Eden Robinson

Kaniehtiio Horn is defending Son of a Trickster by Eden RobinsononCanada Reads2020.

Canada Reads2020 will take place July 20-23.

• Meet theCanada Reads 2020contenders

About Eden Robinson

B.C. writer Eden Robinson has published novels, poems and short stories. Robinson's work, infused with dark humour, portrays the everyday lives of Indigenous people in coastal B.C. Her Kitimat-set debut novel, Monkey Beach, was nominated for the 2000 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

In 2017, Son of a Trickster, a coming of age novel, was a finalist for that year's Scotiabank Giller Prize. 2017 was the year Robinson also received the Writers' Trust Fellowship.

Her latestbook is the novelTrickster Drift.

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• Why it took Eden Robinson eight years to write Son of a Trickster

Why Eden Robinson wrote Son of a Trickster

"The Trickster is also known as Wee'git. He's a transforming raven and he has a very specific role in our culture. We tell our children Wee'git stories to teach them about protocol, or nuyum. But he teaches people this protocol by breaking all the rules. He is the bad example, the example of what not to do. So his stories are always funny and he's a very lively character. As a writer, I assumed that he was going to be narrating my story, but I quickly discovered that it was a lot like having Sherlock Holmes telling the story. It was pretty braggy from his point of view. I needed a Watson.

We tell our children Wee'git stories to teach them about protocol, or nuyum. But he teaches people this protocol by breaking all the rules.- Eden Robinson

"It was a real search to figure out who this Watson would be. I knew that Wee'git would go to the all-Native basketball tournament. He has a crush on a girl who has a crush on someone else. Wee'git transforms himself into that crush and they have a kid. I tried telling it from basically every point of view, and it wasn't working. At the same time, I was also writing short stories about an urban dance group in East Vancouver. One of the characters I was writing about was coming down on the Greyhound late at night. That scene haunted me, and I realized that the kid coming down to Vancouver was Jared who was the baby that resulted in the Trickster hookup at the basketball tournament. Once I found Jared's voice, everything started to move."

Read more in her interview with CBC Books.

Books by Eden Robinson

Interviews with Eden Robinson

Kaniehtiio Horn & Eden Robinson discuss Son of a Trickster

5 years ago

Duration 5:18

Letterkenny actress Kaniehtiio Horn will defend Eden Robinson's novel Son of a Trickster on Canada Reads 2020. Ahead of the debates, the actor and author chatted about what really lies at the heart of the award-winning supernatural novel.

Why Kaniehtiio Horn is drawn to books that subvert the colonial gaze

4 years ago

Duration 3:13

On Day Two of Canada Reads 2020, the actress shared how she felt reading the memoir From the Ashes.

Amanda Brugel and Kaniehtiio Horn highlight similarities between their books in addressing the complexities of family dynamics

4 years ago

Duration 2:29

On Day Three of Canada Reads 2020, the two panellists drew parallels between the books they are defending.

CBC Books7:17Eden Robinson on her novel Son of a Trickster

Eden Robinson talks to CBC Afternoon Drive host Chris dela Torre about her novel Son of a Trickster, which will be defended by Kaniehtiio Horn on Canada Reads 2020.

TheCanada Reads2020 contenders

• Alayna FenderdefendingSmall Game Hunting at the Local Coward Gun Clubby Megan Gail Coles
• Akil AugustinedefendingRadicalizedby Cory Doctorow
• Amanda Brugel defendingWe Have Always Been Hereby Samra Habib
• Kaniehtiio HorndefendingSon of a Tricksterby Eden Robinson
• George CanyondefendingFrom the Ashesby Jesse Thistle