Canadian novelist Joseph Boyden

The Institute for Native American Studies welcomes Native Canadian novelist Joseph Boyden to campus as part of the Franklin Visiting Scholar series:

Boyden grew up in Ontario and is of Irish, Scottish and Anishinaabe heritage. His debut novel, "Three Day Road," is the story of two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I. The novel, inspired by the story of a legendary WWI sniper, won the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Award. Boyden's second novel, "Through the Black Spruce," won the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize, the Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize.

Boyden is known for writing about the heritage and culture of First Nations peoples, a designation that refers to more than 600 governments of aboriginal people of Canada representing a population of nearly 700,000.

There is so much about our own history about which we remain largely unaware. In preparation for an interview with Boyden during his visit, I recently read Boyden's Three Day Road. It's a terrific story and reminded me that the cultural experience of the dominant group(s) is not the whole story of our society. Boyden's work reminds us that it might not even be the most interesting part. Looking forward to his reading and our interview.

Image provided by the author.