Darrel J. McLeod’s memoir Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age received Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction in 2018. The sequel, entitled Peyakow, is scheduled for release later this year.

Darrel is Cree from treaty eight territory in Northern Alberta, and holds degrees in French literature and education from the University of British Columbia. Before retiring and pursuing a career in writing, he was chief negotiator of land claims for the federal government, and executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations. In the spring of 2018, Darrel was accepted into the Banff Writing Studio to advance his first work of fiction. An accomplished musician, he writes, sings, and plays jazz guitar in Sooke, B.C., and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.