Whether the dozens of plays, the novels, or the anthologies, a through line runs through Drew Hayden Taylor’s work: they all tickle the funny bone, sometimes with a subtle twist, sometimes with laugh-out-loud prose. Writing about the world from an Indigenous perspective, this ability to cause a smile is how he bridges gaps between cultures. His latest, instant bestseller, Cold, is no exception. Taking tropes from the murder mystery, police procedural, thriller, and horror genres, Taylor weaves a pulsing narrative about two women stranded after a plane crash… a high stakes adventure that still manages to make us laugh. He speaks about his remarkable body of work, the philosophy behind such joy-seeking, and how he navigates between genres—and cultures—with such aplomb. Moderated by Michelle Cyca.
Presented in partnership with Talking Stick Festival.
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MICHELLE CYCA (she/her) is a journalist, essayist and literary critic. She is a senior editor with The Narwhal and a contributing writer to The Walrus. Her feature story, The Curious Case of Gina Adams, received a National Magazine Award in 2023 for investigative journalism, and was published in April 2024 as a limited-edition hardcover by Hingston & Olsen. Her writing can be found in Best Canadian Essays 2025 and the anthology Points of Interest, and has also appeared in The Globe & Mail, The Guardian, Maclean's and Chatelaine. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief and co-publisher of SAD Mag. She lives on the unceded homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations in what is recently called Vancouver, and is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6, Saskatchewan.
DREW HAYDEN TAYLOR has done many things, most of which he is proud of. An Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations in Ontario, he has worn many hats in his career, from performing stand-up comedy at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., to being Artistic Director of Canada’s premiere Native theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts. He has been an award-winning playwright (with over 100 productions of his work), a journalist/columnist (appearing regularly in several Canadian newspapers, magazines, and news networks), short story writer, novelist, television scriptwriter, and has worked on over 20 documentaries exploring the Native experience including the popular Searching for Winnetou. His documentary series on APTN, Going Native, is in its third year. The author of 34 books, he looks forward to finding out where his imagination will take him next.
