Speaking
Engagements

Readers will be pleased and impressed with the skill and care of this rising Métis literary talent. I know I was.

~ Jesse Thistle, Historian & Author

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Storyteller, Author, Playwright, Screenwriter, Visual Artist

Buy Her Books

Screenplays & Plays

rnolda, when not

busy with her family

or dabbling in a new art

form at their cozy home on

the Prairies — is writing

for fun and working to

improve her craft.

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~ Jesse Thistle, Historian & Author

Readers will be pleased and impressed with the skill and care of this rising Métis literary talent. I know I was.

A dynamic Métis woman originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Arnolda studied creative writing with Guy Vanderhaeghe at the University of Saskatchewan. Her first book, 20.12m, is a compelling and acclaimed coming-of-age collection of stories based on her father’s childhood among the marginalized Métis Road Allowance community at Punnichy, Saskatchewan, during the late 1940s. The book received several major awards in 2022: Danuta Gleed Literary Award and $10,000 grand prize from The Writers Union of Canada and the international High Plains Award for Best Indigenous Writer. It was among SaskBooks’ best-selling titles of 2021 and won the Saskatchewan Books Indigenous Publishing Award.

READ ARNOLDA’S FULL BIO & HISTORY >

Awards

DANUTA GLEED LITERARY AWARD

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BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

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2022

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2021

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ PUBLISHING AWARD

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HIGH PLAINS BOOK AWARDS

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2022

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2022

SASKBOOKS
BESTSELLER
LIST

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2022

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2021

SASKBOOKS
BESTSELLER
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2022

BILLINGS
MONTANA
BESTSELLER
LIST

2022 High Plains Book Award Winner Announcement

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“Desperation is dangerous Charlie. It can break and hurt you.” “So can starvation,” I softly reply. Silence fills the space again.

From 20.12 m ~ Pg 31

Road allowance history is just now coming into public consciousness and Arnolda’s masterpiece of her father’s life is one such expression. This book is a goldmine of accurate and poetic information about Michif people. More critical accounts like this are needed to help tell our truths, a history that is romantic, exciting, powerful, joyful and defiant to the end. Readers will be pleased and impressed with the skill and care of this rising Métis literary talent. I know I was.

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The book 20.12m: A Short Story Collection of Life Lived as a Road Allowance Metis by Arnolda Dufour Bowes is one of the best and most touching works I have read in the last decade. There are short, creatively retold autobiographical stories of the lived experiences and context of the author’s father. It is a compelling journey of one man’s difficult and courageous life from childhood to adulthood. With great understanding, it reveals multicultural complexity. Perhaps the best value of it, in my opinion, is the sharing of creativity and resilience which is being passed on to continuing generations.

Accolades

Photo of Jesse Thistle, Historian and Author on Arnolda Dufour Bowes website
Photo of C. Adrian Heidemreich, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Native American Studies on Arnolda Dufour Bowes website

C. Adrian Heidemreich, Ph D

Jesse Thistle

Historian & Author

Professor Emeritus of Native American Studies/Anthropology, Montana State University Billings

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Building a legacy through storytelling is an honourable and valiant deed.

~ Arnolda Dufour Bowes

Speaking Engagements

Arnolda’s passion is to provide hope and reconciliation through truth-sharing and storytelling and to provide her audience with knowledge and encouragement. Arnolda can tailor presentations to fit the audience, whether addressing a book club, university, elementary or high school classroom, professional or casual setting. She can speak on various subjects relating to her book and provide interactive presentations relating to the Road Allowance Métis and Métis Script.

 

She admits she is no expert, but Arnolda seeks to share what she knows. Her presentations allow audiences to explore and understand the vibrant dimensions of the Métis people. Arnolda can offer reflections on her tumultuous struggles as a youth and into young adulthood, surviving a suicide attempt and sharing her healing journey. She speaks candidly about her journey as a 48-year-old Métis woman changing careers through a time of loss and change of season. She has participated in TV interviews and university seminars and provides highly engaging high school presentations.

Schedule a Speaking Engagement

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“Keep taking up space,” Maggie’s mother says. “You’re only making room for the girls behind you.”

From Maggie Lou, FireFox ~ Now Available!

Current Projects

Maggie Lou, Firefox, released by Groundwood Books in 2023. “An amusing story showcasing Métis humor at its finest. Starred review.” Kirkus Review Currently, Maggie Lou Book Two is in the editing phases with a 2025 release date.  

Film Script

Arnolda's screenplay Truthwalkers was conceived through the 2023 Tricksters and Writers program and was further developed through the 2024 Whistler Film Festival, Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship.

Novel for Young Readers

Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre has selected Arnolda as part of their New Voices Playwright Residency program for 2023. Honoured to be working as a Playwright Resident, she is excited for this new adventure and writing an adaptation of her book 20.12m.

Arnolda is entering the 2nd year as a Playwright Resident with GTNT and continuing work on the play adaption of Apples & Traintracks.

Playwright