Katherena Vermette is a Métis writer from Treaty 1 Territory in Manitoba. Her first book North End Love Songs won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her novel The Break won 2017 Amazon.ca First Novel Award. In 2017, she began a series of graphic novels, A Girl Called Echo, with illustrator Scott Henderson and colourist Donovan Yaciuk. Volume 1 isThe Pemican Wars, Volume 2 is Red River Resistance and Volume 3, Northwest Resistance. Volume 4, Road Allowance Era, the last volume in the series was published on April 27. We talked to Vermette about the story of Echo as a messenger of Métis history and about what brought her to life.
Talking UP is an interview show dedicated to writers, journalists and authors working on issues of social justice, equity and the nonprofit sector. Guests talk about their reporting and research, what drives their work, and what’s important to them. Listeners will have the opportunity to widen their lens, develop their understanding and figure out where we might go from here.