$80,000 literary prize winner to plot path to publication

Award brings support, opportunity and challenges, says Inuktut writer

Donna Adams, seen here in a video played during the third annual Inuktuuqta! Inuktut Writing Prize gala Dec. 4, where her work was awarded first prize. (Photo by Daron Letts)

By Daron Letts

Emerging Inuktut writer Donna Adams has a lot of tough decisions to make over the holidays, and none of them have to do with spending $80,000.

That’s the value of the prize Adams accepted Dec. 4 as the winner of the third annual Inuktuuqta! Inuktut Writing Prize, announced Wednesday at the contest’s eponymous gala in Iqaluit.

After meeting virtually with representatives of Nunavut Tunngavik Foundation, which administers the prize, Adams said she learned the money is not paid out in a lump cash sum, but meted out over the year as her literary project progresses.

The foundation offers support with creative opportunities along the path.

“That’s what it looks like,” she said. “It is like a contract. It’s a deal.”

Adams, of Rankin Inlet, said she will now reflect on the possibilities of a writing residency in the new year, or perhaps a collaboration with Inuktut linguists in the spring. Or maybe she will choose to muscle through with self-discipline to get her Inuktut story published.

“I’m evaluating,” she said. “The story itself took a lot — a lot of time, a lot of writing.”

Adams won for her original story about a lonely nine-year-old boy named Kattagaq who overcomes bullying to embrace his identity, with some grandmotherly wisdom and hunting adventures along the way.

“Of course, when we finally accept who we are, we’re happier. We’re more at peace. Our outlook changes,” Adams said.

“Inuit stories always have lessons and the best stories, I find, are life experiences of elders. They’ve lived through trauma, tragedy, life-or-death situations, and it was just everyday life for them.”

When Adams was nine years old, did she listen to the stories of her elders, like Kattagaq did?

“I was a non-stop talker,” she said. “I started really hearing — listening — when I got older.”

In her professional life, Adams has had the opportunity to pour over recorded stories from the CBC North database as host of the Tusaajaksat program in the Kivalliq.

As a translator, she has transcribed archived elder recordings for the former Nunavut Literacy Council, since renamed Ilitaqsiniq, and translated them into English.

“I’ve listened to so many stories from the elders and I’ve loved it. They’re heroic,” Adams said. “No one knows how hard it really was. Even if you took a 15-minute walk, you’re out there.”

One thread Adams has seen woven throughout the various elder stories is how the people who are respected are those who master a skill, with a talent for survival.

“When I listened to the elders talk about their favourite role models, the women were always in awe of the women in their lives that were experts in sewing. For boys, it was the best hunters,” she said.

For Adams, it’s a storytelling skill. The next chapter is to write.

 

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(1) Comment:

  1. Posted by tagalik on

    Donna is an amazing example of resiliency and to always go after your dreams. We are so proud of her and know this is just the start! <3 Congratulations.

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