Darrel Mcleod's Mamaskatch shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize

Douglas & McIntyre is pleased to announce Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age has been recognized by the RBC Taylor Prize as a finalist for the 2019 prize. The RBC Taylor Prize winner will be revealed at a gala luncheon at the King Edward Hotel on Monday March 4th, 2018.

"A TORTUROUSLY-BEAUTIFUL memoir of growing up in a world of violence and family trauma. McLeod’s writing is lyrical and offers a powerful examination of contemporary issues, from sexual self-identification to the scars of residential school to the contemporary search for reconciliation. “Mamaskatch” means “shared dream” in Cree, and while there are unavoidable nightmares along the journey, there are also dreams of hope, at times of exquisite beauty and renewed pride." ~ Jury Panel: Camilla Gibb, Roy MacGregor, Beverley McLachlin

Upcoming Dates:

·Thursday February 28, 2019 at 7pm: All finalists will participate in a free 90-minute Round Table Discussion with the shortlisted authors in the Brigantine Room at Harbourfront, hosted by Toronto Star Books Editor, Deborah Dundas, presented by the Toronto International Festival of Authors.

·Sunday March 3rd, 2019: All finalists will appear at the Ben McNally Authors Brunch, at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto (for tickets, please contact Ben McNally Books at 416 361-0032 or visit benmcnallybooks.com).

·Monday March 4th, 2019:The RBC Taylor Prize winner will be revealed at a gala luncheon on at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto.

Mamaskatch—a Cree word used as a response to dreams shared—is a series of linked, story-like intervals that weave together Darrel and his family’s wounded lives. Their individual and collective traumas, the tragic flaws that shatter trust and dissolve relationships, the aching attempts to hold on to family and culture, the mysterious presence of birds and ancestral stories, all come together movingly in Darrel’s tender, haunting voice. Mamaskatch won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-fiction.

Darrel J. McLeod is Cree from treaty eight territory in Northern Alberta. Before pursuing writing in his retirement he was a chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government and executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations. He holds degrees in French Literature and Education from UBC. Darrel is working on a second memoir, Peyakow, following the events in Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age. Darrel lives, writes, sings and plays jazz guitar in Sooke B.C. and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.