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Richard Van Camp

Richard Van Camp
Photo by William Au Photography
  • Interview with Richard Van Camp
  • In Conversation with Richard Van Camp

Richard Van Camp is a proud member of the Dogrib (Tlicho) Nation from Fort Smith, NWT, Canada from Fort Smith, NWT. He is a graduate of the En'owkin International School of Writing, the University of Victoria's Creative Writing BFA Program, and the Master's Degree in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia.

He is an internationally renowned storyteller and best-selling author. His novel, The Lesser Blessed, is now a movie with First Generation Films and premiered in September of 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival. He is the author of four collections of short stories, Angel Wing Splash Pattern, The Moon of Letting Go, Godless but Loyal to Heaven and Night Moves, as well as two children’s books with Cree artist, George Littlechild: A Man Called Raven and What’s the Most Beautiful Thing You Know About Horses?

His first baby book, Welcome Song for Baby: A Lullaby for Newborns, was the official selection of the Books for BC Babies program and was given to every newborn baby in British Columbia in 2008. Richard followed this up with another board book: Nighty-Night: A Bedtime Song for Babies. His third book for babies, Little You, is now out with Orca Book Publishers. The amazing Julie Flett is the artist. Little You is published in Bush Cree, Dene and South Slavey, courtesy of the South Slave Divisional Board of Education. His new book for babies with Julie Flett is called “We Sang You Home” and it is gorgeous!

All of Richard Van Camp’s children’s books are available in Braille for free, anywhere in the world, courtesy of the Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (PRCVI) and Accessible Resource Centre-British Columbia (ARC-BC)

Richard has six graphic novels and comic books out: his first comic book on deterring youth away from gangs, Path of the Warrior, is published with Cree artist, Steve Sanderson, through the Healthy Aboriginal Network. His second comic book on sexual health is Kiss Me Deadly, with Haida artist Chris Auchter.  His four graphic novels are Three Feathers (published in Bush Cree, Dene, South Slavey and English, illustrated by Krystal Mateus, on restorative justice; The Eisner Award Nominated A Blanket of Butterflies, on the theme of peace making, illustrated by Scott Henderson, The Blue Raven, illustrated by Steve Sanderson on mental health, and Spirit, a suicide prevention comic book illustrated by Emily Brown (which is also published in Bush Cree, Dene, and South Slavey and English).

Richard has published a second novel, “Whistle”, which is part two of The Lesser Blessed, and it’s a story exploring mental health through the eyes of Darcy, the bully in The Lesser Blessed, played by Adam Butcher in the movie.

Richard wrote for CBC's North of 60 television show for two months under their Writer Internship Program and was a script and cultural consultant with them for four seasons. He taught creative writing at the University of British Columbia, worked as a Creative Writing and Storytelling instructor with the Emily Carr Institute and was the Writer in Residence at the University of Alberta for 2011 and 2012 and at MacEwan University in 2013 and 2014.

Feel free to follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter.

(Information taken from author's webpage)

Richard Van Camp has published 15 books, including The Lesser Blessed which was turned into a feature film with First Generation Films that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Richard has also published 2 comic books with artists Steven Sanderson and Chris Auchter as part of the Healthy Aboriginal Network.

Richard's new novel "Whistle" was released in March 2015 with Pearson Canada. This book is part of Pearson's 'Well Aware' series - which focuses on issues related to mental health - and it was inspired by The Lesser Blessed, the movie.

The graphic novel "Three Feathers" illustrated by K. Mateus with a cover by Menton3 was also released in March 2015. Thanks to Brent Kaulback and his team at South Slave Education Council, Three Feathers is now translated into Bush Cree, Dene, and soon, South Slavey.

Visit the author's webpage for a full list of publications.

I'm excited to announce that Richard Van Camp's inaugural writer-in-residence event will take place on February 16th at 3pm at AU Edmonton, meeting room 1222 (Teleconference: 1-855-228-6652 Passcode: 7153299).  Van Camp will deliver an hour lecture, including an audience Q & A. There also will be an opportunity to visit with the author after the discussion. Please come say hello. Open to all.

"20 books out in 20 years and now it's my time to help you with your writing" by Richard Van Camp

In this hilarious and empowering keynote, Tlicho Dene Author Richard Van Camp will share how he published 20 books in 20 years with 11 different publishers. He'll share his insight into the creative writing process and how he can best serve writers who want to better their craft. This will be fun and there will be a giveaway of prizes. Come on out and join us for an unforgettable talk by the Eisner nominated and best selling author Richard Van Camp.

Also remember that students, faculty and staff are invited to submit work to Richard for critique. Guidelines for submission are here.

Please share this information with students.

Updated February 03, 2022 by Digital & Web Operations, University Relations (web_services@athabascau.ca)

https://www.athabascau.ca/writer-in-residence/ 68fe7cb40a2a3a11238f16c408b40db7
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