Darrel J. McLeod

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Darrel J. McLeod is a Cree writer from Canada.[1] His memoir Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age, an account of his childhood experience of physical and sexual abuse, won the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2018 Governor General's Awards[2] and was a shortlisted finalist for the 2019 RBC Taylor Prize.[3]

Originally from Treaty 8 Cree territory near Smith, Alberta,[4] McLeod went on to work as a teacher, a health care worker, a land claims negotiator and as director of education and international affairs for the Assembly of First Nations.[1] He began writing the book while studying creative writing under Betsy Warland at Simon Fraser University.[1]

The book also touches both on McLeod's coming out as a gay man,[5] and on his sibling's transition as transgender.[6]

His second book, Peyakow, was shortlisted for the 2021 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.[7]

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