For David Alexander Robertson, storytelling is powerful work: “It provides the tools Canadians need to work towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. It also is an act of healing, within families and communities.” Because truth-telling and healing are crucial for people of all ages, David wrote When We Were Alone, a picture book that tells the story of Canada’s residential schools. For this, he received the Governor General’s Award for Literature.

In Ghosts, the final book in his acclaimed Reckoner trilogy, David incorporates traditional Indigenous spirit guides. As he observes, “some of these supernatural things… aren’t legends. They are beliefs within the Cree culture that are held as fact… The trickster spirit, for me, was important to at once do justice to, and also to offer a unique take on. Holding true but standing apart.” David is also the author of Will I See?, winner of the Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Award, and Betty, The Helen Betty Osborne Story.

David is a member of Norway House Cree Nation. He lives in Winnipeg.

Author Patron: Ann-Maureen and Peter Owens

Appearing in: Authors@School, 4. Ghosts, Truths, and the Power Within, 11. Words and Pix: The Graphic Novel

Website: www.darobertson.ca
Books: www.portageandmainpress.com/product/ghosts, www.portageandmainpress.com/product/when-we-were-alone