Biography of Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway is a Canadian Indigenous playwright and author. He has written a number of acclaimed plays, including The Rez Sisters, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, Annie and the Old One, Rose, and The (Post) Mistress. His novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen, which is based on his brother's death from AIDS, was nominated for the Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award and the Books in Canada First Novel Award.

Highway was born in Manitoba in 1951 and has become known as one of the most important voices in the artistic movement known as First Nations Theatre. After studying at the University of Western Ontario, Highway began writing plays, and his first play The Rez Sisters, a comedy about Indigenous women living on a reservation in Canada, brought him acclaim. After writing several other plays, Highway wrote a novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen, in 1998, about his own experiences of sexual abuse as a First Nations child in Canada.

In addition to plays and his novel, Highway has written children's books, essays, and opera librettos. He is a member of the Order of Canada, has earned a National Indigenous Achievement Award, and many honorary degrees.