Leanne Simpson presented with
inaugural RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award
during a Native Peoples
storytelling event at Toronto’s Harbourfront
The presentation of the first ever RBC
Taylor Emerging Writer Award took place tonight during an evening of Aboriginal
storytelling hosted by RBC Wealth Management and the RBC Taylor Prize. RBC Wealth Management and Taylor Prize
created the $10,000 award to promote emerging Canadian talent in non-fiction,
as well as the opportunity to be mentored by the nominating RBC Taylor Prize
winner. The award was presented to author, academic, storyteller and Native Peoples activist Leanne
Simpson Ph.D. by Taylor
Foundation Chair, Noreen Taylor.
As this year’s RBC Taylor Prize winner,
it was Thomas King’s role to choose the recipient of the RBC Taylor Emerging
Writer Award. This was the first time that the two authors have shared a stage
since he announced his selection.
“For me, Leanne Simpson was an obvious
choice,” said Thomas King. “She is a gifted writer who brings passion and
commitment to her storytelling and who has demonstrated an uncommon ability to
manage an impressive range of genres from traditional story- telling to
critical analysis, from poetry to the spoken word, from literary and social
activism to song-writing. She is, in my opinion, one of the more articulate and
engaged voices of her generation.”
“Thomas King is a gifted writer,
performer, story-teller and one of my biggest influences,” said Dr. Simpson. “His impact on my generation of
Indigenous artists and writers is profound and I will be forever grateful to
him for his brilliant body of work. His work lifts Indigenous peoples up, he
makes us laugh out loud, and most importantly, he speaks our truths. With this
award I can continue the work I started in Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back, and
along with many others, move towards creating a just relationship between
Indigenous nations and Canada.”
Leanne Simpson holds a Ph.D. from the
University of Manitoba and is an instructor at the Centre for World Indigenous
Knowledge, Athabasca University. She has published over thirty scholarly
articles and authored five books that draw upon her extensive knowledge of
Indigenous Peoples. She has also written articles for Canadian magazines and
newspapers. In 2012 she won Briarpatch Magazine’s Writing from the Margins competition
for short fiction.
Ms. Simpson is a member of the
Alderville First Nation (Rice Lake, Ontario). For the past 15 years, she has
worked with Indigenous communities and organizations in Canada and
internationally on environmental, governance and political issues. Her third
book, Dancing On Our Turtle’s Back (AK Press) stresses the importance of
illuminating indigenous intellectual traditions in order to transfer that
relationship to the Canadian state.
Thomas King is a novelist, short-story
writer, nonfiction author, screenwriter, and photographer. He was born in the
US, the son of a Greek mother and a Cherokee father. Before immigrating to
Canada, Thomas King worked as an administrator and teacher at Humboldt State
University and the University of Utah (PhD 1986). He accepted a position in
Native Studies at the University of Lethbridge and soon began writing serious
fiction. Often described as one of the finest contemporary Native America
writers, two of King’s books have been nominated for Governor General’s Awards.
In 2003, King was the first Native Canadian to deliver the Massey Lectures. The
author currently teaches English and Theatre Studies at the University of
Guelph.
“One writer’s admiration for another is an
age-old tradition, and one that the RBC Taylor Emerging Writers Award is
formalizing, “explained Noreen Taylor, “This new award brings together writers
who have had an appreciation of each other’s work and, with its mentoring
element, helps forge stronger bonds between the authors. Thomas King has found
Leanne to have one of the more gifted and
engaging voices of her generation. Meanwhile, Leanne has credited Tom
with being a major influence in her writing. I know that, as readers, we
will reap the greatest reward.”
“On behalf of RBC, we congratulate Leanne Simpson for
winning this prestigious award,” said Vijay Parmar, President RBC PH&N
Investment Counsel. “RBC is deeply committed to supporting emerging
writers, such as Leanne, and their passion for literary excellence in
Canada. We are thrilled that, through the new RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award, we will be able
to help cultivate the talents of the next generation of writers in Canada
by providing both financial and professional development opportunities to hone
their craft.”
The RBC
Taylor Emerging Writer Award was established to provide recognition
and assistance to a Canadian published author who is working on a significant
writing project, preferably but not limited to literary non-fiction. Through
mentorship from the nominating author, and the cash award, it is intended that
the writer will be able to progress toward the creation of a first draft.
About RBC Wealth Management
RBC Wealth
Management is one of the world’s top 10 largest wealth
managers*. RBC Wealth Management directly serves affluent, high-net-worth and
ultra-high net worth clients in Canada, the United States, Latin America,
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia with a full suite of banking,
investment, trust and other wealth management solutions. The business also
provides asset management products and services directly and through RBC and
third party distributors to institutional and individual clients, through its
RBC Global Asset Management business (which includes BlueBay Asset Management).
RBC Wealth Management has more than C$690 billion of assets under
administration, more than C$426 billion of assets under management and
approximately 4,400 financial consultants, advisors, private bankers, and trust
officers. For more information, please visit www.rbcwealthmanagement.com
About RBC
Royal
Bank of Canada is Canada’s largest bank, and one of the largest banks in the
world, based on market capitalization. We are one of North America’s leading
diversified financial services companies, and provide personal and commercial
banking, wealth management services, insurance, investor services and capital
markets products and services on a global basis. We employ approximately 79,000
full- and part-time employees who serve more than 16 million personal,
business, public sector and institutional clients through offices in Canada,
the U.S. and 42 other countries. For more information, please visit rbc.com.
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| Leanne Simpson |
RBC
supports a broad range of community initiatives through donations, sponsorships
and employee volunteer activities. In 2013, we contributed more than $104
million to causes worldwide, including donations and community investments of
more than $69 million and $35 million in sponsorships. Learn more at www.rbc.com/community-sustainability.
*Scorpio
Partnership Global Private Banking KPI Benchmark 2013. In the United States,
securities are offered through RBC Wealth Management, a division of RBC Capital
Markets, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. Member
NYSE/FINRA/SIPC.
About
the RBC Taylor Prize
The RBC Taylor Prize was founded to commemorate the
life of the late Charles Taylor, one of Canada’s foremost essayists and a
prominent member of the Canadian literary community. Charles Taylor was a
foreign correspondent with The Globe and Mail and the author of four books: Radical
Tories; Reporter in Red China; Six Journeys: A Canadian Pattern; and Snow Job.
The Trustees of the Charles Taylor Prize Foundation
are Michael Bradley (Toronto), David Staines (Ottawa), and Noreen Taylor
(Toronto). The Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of RBC Wealth
Management as its presenting sponsor; along with its major sponsor Metropia;
and greatly appreciates the support of its media sponsors The Globe and Mail; Maclean’s
magazine, CNW Group; The Huffington Post Canada and Quill & Quire magazine;
and in-kind sponsors: Authors at Harbourfront Centre, Ben McNally Books, Event
Source and The Omni King Edward Hotel.
For further
information please visit: www.thecharlestaylorprize.ca
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize | Follow us on Twitter: @taylorprize
George Socka posted a video about Leanne Simpson receiving the RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Authors Award from Tom King
