Thomas King

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For other persons named Tom King, see Tom King (disambiguation).

Promotional shot for the Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour radio program, showing stars Tom King, Edna Rain (as Gracie), and Floyd Favel Starr (as Jasper) in front of the CBC microphone. The comedy show ran for four seasons on the CBC and was revived with the original cast as Dead Dog in the City in 2006.

Thomas King (born 24 April 1943) is a noted Canadian novelist and broadcaster who most often writes about Canada's First Nations and is an outspoken advocate for First Nations causes. He is of Cherokee, Greek, and German descent.

Born in Sacramento, California, he worked in Australia as a photojournalist before moving to Canada in 1980. King is currently an English professor at the University of Guelph and lives in Guelph, Ontario. He is also the creator of The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour, a CBC Radio One series.

King was chosen to deliver the 2003 Massey Lectures, entitled The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. [1] King was the first Aboriginal Massey lecturer. In the series, King examined the Native experience in oral stories, literature, history, religion and politics, popular culture and social protest in order to make sense of North America’s relationship with its Aboriginal peoples.

[edit] Bibliography

• The Native in Literature - 1987 (editor)
• An Anthology of Short Fiction by Native Writers in Canada - 1988 (editor)
• Medicine River - 1989
• All My Relations - 1990 (editor)
• A Coyote Columbus Story - 1992 (Illustrated by William Kent Monkman) (nominated for a Governor General's Award)
• Green Grass, Running Water - 1993 (nominated for a Governor General's Award)
• One Good Story, That One - 1993
• Coyotes Sing to the Moon - 1998 (Illustrated by Johnny Wales)
• Truth and Bright Water - 1999
• Dreadful Water Shows Up - 2002 (under the pen-name of Hartley GoodWeather)
• The Truth About Stories - 2003
• Coyote's New Suit - 2004 (Illustrated by Johnny Wales)
• A Short History of Indians in Canada - 2005
• The Red Power Murders: A DreadfulWater Mystery - 2006 (under the pen-name of Hartley GoodWeather)

[edit] Awards and recognition

• Nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1992 for A Coyote Columbus Story.
• Nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1993 for Green Grass, Running Water.
• Green Grass, Running Water was chosen for the inclusion in Canada Reads 2004, and championed by then-Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray.
• In 2004, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
• A Short History of Indians in Canada won the 2006 McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year.

[edit] See also

• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
• Native American Studies

[edit] External links

• 1993 Audio Interview with Thomas King by Don Swaim

[edit] Reference

• W. H. New. Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. 577-80.