Michelle Good facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michelle Good
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| Occupation | Author, poet, lawyer |
| Nationality | Cree, Canadian |
| Alma mater | University of British Columbia |
| Genre | Fiction, Poetry, Essay |
| Notable works | Five Little Indians, Defying Gravity, "Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada" |
| Notable awards | HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize, 2020 |
Michelle Good is a talented Cree writer, poet, and lawyer from Canada. She is best known for her first novel, Five Little Indians. Michelle is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. She has a special degree in writing and a law degree from the University of British Columbia. As a lawyer, she worked hard to help people who had experienced the residential school system.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Michelle Good is part of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation. When she was young, she was affected by the Sixties Scoop, a time when many Indigenous children were placed in foster care. Her family has a long history; her great-grandmother was involved in an important event called the 1885 uprising at Frog Lake. Her great-grandmother's uncle was a famous leader named Big Bear.
Michelle went to the University of British Columbia. She earned a special degree in Creative Writing in 2014. The first version of her book, Five Little Indians, was actually her project for this degree. She started practicing law when she was in her 40s. In court, she shared the stories of people who went to residential schools. In 2022, she received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Simon Fraser University.
Michelle Good's Books
Five Little Indians
Five Little Indians is a story about five young people who survived the residential school system in British Columbia. Even though the book is fiction, some parts of it are based on the real experiences of Michelle's mother and grandmother. They both went through Canada's residential school system. This book was planned to be made into a TV show in 2021.
Truth Telling
Truth Telling is Michelle Good's second book. It is a collection of essays, which are like short articles, about the past and present lives of Indigenous people in Canada. The book talks about many different topics, from daily life to how modern Canadian society works. It was published in May 2023 and was a finalist for the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy.
Awards for Her Work
Michelle Good's book Five Little Indians has won many important awards. These awards recognize her amazing writing and the powerful stories she shares.
| Year | Award | Result | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Governor General's Awards | English-language fiction | Won | ' |
| HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize | — | Won | ||
| Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize | — | Shortlisted | ||
| Scotiabank Giller Prize | — | Longlisted | ||
| 2021 | Amazon.ca First Novel Award | — | Won | |
| Amnesty International Book Club | Reader's Choice | Selection | ||
| BC and Yukon Book Prize | Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize | Shortlisted | ||
| Jim Deva Prize | Shortlisted | |||
| City of Vancouver Book Award | — | Won | ||
| Forest of Reading Evergreen Award | — | Won | ||
| Indigenous Voices Award | Published Prose in English: Fiction | Shortlisted | ||
| Kobo Emerging Writer Prize | Fiction | Won | ||
| 2022 | Canada Reads | Written Book | Won | |
Other Writings
Michelle Good has also written other pieces, including poetry and essays.
Books
- Five Little Indians (2020)
- Truth Telling: Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life in Canada (2023)
Poetry
- The Best of the Best Canadian Poetry in English: The Tenth Anniversary Edition. This book was published in 2017.
Essays
- A Tradition of Violence was published in a book called Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters in 2018.
- Best Canadian Essay 2023. This essay was published in 2022.
Journal
- Gatherings Volume VII: The En'owkin Journal of First North American Peoples. This journal was published in 1996.
