lawyer from Canada, most noted for her debut novel Five Little Indians . [1] She is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. [2] Good has an MFA and a law degree from the University of British Columbia and, as a lawyer, advocated for residential-school survivors. [3] [4]
Good is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation. [5] [6] She was impacted by the 60s scoop and spent time in the foster care system. [7] Her great-grandmother participated in the 1885 uprising at Frog Lake and her Great Grandmother's uncle was Big Bear. [5] Good graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative writing in 2014. [6] The first draft of her debut novel, Five Little Indians, was her graduate thesis project. [6] She began to practice law in her 40's, sharing the histories of residential schools in courtrooms. [7] Good received an Honorary Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, from Simon Fraser University on October 7, 2022. [8] [9]
Five Little Indians is a story about five British Columbia residential-school survivors. [10] Although the novel itself is fiction, some of the episodes were based on real experiences of her mother and grandmother, who were both survivors of Canada's residential school system. [1] The book was set to be adapted as a 2021 limited television series by producer Martin Katz. [11] [12] [ needs update ]
Truth Telling is the second book written by Good, it is a collection of essays on historical and modern experiences of indigenous in Canada. It covers wide variety of topics from life of indigenous people to modern social institution in Canada. Published on May 30, 2023, and finalist for the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy. [13]
Year | Award | Result | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Governor General's Awards | English-language fiction | Won | [14] [15] |
HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize | — | Won | [16] | |
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize | — | Shortlisted | [17] | |
Scotiabank Giller Prize | — | Longlisted | [18] [19] | |
2021 | Amazon.ca First Novel Award | — | Won | [20] |
Amnesty International Book Club | Reader's Choice | Selection | [21] | |
BC and Yukon Book Prize | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Shortlisted | [22] | |
Jim Deva Prize | Shortlisted | [23] | ||
City of Vancouver Book Award | — | Won | [24] | |
Forest of Reading Evergreen Award | — | Won | [25] | |
Indigenous Voices Award | Published Prose in English: Fiction | Shortlisted | [26] | |
Kobo Emerging Writer Prize | Fiction | Won | [27] [28] | |
2022 | Canada Reads | Written Book | Won | [29] |