When Niigaan Sinclair presented his collection of articles to a Toronto publisher, he was told that “Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre” was a “regional book.”

The Winnipeg-based Anishinaabe columnist and editor remembers being told to expect little attention outside major urban centers. So he wasn’t surprised to see “about 80 percent” of his sales come from Manitoba, northwestern Ontario and Saskatchewan.

But on Wednesday, Sinclair was assured that the book had indeed resonated well beyond its geographical setting, winning the Governor General’s Literary Award for non-fiction.

“They didn’t even do book launches for me in the rest of the country. And then boom, all kinds of success. I think the country has responded,” Sinclair said from Winnipeg on a video call.

Sinclair is part of an estimable list announced Wednesday morning that includes fiction winner Jordan Abel of Edmonton for the allegorical novel “Empty Spaces” and poetry winner Chimwemwe Undi of Winnipeg for “Scientific Marvel.”

Abel, a queer Nisga’a writer from Vancouver, says he suspected the unusual approach he took for his first novel would be a barrier for some audiences. “Empty Spaces” contains no characters or dialogue in its examination of Indigenous relationships with land, displacement and diaspora. Winning the fiction prize put those worries to rest.

“This award is incredibly affirming, you know, in the sense that (this book has) done good things in the world, people care about it. Not everyone is afraid of difficulty and that’s a very good feeling,” says Abel from Edmonton, where he is an associate professor of English at the University of Alberta.

“All writing is political, and I think this book is deeply political. So I was hoping for that, or at least I was hoping for an opening of conversation. And it’s difficult, from an author’s point of view, to determine whether or not that happens, but I hope that it does and that there are conversations that continue from this book.

Although on the surface he claims that “Blank Spaces” can be described as an indigenous response to James Fenimore Cooper’s “Last of the Mohicans,” he says it explores an argument made by author Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz that Cooper’s book was instrumental in undoing the guilt associated with America’s indigenous peoples and forms the backbone of American nationalism.

It’s a timely idea, given the hateful rhetoric leading up to and surrounding the last U.S. presidential election, Abel notes.

“The work on ‘Empty Spaces’ is not disconnected from the current political climate in America. I can absolutely see the two in conversation,” Abel says.

The Canada Council for the Arts announced the winners in seven categories, in both official languages.

Writers, translators and illustrators of the winning books receive $25,000 and runners-up receive $1,000 each. The publishers of the winning books receive $3,000 to promote them.

The drama prize went to “There Is Violence and There Is Righteous Violence and There Is Death, or the Born-Again Crow,” by Calgary’s Caleigh Crow, while the French-to-English translation prize was awarded to “Nights Too Short to Dance”. by Katia Grubisic of Montreal (Second Story Press); a translation of “A heart inhabited by a thousand voices” by Marie-Claire Blais.

In the children’s literature categories, the text prize was awarded to “Crash Landing” by Li Charmaine Anne of New Westminster, BC (Annick Press), while the illustrated book prize was awarded to “Skating Wild on an Inland Sea” by Jean E. Pendziwol of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Todd Stewart of Montreal (Groundwood Books, House of Anansi).

Sinclair also hopes his book can spark a conversation about efforts to address Indigenous injustice and violence in “Wînipêk” – a region that extends beyond Winnipeg to encompass the watershed and parts of other provinces.

“There are other places doing important work, but the most critical issue is addressed here every day – not so much in Toronto, Montreal or Ottawa,” says Sinclair, a professor in the department of indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba.

“Canada’s front line has always been Wînipêk – this territory right here, the first province, the first treaty. »

Sinclair says the vast majority of articles in his book were originally written between 2018 and 2023, although some date back to 2009. He says a lot has changed in those years, including increased attention and interest growing numbers for Indigenous writing in general – such as those of Abel, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew, and that of his late father Murray Sinclair, chief commissioner of the Residential School Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“There has been a huge amount of interest and engagement. I think the skill level of the country has increased,” he says.

At the same time, he detected a “very vocal” and “very vocal” minority of residential school deniers.

“It’s no coincidence that at the very moment Indigenous people are being listened to, an equal and opposite force is starting to say, ‘Don’t listen to them,’” he says.

“There was never a need to have a force that said, ‘Don’t listen to them,’ because that’s how society worked. »

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 13, 2024.