Joseph Dandurand wins Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence

Nightwood Editions would like to congratulate Joseph Dandurand, winner of the 2021 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, which recognizes a writer who has contributed significantly to the development of literary excellence in British Columbia, as well as having written a substantial body of literary work throughout his or her career.

The jurors for this award—Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek, Sarah Ellis and Sirish Rao—stated that “Joseph Dandurand is a keeper of deep cultural knowledge, whose work gives shelter to voices that have been silenced or ignored. What he does to keep these voices, experiences, and a way of storytelling alive, is an act of conservation which requires both tenderness and ferocity. At a time when we look to artists for healing and for orientation, we are all fortunate to have the guidance of Joseph Dandurand.”

Joseph A. Dandurand is a member of Kwantlen First Nation located on the Fraser River about 20 minutes east of Vancouver. He resides there with his three children – Danessa, Marlysse, and Jace. Joseph is the Director of the Kwantlen Cultural Center. He has published two books with Nightwood Editions: the poetry collection, The East Side of It All (2020) and the children’s book, The Sasquatch, the Fire and the Cedar Baskets (2020), illustrated by Simon Daniel James. In 2022, he will release another children’s book in the same series, A Magical Sturgeon, with illustrations by Elinor Atkins.

Joseph’s has also written twelve additional books of poetry, including: I Want (Leaf Press 2015), Hear And Foretell (BookLand Press 2015), The Rumour (BookLand Press 2018), SH:LAM (the doctor) (Mawenzi Press 2019),) I Will Be Corrupted (Guernica Editions 2020). He is also the author of the children’s play: Th’owixiya: the hungry feast dish (Playwrights Press Canada 2019).