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After winning both a Canada Prize and the Modern Language Association (MLA) Prize for Studies in Native American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, by Deanna Reder is reaching a new audience: audiobook listeners.

“The move to transform a monograph to an audiobook is a relatively new innovation, something that surprised me when Wilfrid Laurier University Press first contacted me about it,” says Reder (Cree-Métis), a professor in Indigenous Studies and English at 91��ܽ (SFU).

While primarily presented in English, Reder incorporates the Cree language throughout the book to convey Indigenous knowledge, develop a literary theory of âcimisowina (life writing), and articulate the unique contributions Cree and Métis intellectuals have made to the autobiographical genre.

“My hope is that Cree speakers who might not pick up my book will listen to this,” says Reder. For this reason, she says it was essential to find an audiobook narrator capable of capturing the nuances of the spoken language.

“I am so happy that the publisher accepted my suggestion of Mackenzie Ground, a PhD candidate in SFU’s Department of English, as the narrator,” Reder says of Ground, who is a nehiyawiskwew from Enoch maskekosihk Cree Nation and Edmonton amiskwacîwâskahikan, Alberta. “She not only has the academic background and, as a poet, the performance experience, but she also has lovely Cree intonations that are, frankly, better than my spoken Cree.”

Ground’s writing has appeared in publications such as The Capilano Review, The Denver Quarterly, and C Magazine. “I work with similar texts and know many of those who are cited, so I felt honoured to be asked to read and did my best to then honour the writers, scholars, nehiyawewin (the Plains Cree language), and nehiyaw teachings that are all present in this book,” says Ground.

In the process of recording the audiobook, Ground blended her scholarly and artistic reading voices. “As a writer, I enjoy reading my poetry at events. I tapped into those feelings of support and connection, and the flow of Reder’s storytelling,” explains Ground of bringing Reder’s words to life.

Looking back at the experience of recording the audiobook, Ground found special meaning in voicing the personal stories Reder weaves throughout her academic analysis. “Deanna writes about being in graduate school and struggling to identify where she belongs — that resonated for me,” Ground recalls. “I found myself in similar moments and positions, but I also get to see how people like Deanna Reder have changed university spaces and how I may then potentially contribute to the next generations of scholars and writers as an Indigenous writer and graduate student.”