Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation on Georgian Bay. His first short story collection, Midnight Sweatlodge, was inspired by his experiences growing up in an Anishinaabe community, and won an Independent Publishers Book Award in 2012. His debut novel, Legacy, followed in 2014. A French translation was published in 2017. His latest novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, became a national bestseller and received widespread critical acclaim, including the Evergreen Award in 2019. His short stories and essays have been published in numerous anthologies.
His journalism experience began in 1996 as an exchange student in northern Germany, writing articles about being an Anishinaabe youth in a foreign country for newspapers back in Canada. He graduated from the journalism program at Toronto Metropolitan University in 2002. He spent most of his journalism career with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a video journalist, web writer, producer, and radio host. In 2014, he received the Anishinabek Nation’s Debwewin Citation for excellence in First Nation Storytelling. His final role with CBC was host of Up North, the afternoon radio program for northern Ontario. He left daily journalism in 2020 to focus on his literary career.
“KPDSB’s Summer Book Club was overwhelmingly pleased with the 2024 books we selected for our readers. Waubgeshig Rice’s Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves were ideal choices for over 200 readers to engage in throughout July. Feedback from our participants was immediate and ongoing with comments directed at an appreciation of the author’s work, his engagement with us and the reflection and thinking prompted through the texts. Our two virtual sessions were also well-received, with many attendees noting how easily Waubgeshig Rice brought us into his writing and life experiences. We highly recommend this author and these books.” — Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, 2024
