Author Event
Authors in conversation: T'áncháy Redvers and Joshua Whitehead
Missed this event? A recording is now available.
ABOUT THIS EVENT
The UBC Okanagan Library was pleased to present a unique online author event celebrating the diversity of literature created by and for Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer people. This event featured writers and creators T’áncháy Redvers and Joshua Whitehead in conversation.
Speakers presented some of their work and offered attendees the opportunity to ask questions. Important themes such as decolonizing Queer literature, exploring intersecting identities, Indigenous Futurism, and Indigenous ways of knowing and learning were explored.
An intimate after-event with T’áncháy Redvers and Joshua Whitehead was available for self-identifying Two-Spirit, Indigenous Queer, and Indigenous students.
These events were supported by UBCO Library, UBC Okanagan Student Union, and Equity & Inclusion Office.
Questions about these events can be directed to Sajni Lacey at sajni.lacey@ubc.ca.
Speaker Bios & Books
T’áncháy Redvers (she/they) is a Dene/Métis two-spirit social justice warrior, writer, creator, performer and facilitator from Treaty 8 territory, Northwest Territories. With a BA Honors in International Development, Certificate in Civic Engagement & Global Citizenship, and a Master of Indigenous Social Work, she has been nationally and internationally recognized for her work and advocacy. In 2016, Tunchai and her brother founded We Matter, a national campaign and organization dedicated to Indigenous youth hope and life promotion.
Her debut collection of poetry, Fireweed, was published in 2019 with Kegedonce Press. With a passion for exploring and unpacking topics such as intergenerational trauma, philanthropy, gender and sexuality, youth and queer empowerment, and positive representation, her approach is one that aims to decolonize and indigenize identity, mental health and healing. She has spent considerable time living, travelling, speaking, and working with Indigenous communities internationally and across Canada, and considers herself a nomad just like her ancestors.
Learn more: denewanderer.com
Books by T’áncháy Redvers in our collection:
Joshua Whitehead (he/him) is a Two-Spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He is currently a Ph.D. candidate, lecturer, and Killam scholar at the University of Calgary where he studies Indigenous literatures and cultures with a focus on gender and sexuality. His dissertation, tentatively titled “Feral Fatalisms,” is a hybrid narrative of theory, essay, and non-fiction that interrogates the role of “ferality” inherent within Indigenous ways of being (with a strong focus on nêhiyawewin). He is the author of full-metal indigiqueer (Talonbooks 2017) which was shortlisted for the inaugural Indigenous Voices Award and the Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. He is also the author of Jonny Appleseed (Arsenal Pulp Press 2018) which was long listed for the Giller Prize, shortlisted for the Indigenous Voices Award, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award, and won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction and the Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction. Whitehead is currently working on a third manuscript titled, Making Love with the Land to be published with Knopf Canada, which explores the intersections of Indigeneity, queerness, and, most prominently, mental health through a nêhiyaw lens. Currently, Whitehead is premiering his newly edited anthology, Love after the End: an Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction. You can find his work published widely in such venues as Prairie Fire, CV2, EVENT, Arc Poetry Magazine, The Fiddlehead, Grain, CNQ, Write, and Red Rising Magazine.
Learn more: joshuawhitehead.ca
Books written or edited by Joshua Whitehead in our collection:
Love After The End: an anthology of Two-spirit & Indigiqueer speculative fiction