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.