Richard Wagamese

Richard Wagamese was a Canadian Ojibway author. Wagamese’s childhood was troubled: when he was two years old, he and his three siblings were left at home while their parents went to a nearby town to drink. After running out of food, the children wandered to a railroad station where a policeman found them. Wagamese then spent his childhood in a series of Ontario foster homes before being adopted by a non-native family in St. Catharines. The family abused him and didn’t allow him to contact his birth family. At 16, he left home in hopes of reconnecting with his native culture. While living on the streets, he abused drugs and alcohol and spent time in jail. At the same time, he took refuge in public libraries, both for shelter and for his growing love of reading and learning. He reunited with his First Nations family when he was 23, and he finally began to experience more of his native culture. Wagamese’s first writing job was for the First Nations newspaper New Breed. He won numerous awards for his journalism. He wrote his first novel, Keeper ‘n Me, in 1994. He went on to write five other novels, a volume of poetry, and nonfiction works, including two memoirs. Married and divorced three times, Wagamese had two sons and was estranged from one of them. At the time of his death at 61, he was engaged to be married again. Wagamese was the recipient of many honors for his literary contributions, including the Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature.