Drew Hayden Taylor (born 1 July 1962) is a Canadian playwright, author and journalist.

Life and career

Born in Curve Lake, Ontario, Taylor is part

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

and part

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

. About his background Taylor says: "I plan to start my own nation. Because I am half Ojibway half Caucasian, we will be called the occasions. And of course, since I’m founding the new nation, I will be a special occasion." He also mused in a ''Globe and Mail'' essay: "Fighting over status/non-status, Métis, skin colour etc., only increases the sense of dysfunction in our community." He writes about

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

culture and has also been a frequent contributor to various magazines including '' This Magazine''. His writing includes plays, short stories, essays, newspaper columns and film and television work. In 2004 he was appointed to the Ontario Ministry of Culture Advisory Committee. As well as his writing, Taylor has been the artistic director of

Native Earth Performing Arts Native Earth Performing Arts is a Canadian theatre company located in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1982, Native Earth is Canada's oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. Native Earth is dedicated to developing, producing and presenting pro ...

, and has taught at the

Centre for Indigenous Theatre The Centre for Indigenous Theatre is a non-for profit theater educational institution located in Toronto, Ontario. It focuses on performance art from an Indigenous cultural foundation. History James H. Buller founded the Centre in 1974 as the ...

. He co-created the series '' Mixed Blessings'' for APTN in 2007, and has been a writer for ''

The Beachcombers ''The Beachcombers'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series that ran on CBC Television from October 1, 1972, to December 12, 1990. With over 350 episodes, it is one of the longest-running dramatic series ever made for English-language Canad ...

'', '' Street Legal'' and '' North of 60''. Taylor has held writer-in-residence positions at

, Cahoots Theatre, the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

The University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

, the Stephen Leacock Festival, the

Blyth Festival Blyth Festival, is a theatrical festival, located in the village of Blyth, Ontario, Canada, which specializes in the production and promotion of Canadian plays. In addition, the Festival acts as a resource for local groups and makes its facilities ...

, Lüneburg University, and Ryerson University (now

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

).Drewhaydentaylor.com
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Partial bibliography

Non-fiction

* ''Funny, You Don't Look Like One'' (1998) * ''Further Adventures of a Blue-Eyed Ojibway: Funny, You Don’t Look Like One #2'' (1999) * ''Furious Observations of a Blue-Eyed Ojibway: Funny, You Don’t Look Like One #3'' (2002) * ''Futile observations of the Blue-Eyed Ojibway: Funny, You Don’t Look Like One #4'' (2004) * ''NEWS: Postcards from the Four Directions'' (2010) * ''The Best of Funny, You Don’t Look Like One'' (anthology from first three editions) (2015) * ''Me Tomorrow: Indigenous Views On the Future'' (2021)

Collections edited

* ''Voices: Being Native in Canada'', with Linda Jaine (1992) * ''Me Funny'' (2006) * ''Me Sexy'' (2008) * ''Drew Hayden Taylor: Essays on His Works'' (2008) * ''Me Artsy'' (2015)

Fiction

* ''Fearless Warriors'' (short Stories) (1998 * ''The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel'' (2007) * ''Motorcycles and Sweetgrass'' (2010) * ''The Night Wanderer: A Graphic Novel'', illustrated by Mike Wyatt (2013) * '' Take Us To Your Chief: and Other Stories'' (short stories) (2016) * ''Chasing Painted Horses'' (2019)

Plays produced

(By year of first production) * ''Toronto at Dreamer’s Rock'' (1989) * ''Education is Our Right'' (1990) * ''Talking Pictures'' (1990) * ''The Bootlegger Blues'' (1990) * ''Someday'' (1991) * ''The All Complete Aboriginal Show Extravaganza'' (1994) * ''Girl Who Loved Her Horses'' (1995) * ''The Baby Blues'' (1995) * ''400 Kilometres'' (1996) * ''Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth'' (1996) * ''alterNatives'' (1999) * ''Toronto@DreamersRock.com'' (1999) * ''The Boy in the Treehouse'' (2000) * ''The Buz’Gem Blues'' (2001) * ''Sucker Falls'' (2001) * ''Raven Stole the Sun'' (2004) * '' In a World Created by a Drunken God'' (2004) * ''The Berlin Blues'' (2007) * ''Three Tricksters'' (2009) * ''Dead White Writer on the Floor'' (2010) * ''God and The Indian'' (2013) * ''Cerulean Blue'' (2014) * ''Spirit Horse'' (2016) * ''Cottagers and Indians'' (2018)

References

External links

* *
Drew Hayden Taylor at the Whetung Ojibwa Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Drew Hayden First Nations dramatists and playwrights Canadian humorists 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Ojibwe people 1962 births Living people Writers from Ontario Canadian television writers University of Michigan people Canadian male dramatists and playwrights First Nations screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations writers Canadian male television writers Canadian artistic directors Canadian social commentators