'Very meaningful for me': Indigenous Winnipeg author picks up four wins at Manitoba Book Awards

A Winnipeg author was the big winner at the 2023 Manitoba Book Awards, taking home four wins for his young adult reads featuring an Indigenous superhero and a Narnia-inspired fantasy.

David A. Robertson won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award for “The Theory of Crows” and the Graphic Novel award for “Version Control.”

He was also the co-winner of the McNally Robinson Book for Young People for “The Stone Child: The Misewa Saga, Book Three” and the Manitowapow Award, which is awarded every two years to two Indigenous writers or oral performers who demonstrate excellence in writing, storytelling or spoken work and who actively support Indigenous verbal arts in Manitoba.

(Source: Portage and Main Press)

“You never take things like that for granted,” Robertson told CTV News Winnipeg in an interview Monday.

“There's a lot of great books that are published every year, especially here in Manitoba. We have, I think, a really underrated arts community and a lot of talented people, so you always feel really grateful.”

Robertson is no stranger to awards. He is a previous winner at the Manitoba Book Awards, as well as a recipient of the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Globe and Mail Children’s Storyteller of the Year.

Robertson, who is a member of the Norway House Cree Nation, said it’s meaningful to see his work telling Indigenous stories with Indigenous characters acknowledged. Representation of this kind has been lacking in literature, he said.

(Source: HarperCollins Canada)

“Not only were the characters not present or poorly represented, but there weren't a lot of writers who are being published from Indigenous communities. Indigenous writers -- we're just not getting work. We're not getting our books out there.”

Still, he believes publishers are beginning to see not only that Indigenous stories are worth publishing, they have the potential to end up on bestseller’s lists.

Of the awards won at Sunday’s ceremony at McNally Robinson Booksellers, the Manitowapow Award was notable for Robertson.

“To be able to share that with people that I really respect and admire, you know, is very, very meaningful for me.”

A complete list of this year's winners can be found on the Manitoba Book Awards' website.