Friday, October 7, 2022, Peterborough

Internationally renowned Indigenous voice and member of the Order of Canada, Tomson Highway will be delivering a free public lecture, open to all community members, about his life and career as an award-winning artist as part of Trent University’s 50th anniversary for the School for the Study of Canada.  

‘An Evening with Tomson Highway,’ this year’s W.L. Morton Community Lecture, will take place Wednesday, October 12, at Showplace Performance Centre (290 George St. N.). Highway will discuss his upbringing in northern Manitoba with a nomadic caribou-hunting family, his experiences attending residential school, facing prejudice and then relying on music and art to heal as he went on to become an internationally-acclaimed playwright, author, musician and multilingual speaker (Cree, French and English).  

 “What an honour to host Tomson Highway during our 50th anniversary celebrations as we continue to implement new curriculum and research programming to fully capture the potential of Canadian Studies to be a driving force in the ongoing efforts of Reconciliation,” said Dr. Heather Nicol, director, graduate director and program coordinator, Canadian Studies at Trent University. “Canadian Studies is a relevant and constantly evolving field of inquiry and we must not only keep up but continue to lead.” 

This annual lecture is named in honour of W.L. Morton, the Canadian historian and former Master of Trent's Champlain College, and is endowed through the generous support of community donors. This year’s event is presented by the Trent School for the Study of Canada, Champlain College, Catharine Parr Traill College, the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies, and Trent’s Department of History.  

Highway, a registered member of the Barren Lands First Nation, achieved international recognition with his award-winning play The Rez Sisters (1986), followed by his acclaimed play Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989). As a playwright, trained concert pianist, author and talented lecturer, he led a national Indigenous literary and theatre movement, which continues to play a fundamental role in the advancement of Indigenous literacy and education across the globe.   Highway is the author of numerous bestselling books including Kiss of the Fur Queen. In 2021, he released his memoir Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up in the Land of Snow and Sky, earning the Writers Trust Award for Non-Fiction.  Highway is the recipient of at least 10 honorary doctorates, and has been writer-in-residence at many universities, a professor of Aboriginal Mythology and held the post of Stanley Knowles Distinguished Visiting Professor at Brandon University in Manitoba. His life and work is featured in several film and television documentaries including CBC’s Adrienne Clarkson Presents, Life and Times and Tomson Highway Gets His Trout. 

Secure your spot for ‘An Evening with Tomson Highway’. Seats are limited.