Eden Victoria Lena Robinson (born 19 January 1968) is an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. She is a member of the Haisla and

Heiltsuk The Heiltsuk or Haíɫzaqv , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', are an Indigenous people of the Central Coast region in British Columbia, centred on the island community of Bella Bella. The government of the Heiltsuk people ...

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 ...

.Eden Robinson's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

Life

Childhood

Born in Kitamaat,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, she is a member of the Haisla and

. Her sister,

Carla Robinson Carla Robinson (born 23 January 1971 in Kitimat, British Columbia) is a Canadian television journalist for CBC Newsworld. Early life and education Robinson was born in Kitimat (also spelled Kitamaat). She lived briefly on her mother's reserve in ...

, is a television journalist for CBC Newsworld.

Education

She received a BA from the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

and an MFA from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

Later life

In 2003, Robinson moved back to Kitamaat Village to care for her father who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1998. In 2019, Robinson was diagnosed with

polymyalgia rheumatica Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a syndrome experienced as pain or stiffness, usually in the neck, shoulders, upper arms, and Hip (anatomy), hips, but which may occur all over the body. The pain can be sudden or can occur gradually over a period. ...

Literary works

Robinson's first book, ''Traplines'' (1995), was a collection of four short stories. The young narrators recount haunting tales of their disturbing relationships with sociopaths and psychopaths. The collection won Britain's Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize for the best regional work by a Commonwealth writer. One of the stories, "Queen of the North", was also published in ''The Penguin Anthology of Stories by Canadian Women''. Another of her short stories, " Terminal Avenue", (which was not included in ''Traplines'') was published in the anthology of postcolonial science fiction and fantasy ''

So Long Been Dreaming ''So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy'' (2004) is an anthology of short stories by African, Asian, South Asian, and Indigenous authors, as well as North American and British writers of colour,''So Long Been Dreaming'' cov ...

''. Her second book, ''

Monkey Beach ''Monkey Beach'' is a supernatural mystery novel written by the indigenous Canadian author Eden Robinson. It was published by Vintage Canada in 2000, being Eden's first novel. It was the recipient of the 2001 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, which ...

'' (2000), is a novel. It is set in Kitamaat territory and follows a teenage girl's search for answers to and understanding of her younger brother's disappearance at sea while in the retrospective, it tells a story about growing up on a Haisla reserve. The book is both a mystery and a spiritual journey, combining contemporary realism with Haisla mysticism. ''Monkey Beach'' was shortlisted for the

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

and the

Governor General's Literary Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

, and received the

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. The award is named after novelist and short story writer Ethel W ...

. In her third book, ''Blood Sports'' (2006), also a novel, Robinson returns to the characters and urban terrain of her novella "Contact Sports," from ''Traplines''. Her novel '' Son of a Trickster'' (2017) is a humorous coming of age novel and the first of a trilogy. It took Robinson eight years to write, and was originally conceived as a short story. The second book in the trilogy is ''Trickster Drift'' (2018), which follows the main character from Kitamaat to Vancouver. The third book in the trilogy, titled ''The Return of the Trickster'', was published March 2, 2021. ''Son of a Trickster'' was optioned for a television series, which premiered as ''

Trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story ( god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwi ...

'' on CBC Television in 2020.

Awards and honours

Robinson was awarded the

in 2001 for ''Monkey Beach'', and the

Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award The Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an established Canadian author to honour their body of work. Presented for the first time in 2008 under the name Notable Author Awar ...

in 2016 for her body of work. In 2017 she was named a recipient of the $50,000 Writers' Trust Fellowship. ''Son of a Trickster'' was shortlisted for the 2017

. ''Trickster Drift'' won the

at the BC Book Awards on May 11, 2019. ''Son of a Trickster'' was selected for the 2020 edition of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'', in which it was defended by actress Kaniehtiio Horn."Meet the Canada Reads 2020 contenders"

CBC Books CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...

, January 22, 2020.

Bibliography

*'' Traplines'' (1996), *''

'' (2000), *''Blood Sports'' (2006), *''Sasquatch at Home: Traditional Protocols & Modern Storytelling'' (2011), *'' Son of a Trickster'' (2017), *''Trickster Drift'' (2018), *''Return of the Trickster'' (2021),

References

External links

Records of Eden Robinson are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Eden 1968 births Living people 21st-century Canadian novelists First Nations women writers Canadian women novelists Magic realism writers Haisla people Heiltsuk people Writers from British Columbia People from Kitimat Academic staff of the University of New Brunswick University of Victoria alumni University of British Columbia alumni Canadian women short story writers 21st-century Canadian women writers First Nations novelists 20th-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian short story writers 20th-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations writers