Eden Robinson

For nearly 30 years, Eden Robinson has been changing the world through storytelling. This award-winning author of five novels and a short story collection has had her works published around the world, translated into multiple languages, and adapted for film. She has served as a role model and mentor to other Indigenous authors.

After graduating from the University of Victoria with a B.A. in creative writing in 1992, Eden went on to receive an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia’s Dept. of Creative Writing in 1995, along with an honorary Ph.D. from the same institution in 2018.

Eden’s work blends the supernatural with elements of contemporary Indigenous experiences in Canada. Her infusion of traditional Haisla and Heiltsuk stories and motifs into contemporary settings makes her work innovative and wholly unique.

Her first work, Traplines, a collection of short stories, received national and international acclaim; it was a New York Times Notable Book and won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. Monkey Beach, her first novel, won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award (Fiction) and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. A national bestseller, it was adapted as a feature film in 2020.

Eden is perhaps best known for her acclaimed Trickster Trilogy: Son of a Trickster, Trickster Drift, and Return of the Trickster. Son of a Trickster was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize; it was also adapted into a popular TV series and was a contender for the 2020 edition of Canada Reads. Each book in the trilogy was a national bestseller and appeared on numerous ‘best of’ lists.

Eden’s legacy is not merely her published works; it is also the gifts she has given to Indigenous communities and readers across Turtle Island – and around the world – as a respected and beloved storyteller.