Saturday, October 24 - Event
True North
Robert Arthur Alexie
Cathleen With
Host: Joseph Boyden
2 – 3:30 pm
PTC Studio
In the 1990s, Robert Arthur Alexie was Chief of the Teetl’it Gwich’in in the Northwest Territories. Cathleen With
served as a teacher in Inuvik. Those memories and, in the case of Alexie, personal heritage serve as catalysts for
two compelling novels that paint dark and realistic portraits of damaged people in Canada’s North. With admits “that
this was sometimes difficult to write…and there are people trying their damndest to change the cycle of abuse and
addiction.” Tough, realistic but with a glimmer of redemption, these are novels—and novelists—to whom we should
pay attention. Celebrated Canadian novelist Joseph Boyden brings his understanding and passion for the native
experience in Canada to this discussion. Click here to read more about the event.

Click here to follow Cathleen and fellow finalists on the Northern Leg of the BC Book Prizes.