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Jen Ferguson

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Jen Ferguson
Occupationnovelist, professor
LanguageEnglish
NationalityCanadian, Métis
Alma materUniversity of South Dakota
GenreYoung adult
Years active2021–present
Notable worksThe Summer of Bitter and Sweet
Notable awardsGovernor's General Award, Stonewall Honor, 2022 Cybils Award
Website
www.jenfergusonwrites.com

Jen Ferguson is a Michif/Métis Canadian writer, activist, and academic of young adult fiction.[1] She is best known for her Governor General's Award-winning and William C. Morris Award-nominated debut novel The Summer of Bitter and Sweet.[2]

Personal life

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Ferguson is of Michif/Métis and Canadian settler heritage and identifies as queer.[1][3]

She considers herself an army brat and grew up moving around in Canada, spending a few years in Calgary, and then moving to Lloydminster, which she says was the first place where she witnessed anti-indigenous violence.[4]

The first book she remembers reading is Caroline B. Cooney’s The Face on The Milk Carton.[5]

Ferguson has a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of South Dakota.[1][6] She teaches fiction writing at Coe College.[6][7]

Career

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The Summer of Bitter and Sweet

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Her debut novel, The Summer of Bitter and Sweet, was published by Heartdrum in 2022.

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet won the Governor General's Award[2] and received starred reviews from Booklist,[8] BookPage,[5] Kirkus Reviews,[1] and School Library Journal.[9] It was also a finalist for the 2023 William C. Morris Award,[10] as well as a Stonewall Honor Book in Children’s and Young Adult Literature in 2023,[11] and the 2022 Cybils’ Award for Young Adult Literature.[12]

Those Pink Mountain Nights

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Her second novel, Those Pink Mountain Nights, is a sequel to her debut and was published by Heartdrum in 2023.[3] It is about an indigenous teen working her first job at an Alberta pizza shop and coming of age.[4] It explores the topic of missing and murdered indigenous women, mental health, and sexuality.[4]

It was inspired by her experience working in a pizza shop in the Canadian prairie when she was 16, a screenplay about a pizza shop she wrote in her early 20s, and the "ongoing human rights crisis happening in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico".[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "The Summer of Bitter and Sweet". Kirkus Reviews. March 2, 2022. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  2. ^ a b "Sheila Heti wins $25K Governor General's Literary Award for fiction". CBC. November 16, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Bardwell, Neely (2023-07-24). "Q&A with Michif/Métis writer, Jen Ferguson, on her soon to be released young adult novel". Native News Online. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  4. ^ a b c "Why writing fiction for young people inspires Jen Ferguson to keep hope alive". CBC. December 22, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Q&A: Jen Ferguson, Author of 'Those Pink Mountain Nights'". The Nerd Daily. 2023-09-11. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  6. ^ a b "English & Creative Writing Faculty". Coe College. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  7. ^ cynthia (2023-09-13). "Author Interview: Jen Ferguson on Sophomore Books & Shaping Characters". Cynthia Leitich Smith. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  8. ^ Jeanne, Fredriksen (May 1, 2022). "The Summer of Bitter and Sweet". Booklist. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  9. ^ Saarinen, Tamara. "The Summer of Bitter and Sweet". School Library Journal.
  10. ^ SRAMIREZ (2023-01-30). "2023 Morris Award". Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  11. ^ "Stonewall Book Awards List". Round Tables. 2009-09-09. Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  12. ^ "About the Cybils Awards". Retrieved 2024-01-05.
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