Ruth DyckFehderau, PhD, MA, BA

Area of Study / Keywords

Creative Writing English Literature Indigenous Storytelling Indigenous Studies Literary Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Personal Narratives Residential Schools Disability Literature Deaf Sex and Gender Studies Queer Studies Queer Lit

About

Ruth DyckFehderau is an adjunct professor in the University of Alberta’s Department of English and Film Studies. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Winnipeg and her master’s and doctoral degrees from the U of A. She is hearing impaired.

DyckFehderau is a distinguished writer and storyteller whose work has been translated into five languages and has won many awards. Most recently, she penned I (Athena), a novel that draws upon her experience working with individuals with disabilities and neuro-divergence, her observations of misdiagnoses and institutionalization of women, and of responses to those histories. I (Athena), named one of Miramichi Reader's Best Books of 2023 and one of Edmonton Journal’s Top Five of 2023, has been featured in Edmonton Journal’s Bookmarks and reviewed in CAROUSEL Magazine, Alberta Views, and Miramichi Reader.

DyckFehderau has also written two books in collaboration with James Bay Cree storytellers. Both books are published, copyrighted, and controlled by the James Bay Cree of Northern Quebec, and distributed by Wilfrid Laurier University Press:

 E nâtamukw miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree (Vol. One, 2023)  puts faces to Canada’s residential school genocide, documenting stories of trauma and healing. Discussed in Windspeaker and Folio, the book highlights the resilience of the storytellers and contributes to ongoing efforts to address residential school legacies. It won an Independent Press Award (2024), a Foreword INDIES Gold, and was finalist for Independent Author Network awards. More volumes are forthcoming.

Similarly,  The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree (2017) is a collection of vivid and emotional personal narratives of James Bay Cree storytellers. It weaves together stories of life in the North with diabetes as a common thread. Sweet Bloods won an International Book Award (2018), an IPPY Silver (2018), and a Foreword INDIES Silver (2017). The Second Edition was released in 2020.

DyckFehderau is featured in the Edmonton Rainbow Story Hub.

Research

A Few Recent Journal Publications:

• Chu, Irene, and Ruth DyckFehderau. “Ton Projet Était Mignon.” Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), vol. 196, no. 4, Feb. 2024, pp. E147–48.
• Chu, Irene, and Ruth DyckFehderau. “Your Project Was Cute.” Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ), vol. 195, no. 41, Oct. 2023, pp. E1420–21.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. “Writing and Translation with the James Bay Cree of Northern Québec.” TranscUlturAl, vol. 13, no. 1, Aug. 2021, pp. 55–57.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. “The Story of Jennifer Susan Annistin of Waskaganish.” TranscUlturAl, vol. 13, no. 1, Aug. 2021, pp. 58–71.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. “The Story of Rose Swallow of Chisasibi.” TranscUlturAl, vol. 13, no. 1, Aug. 2021, pp. 89–98.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. “The Story of Jennifer Lowpez of Waswanipi.” TranscUlturAl, vol. 13, no. 1, Aug. 2021, pp. 106–21.

Books

• DyckFehderau, Ruth. E Nâtamukw Miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree. James Bay Cree, 2023.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. I (Athena). NeWest Press, 2023.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree. 2nd ed., James Bay Cree, 2020.
• DyckFehderau, Ruth. The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree. James Bay Cree, 2017.

Teaching

For about twenty years, DyckFehderau taught regularly in the Department of English and Film Studies. She won several U of A teaching awards and twice won the City of Edmonton Sheryl McInnis Pride Award (for teaching and research benefitting Edmonton’s queer communities).