Darrel James McLeod (July 13, 1957 – August 29, 2024) was a Canadian Cree writer. His memoir Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age, an account of his childhood experience of physical and sexual abuse, won the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2018 Governor General's Awards and was a shortlisted finalist for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize.
McLeod was born in 1957 in Athabasca, Alberta. Originally from Treaty 8 Cree territory near Smith, Alberta, McLeod went on to work as a teacher, a health care worker, a land claims negotiator and as director of education and international affairs for the Assembly of First Nations. He began writing the book while studying creative writing under Betsy Warland at Simon Fraser University.
The book also touches both on McLeod's coming out as a gay man, and on his sibling's transition as transgender.
His second book, Peyakow, was shortlisted for the 2021 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. McLeod died in Victoria, British Columbia on August 29, 2024, at the age of 67.
References
- ^ "Book review: New memoir maps the terrain of reconciliation". The Province, September 28, 2018.
- "Book about campus rape and an Indigenous memoir win $25,000 Governor General’s Literary Award". Toronto Star, October 30.
- "Finalists for RBC Taylor Prize announced". Toronto Star, January 9, 2018.
- "Darrel James McLeod | Obituary | Sharing Memories".
- "1494 A Cree hero's journey". The British Columbia Review. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
- "Sooke author among finalists for Governor General’s Literacy (sic) Awards". Monday Magazine, October 3, 2018.
- "Be inspired by these new memoirs from remarkable people". Toronto Star, September 28, 2018.
- "Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age". Quill & Quire, July 2018.
- Vicky Qiao, "Jordan Abel & Ian Williams among five finalists for $60K Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction". CBC Books, September 15, 2021.
- Joshua Chong, Darrel J. McLeod, award-winning Cree author and educator, dies at 67. Toronto Star, August 30, 2024.
- Devlin, Mike (31 August 2024). "Obituary: Award-winning author Darrel J. McLeod was also noted jazz musician". Times Colonist. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
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- 1957 births
- 2024 deaths
- 21st-century Canadian male writers
- 21st-century First Nations writers
- Cree writers
- LGBTQ First Nations people
- Canadian gay writers
- Writers from Alberta
- Writers from British Columbia
- Governor General's Award–winning non-fiction writers
- Canadian male non-fiction writers
- Gay memoirists
- 21st-century Canadian memoirists
- 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
- Canadian writer stubs