Cherie Dimaline facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cherie Dimaline
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Dimaline at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival in 2016
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| Born | 2 July 1975 |
| Occupation | Author |
| Genre | Fiction, Young adult |
Cherie Dimaline is a talented writer and a member of the Georgian Bay Métis Council. She is part of the Métis Nation of Ontario. She is well-known for her 2017 young adult novel The Marrow Thieves. This book talks about the challenges faced by Indigenous peoples because of historical events.
Cherie Dimaline won an award for Fiction Book of the Year for her first novel, Red Rooms. Since then, she has written other stories. These include the short story "Seven Gifts for Cedar" and the novel The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy. She also published a collection of short stories called A Gentle Habit. In 2019, she was the editor for Little Bird Stories (Volume IX). This book featured winners from a writing contest.
She was also the first editor for Muskrat Magazine. In 2014, she was named the Emerging Artist of the Year in Ontario. She also became the first Indigenous writer-in-residence for the Toronto Public Library.
About Cherie Dimaline's Life
Cherie Dimaline grew up in a Métis community near Georgian Bay. Now, she lives in Toronto. When she was a child, she spent her summers back in her Métis community. There, she learned many stories from her family. She then shared these stories with her cousins. As a young person, she even worked as a magician's assistant! Later, Dimaline had many different jobs. She worked as a museum curator and a manager for an investment company. She was also the director of a women's resource center.
Dimaline has contributed to several projects. One example is the book Mitêwâcimowina: Indigenous Science Fiction and Speculative Storytelling from 2016. She also wrote columns and edited for Chatelaine magazine in the early 2000s.
Dimaline sees herself as a Métis or Indigenous writer. She does not call herself a Canadian writer. She has said, "I would love to be recognized as a writer of Indigenous stories. I'm not a Canadian writer. This is what is now known as Canada; it means something different to and for me."
Cherie Dimaline's Community Work
Cherie Dimaline has taken part in many literary festivals. These events bring writers and readers together. She has attended the Kingston WritersFest in 2016. She was also at the Toronto International Festival of Authors in 2016, 2018, and 2019. Other festivals include the Ottawa Writers Festival (2017, 2018, 2019, 2023). She also participated in Wordfest Imaginairium (2019, 2023) and the Vancouver Writers Fest (2020, 2021, 2023).
Awards and Recognition
In 2014, Cherie Dimaline was honored as the Emerging Artist of the Year. This award was given at the Ontario Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts.
Her book The Marrow Thieves has won several important awards. It received the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature in 2017. It also won the 2017 Kirkus Prize for young adult literature. The book was a finalist in the CBC's 2018 Canada Reads competition. It was also nominated for the 2018 White Pine Award.
When The Marrow Thieves won the Governor General's Award, Dimaline's friend, Susan Blight, gave the acceptance speech. She delivered it in the Anishinaabemowin language. Dimaline shared that she wrote the speech, and her friend delivered it without translation. This was the first time an acceptance speech for this award was given in a language other than English or French.
In 2021, Dimaline received the Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award. Her book Into the Bright Open: A Secret Garden Remix was also nominated for the Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature in 2024.
