Join us to hear from Michael (Arvaarluk) Kusugak, award-winning author of numerous children’s books including co-author of A Promise is a Promise. SOI youth alum and budding author Sophie Weider will speak with Arvaarluk about the art of storytelling and its importance in Inuit culture. Stick around to hear some of Arvaarluk’s favourite stories!

Thank you everyone for your interest in this live event. Unfortunately we will have to postpone to a later date. Stay tuned for a new date and more events coming up!

Michael (Arvaarluk) Kusugak

Arvaarluk, aka Michael Kusugak, was born on the west coast of Hudson Bay in 1948. He and his family moved to Naujaat, at the north end of Hudson Bay, where he lived in the traditional manner of Inuit, travelling by dog sled in search of all kinds of wildlife that his family and their dogs depended on for food, heat and clothing. He first heard the stories of his people, going to bed in an igloo in the light of the qulliq, a soapstone seal oil lamp, that his grandmother used to cook and to heat their igloo. Today, he tells those stories and writes about Inuit.

Arvaarluk is the award-winning author of 13 children’s books including his first book, A Promise is a Promise, co-written with Robert Munsch and illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka, which has been a Canadian classic for more than 30 years. Arvaarluk’s other books include The Littlest Sled Dog, The Curse of the Shaman, T is for Territories, Baseball Bats for Christmas, the Ruth Schwartz Award winner Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails and, soon to be released, The Most Amazing Bird, illustrated by Andrew Qappik.

Learn more: www.michaelkusugak.com

Sophie Weider

Sophie Weider is an Alumni of the 2019 Students on Ice Arctic expedition. She is a strong believer of the power of visual arts to inspire positive change. After returning home from the expedition, Sophie was inspired to create an art exhibition, entitled “Endangered”, which sought to bring to light the devastating impact of climate change on the Arctic. In 2018, Sophie wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, “The Girl Who Saved a Tree”, in order to raise awareness for the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. With the support of an SOI micro-grant, she is currently working on publishing her second book, “Who?”, which follows the journey of a Snowy owl in search of a new home, after his own is left uninhabitable by climate change. Through her children’s books, Sophie hopes to inspire children to become environmental stewards in their community. Sophie is currently living in Montreal, Quebec, studying Environment at McGill University.

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