David Alexander Robertson (born 12 January 1977) is a Canadian author and public speaker from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He has published over 25 books across a variety of genres and is a two-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award[1] His first novel, The Evolution of Alice, was published in 2014.[2] Robertson is a member of the Norway House Cree Nation.
Robertson's young adult and children's works are widely used in libraries and classrooms across Canada, especially his graphic novels. His works often grapple with hard and violent histories, including the residential school system in Canada. Robertson's graphic novels include the 7 Generations series, the Tales From Big Spirit series,[7] and Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story, which tells the true story of a young Indigenous woman who was abducted and brutally murdered by four young men in 1971.[8]
Robertson has contributed to several anthologies, including Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings From the Land of Water and Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An LGBT and two-spirit sci-fi anthology.[9] His work has been featured in CV2 and Prairie Fire.[10] He has written articles for the Toronto Star,[11]CBC, and Book and Periodical Council's Freedom to Read site.[12]
Robertson is the editorial director of a children's imprint for Penguin Random House Canada.[13] He is writer and host of the Kíwew podcast.[14]
Robertson was nominated for four Manitoba Book Awards in 2015, with The Evolution of Alice winning the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Author.[15] Robertson also won the Aboriginal Circle of Educators award for Research/Curriculum development in 2015.[16]The Evolution of Alice was shortlisted for the Burt Award for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literature.[17]
In 2016, Robertson was nominated for the Beatrice Mosionier Award for Aboriginal Writer of the Year and the McNally Robinson Books for Young People Award.[18] That same year, The Evolution of Alice was selected as the 2016 winner for On the Same Page[19], a joint initiative between the Winnipeg Public Library and the Winnipeg Foundation that encourages all Manitobans to read and discuss the same book. Robertson's graphic novel Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story was included on the In the Margins Official List for Nonfiction[20] and was a finalist for the 2016 High Plains Book Award in the Creative Nonfiction category.[21]
In 2017, Robertson won the Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Awards/GRAPHIC NOVEL Category for Will I See?, which was illustrated by GMB Chomichuk, with cover design by Relish New Brand Experience. That same year, he won the McNally Robinson Book for Young People Awards (Younger Category) and the Governor General's Literary Award for When We Were Alone, illustrated by Julie Flett, with design by Relish New Brand Experience. When We Were Alone was also a finalist for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award. Robertson won the 2017 Beatrice Mosionier Aboriginal Writer of the Year Award, tied with Trevor Greyeyes.[22]
In 2018, the first book in Robertson's Reckoner series won the McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People Award,[23] the Manitoba Book Awards' Michael Van Rooy Award for Genre Fiction,[24] and the Indigenous Writer of the Year Award at the 2018 High Plains Book Awards.[25]
In 2020, Black Water:Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award at the Manitoba Book Awards.
The Barren Grounds, which is the first book in Robertson's Misewa Saga, was nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award in 2021 in the Young People's Literature – Text category.[26] This text was also named one of Kirkus and Quill & Quire's best books of 2020, CBC Books' best middle-grade and young adult books of 2020, and one of Canadian Children's Book News's best books of 2020.[27]The Barren Grounds was also shortlisted for the Ontario Library Association's Silver Birch Award and was a USBBY and Texas Lone Star selection.
In 2021, Robertson won the Writers' Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award.[28] and Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award at the 2021 Manitoba Book Awards.[29] His podcast, Kíwew, also won the 2021 RTDNA Prairie Region Award for Best Podcast.[30]
