Lou-ann Neel
Eight writers have been named recipients of the 2025 Indigenous Voices Awards for their unpublished work and eight more have been named finalists of the IVAs.
The prizes, now in their ninth year, honour the sovereignty of Indigenous creative voices and support the work of Indigenous writers.
The recipients of this year’s awards for published work will be announced on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day.
The finalists and recipients for this year’s English-language awards were selected by a jury comprised of Richard Van Camp, Kayla Lar-Son, Marilyn Dumont, Emily Riddle, Otoniya Juliane Okot Bitek, Tenille K. Campbell, Joanne Arnott, and Smokii Sumac.
The finalists are:
Published Prose
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The Cree Word for Love: Sâkihitowin by Tracey Lindberg (Cree; As’in’î’wa’chî Ni’yaw Nation/Kelly Lake Cree Nation (KLCN)) and George Littlechild (Plains Cree, born in Treaty 6 territory) (HarperCollins Canada)
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ᑭᐢᑭᓱᒥᑐᐠ kiskisomitok: ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ to remind each and one another by reuben quinn (Talonbooks) (onôcihtôwipîsim, Saddle Lake, a descendant of pahpâstêw, from Treaty 6 territory)
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Five Seasons of Charlie Francis by Danica Roache (Vagrant Press/Nimbus Publishing) (Mixed-ancestry Mi’kmaw member of Glooscap First Nation)
- CoyWolf by Colin Wolf (Playwrights Canada Press) (Otipemisiwak (Métis Nation Alberta) citizen)
Published Poetry
- Stages of Tanning Words and Remembering Spells by Tawahum Bige (Harbour Publishing) (Łutselk’e Dene / Cree / Métis)
- Homecoming by Melinda Burns (BookLand Press) (Lower Mohawk First Nation)
- Bow Forged from Ash by Melissa Powless Day (Palimpsest Press) (Anishinaabe and Kanien’kehá:ka from Bkejwanong Territory (Walpole Island First Nation)
- a body more tolerable by jaye simpson (Arsenal Pulp Press) (Oji-Cree Saulteaux)
The winners of the Prix voix autochtones, the French-language IVAs, will be announced during the Kwe! Festival in June.
The recipients of the unpublished IVAs each receive $500. Their recognized work will be shared with Yarrow Magazine for future publishing consideration.
Unpublished poetry
- “Clem Clem” by Kieran Kalls Rice (Snuneymuxw First Nation)
- “nightingale” and other poems by kit-xgwélemc kennedy (member of St’uxwtéws (Bonaparte First Nation) Secwépemc)
- “What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” by Michelle Poirier Brown (Manitoba Métis Federation)
- “I wanted to be a ceremony/cemetery” by Kennedy Willier (member of Sucker Creek First Nation (Treaty 8)
Unpublished prose
- “Eyebright” by Odette Auger (enrolled member of Sagamok Anishnawbek)
- “The Paper Gown/The River Remembers” by Dawn Dionne (Lil’Wat Nation, Mount Currie)
- “The Buffalo and The Raven” by Daly Quintal (Métis Nation of Alberta, Lac la Biche)
- “Overexposure” by Cooper Skjeie ( (Métis Nation of Saskatchewan)
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