Tanya Talaga

Named the first Anishinaabe woman CBC Massey Lecturer in 2018, Tanya Talaga is a national bestselling author, journalist, and filmmaker known for amplifying Indigenous voices. Her critically acclaimed debut book, Seven Fallen Feathers, released in 2017, garnered significant recognition, winning both the prestigious RBC Taylor Prize and the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing in 2018. She followed this success with her second national bestseller, All Our Relations: Finding The Path Forward, published in 2018, which was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Nonfiction Prize and the British Academy’s Nayef Al-Rodhan Prize. Talaga’s distinguished career in journalism spans over two decades, primarily with the Toronto Star.

Under her leadership as CEO, Makwa Creative produced the documentary Spirit to Soar, which premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2021, and launched the podcast Auntie Up! Her reach in audio content expanded with the release of the podcast Seven Truths on Audible in 2020. Most recently, Talaga released her third national bestseller, The Knowing, in 2024. This impactful work was subsequently adapted into a four-part CBC documentary series, which earned her a 2025 Canadian Screen Award for Best Writing-Documentary.

Recognised for her profound contributions to literature and journalism, Talaga has also been awarded honorary doctorates from Lakehead University and Ryerson University.