Norma Dunning (born 1959) is an Inuk Canadian writer and assistant lecturer at the University of Alberta,[1] who won the Danuta Gleed Literary Award in 2018 for her short story collection Annie Muktuk and Other Stories.[2] In the same year, she won the Writers' Guild of Alberta's Howard O'Hagan Award for the short story "Elipsee", and was a shortlisted finalist for the City of Edmonton Book Award.[3] She published in 2020 a collection of poetry and stories entitled Eskimo Pie: A Poetics of Inuit Identity.

Of Inuit descent, Dunning was born in Quebec and raised in a variety of towns as her father was a member of the Canadian military.[4] She is based in Edmonton, Alberta, where she completed her doctoral degree with Indigenous Peoples Education at the University of Alberta in June 2019.[4]

Her story collection Tainna (pronounced Da-ee-nna) won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2021 Governor General's Awards,[5] and was shortlisted for the ReLit Award for short fiction in 2022.[6] Her second book Akia: The Other Side, is a collection of poetry that honors Inuit who lay in the past.

In 2023, her non-fiction book Kinauvit?: What’s Your Name? The Eskimo Disc System and a Daughter’s Search for Her Grandmother was shortlisted for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Dunning, Norma | Inuit Literatures ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐊᓪᓚᒍᓯᖏᑦ Littératures inuites". inuit.uqam.ca. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
  2. ^ "Edmonton-based Inuk writer Norma Dunning wins $10K Danuta Gleed Literary Award". Canadian Press via Global News, June 14, 2018.
  3. ^ "Edmonton's Indigenous writers finally being heard, Inuk author says". CBC News Edmonton, June 28, 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Inuk writer reveals story behind award-winning fiction". Folio, June 29, 2018.
  5. ^ "Inuk author Norma Dunning wins $25K Governor General's fiction prize". Coast Reporter, November 17, 2021.
  6. ^ "Short fiction from Norma Dunning, David Huebert, Alix Ohlin among works shortlisted for 2022 ReLit Awards". CBC Books, May 9, 2022.
  7. ^ "Globe reporter Josh O’Kane among Shaughnessy Cohen book prize nominees". The Globe and Mail, March 29, 2023.


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