Joshua Whitehead

Joshua Whitehead is a Canadian First Nations poet and novelist.^[1]

An Oji-Cree member of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba,^[2] he began publishing poetry while pursuing undergraduate studies at the University of Winnipeg.^[3]

After he started graduate studies in indigenous literature at the University of Calgary, Talonbooks published his debut poetry collection Full-Metal Indigiqueer in 2017.^[2] The book initially received a Lambda Literary Award nomination for Transgender Poetry at the 30th Lambda Literary Awards in 2018, although Whitehead withdrew the book from consideration as the category was a misrepresentation of his identity as a two-spirit, not transgender, person.^[4]

His debut novel, Jonny Appleseed, was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2018.^[5] In the same year, he was named a finalist for the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for Canadian LGBTQ writers,^[6] and the book was named as a longlisted nominee for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize^[7] and a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction at the 2018 Governor General's Awards.^[8]

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