Drew Hayden Taylor
By Karen Irvine
Award Winning Author and Playwrite
I met Drew for lunch at Charlotte Anne’s Restaurant in Peterborough to find out what makes him tick. The perfect atmosphere to just sit, chat and enjoy a meal. Drew is an Award-winning Author who writes in a variety of styles. He’s a handsome, First Nations Indigenous man, with blue eyes and blonde hair. At first glance, he doesn’t look Indigenous. He was born and raised on Curve Lake, and lived there until he was 18. He kicked around Toronto doing odd jobs for awhile - the Canadian Native Arts Foundation, and as a training producer for CBC radio. He’s back living on Curve Lake for 14 years. Drew is about exploring both genre and medium, and is primarily known as a play writer. He has written over 20 plays and approximately 100 productions. He has 2 novels, 2 collections of short stories, several collections of essays and articles, and 32 books. His writing focus is on Aboriginal culture and humour (the Indigenous funny bone, as he calls it). His 33rd book, Chasing Painted Horses, will be released in the fall. Drew’s first serious writing credit was in 1987 for the television series ‘The Beach Combers’ at age 25, and his first publication was in 1990. A humorous collection of personal essays on identity called ‘Funny You Don’t Look Like One – Observations of a Blue Eyed Ojibway’ put Drew on the map 25 years ago.
He wanted to be a writer for most of his childhood, but his grade 11 English Teacher at Lakefield District SS told him there was no point, he couldn’t make a living at it. His mother wasn’t too impressed either, so he let it go for 7 or 8 years. It wasn’t until his mid 20’s that the fever got the better of him. “It wasn’t a matter of me tracking down and conquering my art, my art literally had to track me down and remind me that I am a writer. And I always liked being a writer. You create short stories or a play. You are essentially creating a universe”, says Drew, “And the thing I discovered that I thought was really cool as a teenager, was that I had more control over the universe I created than the universe I lived in. And that appealed to me. It was a bizarre series of circumstances. I was writing an article and adapting native stories for television, and a producer suggested I submit story ideas. I did, and they bought my first one”. Playwriting was easy for Drew. “I grew up across the road from my Grandparents, and they would have
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