Winners Announced for 2020 Indigenous Voices Awards

Jesse Thistle, Michelle Sylliboy, and Arielle Twist are among the winners of the third annual Indigenous Voices Awards.

The announcement, made yesterday on National Indigenous Day (June 21st), came during a virtual gala hosted through the IVAs website.

Thistle's memoir From The Ashes (Simon & Schuster) took home the award for Published Prose in English, while Sylliboy and Twist tied for Published Poetry in English for their respective works Kiskajeyi—I am Ready (Rebel Mountain) and Disintegrate/Disassociate (Arsenal Pulp Press).

The awards are comprised of four published categories, the winners of each receiving a cash prize of $5000, and four remaining categories of unpublished, Indigenous language, and alternative format which carry a prize of $2000 each. 

This year, winning authors were chosen by a jury that included  Jordan Abel, Jeannette Armstrong, Joanne Arnott, Francis Langevin, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Pierrot Ross-Tremblay, and Richard Van Camp. 

Read below for the full list of winners:

Published Prose in English
From the Ashes, Jesse Thistle (Simon & Schuster Canada)

Published Poetry in English
Kiskajeyi—I am Ready, Michelle Sylliboy (Rebel Mountain) and Disintegrate / Dissociate, Arielle Twist (Arsenal Pulp Press)

Published Prose in French
Shuni — Ce que tu dois savoir, Julie, Naomi Fontaine (Mémoire d’encrier)

Published Poetry in French
Bréviaire du matricule 082, Maya Cousineau-Mollen (Éditions Hannenorak) and Chauffer le dehors, Marie-Andrée Gill (La peuplade)

Works in an Indigenous Language
Injichaag: My Soul in Story, Rene Meshake (University of Manitoba Press) and Dakwäkãda Warriors, Cole Pauls (Conundrum Press)

Unpublished Prose in English
Excerpts from “Half-Bads in White Regalia,” Cody Caetano

Unpublished Poetry in English
“Two Little Foxes, Buttertown Beach, I Will Never be Happier,” Keely Shirt

Works in an Alternative Format
Elizabeth Dances Pow-wow, Elaine McArthur (independently published)

For more information on the Indigenous Voices Awards, visit their website.