Lisa Bird-Wilson is a Métis and nêhiyaw writer from Saskatchewan.
Personal life A survivor of the Sixties Scoop, as a child Bird-Wilson was adopted, disconnecting her from her Cree and Métis heritage. This experience informs much of her writing. She earned bachelor of Arts (1993), Bachelor of Education (1999), and Master of Education (2005) degrees from the University of Saskatchewan.
Career Bird-Wilson's debut collection of short stories, Just Pretending (2013), was chosen as the Saskatchewan Library Association's 2019 One Book One Province. The book won four Saskatchewan Book Awards (including 2014 book of the year), and was a finalist for the 2014 Danuta Gleed Literary Award. Reviewing the stories for The /tƐmz/ Review, Amy Mitchell says "the stories and characters are so alive, and the writing is so beautiful in its stripped-down simplicity."
She has also published poetry and non-fiction books.
, Bird-Wilson is CEO of the Gabriel Dumont Institute, the education arm of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan. She is also a founding board member and chair of the Ânskohk Aboriginal Writers' Circle and founding president of the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Literacy Network.
Awards 2014 Shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award for Just Pretending University of Regina Book of the Year for Just Pretending SaskPower Fiction Award for Just Pretending Rasmussen, Rasmussen & Charowsky Aboriginal Peoples' Writing Award for Just Pretending First Nations University of Canada Aboriginal Peoples' Publishing Award for Just Pretending YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Arts, Culture or Heritage 2017 John Hodgin's Founder Award for short story "Counselling" 2018 Saskatchewan Arts Board, RBC Emerging Artist Award 2019 Silver Medal, Column, National Magazine Awards for "Clowns, Cake, Canoes: This is Canada?" 2022 Shortlisted for the Amazon.ca First Novel Award for Probably Ruby"Retired bricklayer among six debut novelists vying for $60,000 prize". The Globe and Mail, May 10, 2022. Finalist for the 2022 Governor General's Award for English Fiction for "Probably Ruby"; 2022
Works An Institute of Our Own: A History of the Gabriel Dumont Institute, non-fiction (Gabriel Dumont Press, 2011) Just Pretending, short stories (Coteau Books, 2013) The Red Files, poetry (Nightwood Editions, 2016) Probably Ruby, novel (Doubleday Canada, 2021)
References
Further reading
External links Lisa Bird-Wilson; Saskatchewan Writers' Guild Lisa Bird-Wilson Website