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Michelle Good

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Michelle Good
CM
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia
Occupations
  • Novelist
  • poet
  • essayist
  • lawyer
Writing career
Notable work
  • Five Little Indians
  • "Defying Gravity"
  • Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada
Notable awardsHarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize (2020)
Websitemichellegood.ca

Michelle Good is a Cree writer, poet, and lawyer from Canada, most noted for her debut novel Five Little Indians.[1] She is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.[2] Good has an MFA and a law degree from the University of British Columbia and, as a lawyer, advocated for residential-school survivors.[3][4]

She lives in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.[5]

Early life and education

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Good is a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation.[6][7] She was impacted by the Sixties Scoop and spent time in the foster care system.[8] Her great-grandmother participated in the 1885 uprising at Frog Lake and her great-grandmother's uncle was Chief Big Bear.[6] Good graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing in 2014. The first draft of her debut novel, Five Little Indians, was her graduate thesis project.[7] She began to practice law in her 40s, sharing the histories of residential schools in courtrooms.[8] Good received an honorary Doctor of Letters from Simon Fraser University on October 7, 2022.[9][10]

Career

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Five Little Indians is a story about five British Columbia residential-school survivors.[11] Although the novel itself is fiction, some of the episodes were based on real experiences of her mother and grandmother, who were both survivors of Canada's residential school system.[1] The book was optioned for adaptation in 2021 as a limited television series by producer Martin Katz.[12][13][needs update] In 2022, it won the Canada Reads competition, having been championed by Christian Allaire.[14]

Truth Telling, her second book, is a collection of essays on historical and modern experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Published on May 30, 2023, it was a finalist for the Balsillie Prize for Public Policy and an Indigenous Voices Award.[15]

Good was named a Companion of the Order of Canada on December 31, 2025.[5]

Awards and nominations

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Year Nominated work Award Category Result Ref.
2020 Five Little Indians Governor General's Awards English-language fiction Won [16][17]
HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize — Won [18]
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize — Shortlisted [19]
Scotiabank Giller Prize—Longlisted [20][21]
2021 Amazon.ca First Novel Award—Won [22]
Amnesty International Book Club Reader's Choice Selection [23]
BC and Yukon Book Prize Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize Shortlisted [24]
Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes Shortlisted
City of Vancouver Book Award — Won [25]
Forest of Reading Evergreen Award Won [26]
Indigenous Voices Award Published Prose in English: Fiction Shortlisted [27]
Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Fiction Won [28][29]
2022 Canada Reads — Won [14]
2025 — Indspire Awards Arts Won [30]

Bibliography

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Books

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Poetry

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—— (1996). “Ancient Songs” and “Stone People”. In Akiwenzie-Damm, Kateri; Armstrong, Jeannette (eds.). Standing Ground: Strength and Solidarity amidst Dissolving Boundaries. Gatherings, vol. 7. Theytus Books.

  • —— (2016). "Defying Gravity". In Humphreys, Helen; Peacock, Molly (eds.). The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2016. Tightrope Books. ISBN 9781988040103.[31]
    • Reprinted in: Lahey, Anita; Peacock, Molly, eds. (2017). The Best of the Best Canadian Poetry in English (Tenth anniversary ed.). Tightrope Books.

Essays

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References

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  1. 1 2 Haggert, Angelica (2020-02-14). "'The story I was intended to write': Michelle Good on forthcoming novel 'Five Little Indians'". Canadian Geographic. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  2. ↑ "Michelle Good's acclaimed novel Five Little Indians looks at the legacy of residential schools". The Next Chapter. 2020-05-08.
  3. ↑ Gee, Dana (2020-04-16). "Five Little Indians follows young lives forced into residential school". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  4. ↑ Bresge, Adina (2021-05-28). "Michelle Good on why Indigenous people can't 'get over' residential school trauma". CP24. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  5. 1 2 "Order of Canada Appointees". The Governor General of Canada. 2025-12-31.
  6. 1 2 Laskaris, Adam (June 1, 2021). "Kamloops-area author Michelle Good hopes book Five Little Indians will help move readers to participate in reconciliation". Castanet Kamloops. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  7. 1 2 Drudi, Cassandra (1 June 2021). "GG Winners Circle: Michelle Good (English-language fiction)". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  8. 1 2 Van Koeverden, Jane (March 14, 2022). "Michelle Good on her novel Five Little Indians, and the question that guides her writing". CBC Books. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  9. ↑ "SFU 2022 Honorary Degree Recipients". Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  10. ↑ Leo, Geoff (December 14, 2022). "Rescind Turpel-Lafond's honorary degrees or we'll return ours, say high-profile Indigenous women". CBC News.
  11. ↑ Kaye, Marcia (2020-04-16). "Michelle Good's 'Five Little Indians' a fictional exploration of life after residential school". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  12. ↑ Vicky, Qiao (June 9, 2021). "Michelle Good's Five Little Indians to be adapted into limited TV series". CBC Books.
  13. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (2021-06-08). "David Cronenberg Producer Martin Katz to Adapt 'Five Little Indians' Indigenous Trauma Novel (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-11-19.
  14. 1 2 "Michelle Good's Five Little Indians wins the 21st Edition of CBC's Canada Reads – Anishinabek News". Anishinabek News. April 4, 2022. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  15. ↑ "Truth Telling - Michelle Good - Hardcover". HarperCollins Canada. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
  16. ↑ "Past GGBooks winners and finalists". Governor General's Literary Awards. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  17. ↑ "Michelle Good says celebrating fiction win feels 'petty and selfish' after residential school discovery". CTVNews. 2021-06-01. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  18. ↑ "Success Story with Michelle Good". The Darling Axe. 14 September 2020.
  19. ↑ "Thomas King, Gil Adamson among finalists for $50K Writers' Trust Fiction Prize". Toronto Star. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  20. ↑ "2020 Finalists". Giller Prize. Retrieved 2026-08-08.
  21. ↑ Dundas, Deborah (2020-09-08). "Thomas King, Emma Donoghue make the 2020 Giller longlist in a year marked by firsts". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  22. ↑ Qiao, Vicky (May 28, 2021). "Five Little Indians by Michelle Good wins $60K Amazon First Novel Award". CBC Books.
  23. ↑ "Five Little Indians". Amnesty International Book Club. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  24. ↑ "Winners & Finalists". BC and Yukon Book Prizes. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  25. ↑ "City of Vancouver Book Award winners and short lists". City of Vancouver. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  26. ↑ Qiao, Vicky (2021-10-21). "Five Little Indians by Michelle Good wins Forest of Reading Evergreen Award for best title for adults". CBC Books. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  27. ↑ Drudi, Cassandra (2021-05-03). "Finalists announced for 2021 Indigenous Voices Awards". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  28. ↑ Dundas, Deborah (2021-06-22). "Michelle Good wins Kobo Emerging Writer fiction prize — making it three wins for the three noms she got on that big day in May". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  29. ↑ "2021 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Winners Announced". Kobo Blog. June 22, 2021. Retrieved 2022-01-10.
  30. ↑ "Michelle Good". Indspire. 2025-04-06. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  31. ↑ Brady, Sean. "Surviving after leaving the residential schools". Kamloops This Week. Archived from the original on 2020-11-09. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  32. ↑ LaFlamme, Michelle (2020). "Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women". Pacific Rim Review of Books. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
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