Highway, Tomson, 1951- : Tomson Highway (1951 - ), Cree author, playwright, and musician.
Born in Brochet, Manitoba, Tomson Highway was sent at an early age to Guy Hills Residential School. He pursued his highschool and university studies in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Highway then completed a bachelor's degree in music (1975) and a B.A. in English (1976) at the University of Western Ontario where he studied and worked with playwright James Reaney. Highway afterwards worked as a social worker for various Indigenous organizations across Ontario and Canada. In the ensuing years, he has devoted his time to writing, notably about First Nations realities.
Tomson Highway is the author of numerous acclaimed plays such as The Rez Sisters (1986), Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989), Rose (2000), Aria (2003), and the renowned novel Kiss of the Fur Queen (1998). Recent works include the play Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout (2004), a libretto for the opera in Cree language entitled The Journey (Pimoooteewin)(2008) , and the (Post) Mistress, which received its premiere in 2011 and was published in 2013. Several of his plays have been translated into other languages (notably in Japanese, Czech, German and French). Highway has also written several illustrated children's books in both Cree and English: Caribou Song (2001), Dragonfly Kiss (2002), Fox on the Ice (2003), as well as a number of essays. Highway's exploration of Aboriginal and individual identity, race, and gender in his writing helped precipitate Canada's emergent Aboriginal literary tradition and its introduction to a wider audience in Canada and abroad. Highway has begun writing cabarets - bringing together his skills as a classically trained musician and playwright. He has also worked to promote First Nations' culture by organizing major festivals including the International Native Music Festival (London, ON), the Navajoland Festival of the Arts (Window Rock, AZ), and the World Assembly of First Nations (Regina, SK).
During his career, Tomson Highway has been active on the faculty of the Native Theatre School, in addition to being Artistic Director (1986-1992) of the Native Earth Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the promotion of Aboriginal theatre. Highway has also been Writer-in-Residence at several universities, notably the University of Toronto, Concordia University, and Simon Fraser University.
Tomson Highway has been the recipient of such prestigious awards as the Governor General's Literary Award for Drama and the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award, for The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994 in recognition of "his formidable talents as a playwright, producer and director to reflect the richness of Native people's culture and spiritualism." Other awards include eight honorary degrees from various Canadian universities.
