Award-winning Indigenous writer Alicia Elliott to host community office hours as Laurier Stedman Fellow 

Nov. 11, 2024
For Immediate Release

BRANTFORD — Wilfrid Laurier University has appointed multiple award-winning Indigenous writer Alicia Elliott as the incoming Laurier Stedman Fellow.  

Elliott, who is Mohawk from Six Nations of the Grand River, won the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and Indigenous Voices Award for her 2023 novel, And Then She Fell. The national bestseller was the highly anticipated follow-up to Elliott’s debut collection of essays, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground (2019), itself a bestseller and winner of the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award.

“I’m honoured to serve as a fellow at Laurier Brantford, which is not only my people’s traditional territory, but also the city I call home,” said Elliott. “Brantford has long informed my writing, so having this chance to mentor other aspiring writers, work with Laurier Brantford faculty and students, and offer my expertise to the community at large is an opportunity I’m beyond grateful for.”

The Laurier Stedman Fellowship was established by the university to honour the wishes of the late Mary Stedman, whose endowment to Laurier was intended to help foster arts and culture at the university’s Brantford campus and in the surrounding community. Through the Laurier Stedman Fellowship, the university brings Canadian artists of international calibre to Brantford, engaging students, faculty and local residents in lectures, readings, workshops and one-on-one sessions.

“We’re thrilled at this opportunity to connect members of the Laurier and wider Brantford communities with an inspiring author and speaker, with the overall aim of encouraging greater understanding of the Indigenous experience,” said Lisa Wood, English program coordinator at Laurier’s Brantford campus. “We’re grateful to Mary Stedman and the Samuel W. Stedman Foundation for funding this fellowship.” 

During Elliott’s year-long fellowship, she’ll be spending two hours a week on campus. Her office hours on Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon are an opportunity for budding writers from Laurier and the broader community to schedule one-on-one sessions for expert feedback on their work. Requests for appointments can be made with Elliott directly at aelliott@wlu.ca. 

In addition to her regular office hours, Elliott will be hosting a public reading and community creative writing workshops in the new year.