Monique Gray Smith

Last updated
Monique Gray Smith
Born1968 (age 5556)
OccupationWriter
GenreChildren's literature, young adult fiction
Notable worksTilly, a Story of Hope and Resilience
Notable awardsBurt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature

Monique Gray Smith is a Canadian writer of children's and young adult literature. [1] [2] She is also an international speaker and consultant. Of Cree, Lakota and Scottish descent, Smith is based in Victoria, British Columbia. [2] [3]

Contents

Career

She is most noted for her young adult novel Tilly, a Story of Hope and Resilience, which won the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature in 2014, [4] and her children's picture book My Heart Fills With Happiness, which won the Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize in 2017. In 2018 she was named as a finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award for Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, [5] and for the Burt Award for The Journey Forward, a compilation of two novellas co-written with Richard Van Camp. [6] In the same year she published Tilly and the Crazy Eights, a sequel to her first novel. [7]

In addition to her work as a writer, Smith has worked as a psychiatric nurse in Indigenous communities for over 25 years, having completed formal nurses training at Douglas College. [8] She also spent 5 years working as Instructor for Curriculum Design at the Justice Institute of BC and has been an Inspirational Speaker for Little Drum Consulting for more than 20 years. [9]

Awards

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References

  1. "Monique Gray Smith's new book for young readers charts a path to reconciliation". The Next Chapter , August 17, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Victoria writer Monique Gray Smith earns B.C. Book Prize". Victoria Times-Colonist , May 2, 2017.
  3. "About Monique Gray Smith", 2019.
  4. "Monique Gray Smith wins Burt Award for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literature". Quill & Quire , September 9, 2014.
  5. "Victoria author Monique Gray Smith nominated for award". Victoria Times-Colonist , September 7, 2018.
  6. "Cherie Dimaline's The Marrow Thieves among finalists for $10K CODE Burt Award for Indigenous YA literature". CBC Books, September 20, 2018.
  7. "Tilly and the Crazy Eights". Quill & Quire , September 2018.
  8. Alison Gerlach, PhD; Smith, Monique Gray. "'Walking side by side': Being an occupational therapy change agent in partnership with Indigenous clients and communities".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Smith, Monique Gray (2019). "Monique Gray Smith". LinkedIn.
  10. 1 2 3 "Writing". moniquegraysmith.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  11. "Winners & Finalists | Victoria Book Prize Society". www.victoriabookprizes.ca. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  12. "The Largest Award of Its Kind Celebrates the Best in Canadian Children's Literature". Canadian Children's Book Centre. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2019-03-04.