Wayne Arthurson is a Canadian writer and literary agent born in the province of Quebec and living in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the author of several novels and several books related to First Nations peoples, His parents are of Cree and French Canadian descent. He grew up on an army base.

Career Since the age of twenty-four, he has lived from his writing, whether as a journalist, freelance writer or novelist. He has published over two hundred articles in magazines and newspapers.Wayne Arthurson | Writers' Trust of Canada He developed his skills during his time working as a security guard, as told to CBC Radio,How Wayne Arthurson started writing novels | CBC Radio He echos the pitfalls of what is labelled as Native American mystery novels: thrillers written by non-Indegenous perpetrating stereotypes such as the stoic warrior, the corrupted Chief, or the wise elder, thus creating a false sense of authenticity.Diversity in crime writing: Wayne Arthurson on how white voices overwhelm Indigenous crime fiction

Arthurson's first novel, Final Season, published in 2002, is set in a First Nations community that faces profound environmental change, due to a new hydroelectric project.

Arthurson has two mystery series. One with the recurring hero Leo Desroches, a metis journalist, who has had his own run-ins with the law: Fall from Grace published in 2011, A Killing Winter published in 2012, and Blood Red Summer published in 2016. They were followed by the second series featuring Sergeant Neumann: The Traitors of Camp 133 in 2016 and Dishonour in Camp 133 in 2019, set in a POW camp for captured Germans, in Alberta. The Red Chesterfield, published in 2019, features "M", a by-law enforcement officer, threading not so carefully amidst family members "J" and "K".

He is translated in French by Alire and Héliotrope.

In October 2021, he joined The Rights Factory as a literary agent.The Rights Factory is thrilled to... - The Rights Factory | Facebook

Awards and honors Arthurson won the Alberta Readers' Choice Award in 2012 with his first novel Fall From Grace. He won the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence in May 2020 (formerly the Arthur Ellis Award) for best crime novella with The Red Chesterfield. He was also shortlisted twice for the High Plains Book Awards in the Best Indigenous Writer category.

Bibliography

Wayne Arthurson (2016). Traitors of Camp 133. Ravenstone.

References