Thomas King

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix =
name = Thomas King
honorific-suffix = Ph.D


caption =
candidate1 = MP for Guelph
termstart1 = TBA
opponent1 = Frank Valeriote (Liberal)
Gloria Kovach (Conservative)
Mike Nagy (Green)
incumbent1 = none following the resignation of
Brenda Chamberlain (Liberal)
birth_date =birth date and age | 1943|04|24
birthplace = Sacramento, California
residence =
death_date =
death_place =
party = New Democratic Party
religion =
spouse = Infobox writer
name = Tom King


imagesize = 200px
caption = Promotional shot for the "Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour" radio program, showing stars Tom King, Edna Rain (as Gracie), and Floyd Favel Starr (as Jasper) in front of the CBC microphone. The comedy show ran for four seasons on the CBC and was revived with the original cast as "Dead Dog in the City" in 2006.
pseudonym =
birthname =
birthdate = 24 April 1943
birthplace = Sacramento, California
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Novelist
nationality = American - Canadian (Dual)
period = Contemporary
genre = Postmodern, trickster novel
subject = First Nations
movement =
notableworks = "Medicine River", "Green Grass, Running Water", "The Truth about Stories"
spouse =
partner =
children =
relatives =
influences = William Faulkner, Gerald Vizenor
influenced =
awards = Order of Canada Member (2004)


website =

Thomas King (born 24 April 1943) is a noted novelist and broadcaster who most often writes about Canada's First Nations and is an outspoken advocate for First Nations causes. He is of Cherokee and Greek descent.

Life and career

Born in Sacramento, California, he worked in Australia as a photojournalist before moving to Canada in 1980. King served as a faculty member of the University of Minnesota's American Indian Studies Department. King is currently an English professor at the University of Guelph and lives in Guelph, Ontario. He is also the creator of "The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour", a CBC Radio One series.

King was chosen to deliver the 2003 Massey Lectures, entitled "The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative". [CBC Radio One [http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/massey/massey2003.html The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative] "Ideas." Massey Lectures 2003. Retrieved on: September 7, 2007.] King was the first Aboriginal Massey lecturer. In the series, King examined the Native experience in oral stories, literature, history, religion and politics, popular culture and social protest in order to make sense of North America’s relationship with its Aboriginal peoples.

In April 2007 King announced that he would be seeking the New Democratic Party (NDP) nomination for Guelph in the next federal election. On March 30, 2007 King was acclaimed as the NDP candidate for Guelph. Present at the nomination meeting was NDP leader Jack Layton. [ [http://www.thefountainpen.com/cgi-bin/showstory?id=5906 Tom King acclaimed as federal NDP candidate] . "The Fountain Pen," Guelph, Ontario. Retrieved on: September 7, 2007.] A by-election was called in the riding due to the resignation of incumbent Liberal Member of Parliament Brenda Chamberlain effective April 7 2008. Scheduled for September 8, 2008, the by-election was cancelled with the calling of the October 14, 2008 federal general election.

In July 2007, King made his directorial debut with "I'm Not The Indian You Had In Mind", a short film for which he was also the screenwriter.

Bibliography

*"The Native in Literature" - 1987 (editor)
*"An Anthology of Short Fiction by Native Writers in Canada" - 1988 (editor)
*"Medicine River" - 1990
*"All My Relations" - 1990 (editor)
*"A Coyote Columbus Story" - 1992 (Illustrated by William Kent Monkman) (nominated for a Governor General's Award)
*"Green Grass, Running Water" - 1993 (nominated for a Governor General's Award)
*"One Good Story, That One" - 1993
*"Borders" - 1993
*"Coyotes Sing to the Moon" - 1998 (Illustrated by Johnny Wales)
*"Truth and Bright Water" - 1999
*"Dreadful Water Shows Up" - 2002 (under the pen-name of Hartley GoodWeather)
*"The Truth About Stories" - 2003
*"Coyote's New Suit" - 2004 (Illustrated by Johnny Wales)
*"A Short History of Indians in Canada" - 2005
*"" - 2006 (under the pen-name of Hartley GoodWeather)

Awards and recognition

*Nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1992 for "A Coyote Columbus Story".
*Nominated for a Governor General's Award in 1993 for "Green Grass, Running Water".
*"Green Grass, Running Water" was chosen for the inclusion in Canada Reads 2004, and championed by then-Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray.
*In 2004, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
*"A Short History of Indians in Canada" won the 2006 McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year.

ee also

*List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
*Native American Studies
*Canadian federal by-elections, 2008

Notes

References

*W. H. New. "Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada". Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. 577-80.

External links

* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0010095 Thomas King's] entry in [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=HomePage&Params=A1 The Canadian Encyclopedia]
* [http://wiredforbooks.org/thomasking/ 1993 Audio Interview with Thomas King at Wired for Books.org] by Don Swaim
* [http://tomking.ca/ Tom King for Guelph - NDP Election Site]