Sylvia Olsen (born 1955 or 1956)[1] is a Canadian writer and public speaker.
Biography
editOlsen was born and raised in a middle-class family in Victoria, British Columbia.[1]
In 1972, Olsen married Carl, who is Coast Salish, and moved to Tsartlip First Nation, where she lived for 35 years.[1] During her time in Tsartlip, she raised her three children, began a few small businesses, and began working in the Tsartlip housing department, a passion that led to a number of career developments later on.[1] Also during this time, she began questioning the differences between her privileged upbringing at those of First Nation Canadians.[1] These questions and life experiences have greatly shaped her art and academic endeavours.[1] In 1996 Sylvia achieved a PHd from the University of Victoria. Her dissertation was on the history of on-reserve housing programs in Canada.
Later, Olsen's family adopted another son from Brazil, and her children have bore her eight grandchildren, most of whom live in Tsarlip.[1][2]
Olsen married her current husband, Tex McLeod, when she was 63.[1] They live in North Saanich on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, just north of Tsartlip.[3]
Career
editOlsen has been a founding member at a number of housing organizations for Canadian First Nations communities, including the First Nations Housing & Infrastructure Council for British Columbia. She was also a member of the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs Committee on Housing & Infrastructure.[3]
She also "helped develop the curriculum for and teaches the First Nations Housing Management Certificate Program at Vancouver Island University."[3]
Awards
edit| Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | White Girl | Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize | Shortlist | [4] |
| 2007 | Yetsa's Sweater | Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award | ||
| 2011 | Working with Wool | Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize | Shortlist | [5]
Winner Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Historical Writing |
| 2010 | Counting on Hope | Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize | Shortlist | [6] |
| 2010 | Which Way Should I Go? | PMC Indigenous Literature Award | Winner | [7] |
| 2014 | Molly's Promise | Diamond Willow Award | Finalist | [8] |
| 2020 | Neekah's Knitting Needles | PMC Indigenous Literature Award | Shortlist | [9] |
Publications
editChildren's books
edit- No Time to Say Goodbye: Children's Stories of Kuper Island Residential School, with Rita Morris and Ann Sam (2002)
- Catching Spring (2004)
- Murphy and Mousetrap (2005)
- Yetsa's Sweater (2007)
- Which Way Should I Go?, with Ron Martin, illustrated by Kasia Charko (2008)
- A Different Game (2010)
- Sebastian Sasquatch, illustrated by Kasia Charko (2013)
- Son Who Returns, with Gary Robinson (2014)
- Neekah's Knitting Needles, with Odelia Smith, illustrated by Sheena Lott (2020)
Young adult novels
edit- The Girl with a Baby (2003)
- White Girl (2004)
- Just Ask Us (2005)
- Yellow Line (2005)
- Middle Row (2008)
- Counting on Hope (2010)
- Molly's Promise (2013)
- Breathing Fire, with Sarah Yi-Mei Tsiang (2014)
Nonfiction
edit- Working with Wool: A Coast Salish Legacy and the Cowichan Sweater (2010)
- knitting stories (2014)
- life cycle of a LIE (2014)
- Growing Up Elizabeth May: The Making of an Activist, with Cate May Burton (2021)
- Unravelling Canada: A Knitting Odyssey (2021)
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h "Sylvia Olsen". Sylvia Olsen. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ "Sylvia Olsen". Goodreads. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ a b c "About". Sylvia Olsen. 2020-03-30. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ "Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize: 2005". Canadian Books & Authors. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ "Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize". Canadian Books & Authors. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ "Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize". Canadian Books & Authors. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ "First Nation Communities Read Archives". Canadian Children's Book Centre. Archived from the original on 2021-08-02. Retrieved 2022-03-18.
- ^ "2014 Diamond Willow Finalists". Saskatchewan Young Readers' Choice Awards. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
- ^ "2020-2021 First Nation Communities READ PMC Indigenous Literature Award : Award Winners". Toronto Public Library. Archived from the original on 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2022-03-18.