This seminal collection showcases the intellectual legacy and literary resistance of one of Canada’s most influential Indigenous voices.
Toronto, ON – July 17, 2025 – University of Toronto Press is honoured to announce the publication of The Emma LaRocque Reader: On Being Human, a landmark collection of poetry, prose, and critical essays from one of Canada’s most influential Indigenous scholars. Curated by Elaine Coburn, Associate Professor of International Studies at York University, this volume is more than an anthology—it is a testament to the impactful legacy, creative brilliance, and unwavering resistance of Emma LaRocque, whose work has reshaped the landscape of Indigenous Studies, literary criticism, and resistance scholarship.
Born in 1949 into a Cree-speaking Métis family, LaRocque has dedicated her life and work to confronting the intersecting forces of colonialism, sexism, and racism, while celebrating the strength and beauty of her community and culture. Drawing on decades of writing, The Emma LaRocque Reader offers a comprehensive understanding of her approach to decolonizing knowledge, challenging colonial mythologies, and reclaiming Indigenous narrative power.
“At home I grew up Cree with Wehsehkehcha; in schools my senses and intellect were overrun with Settlers and Savages and neither knew anything about Wehsehkehcha, rendering me an ‘alien’ in my own home/land.”
LaRocque’s work serves as a blueprint for decolonizing scholarship and reclaiming narrative power, combining incisive critique with poetic vision to expose the everyday violence of colonialism, challenge the “civilization versus savagery” binary, and affirm the full, complex humanity of Indigenous peoples. As Canada reckons with its colonial past and Indigenous voices lead national conversations, The Emma LaRocque Reader emerges as an essential resource for reconciliation and intellectual transformation.
Key Features of The Emma LaRocque Reader:
- A Transformative Intellectual Voice: LaRocque’s writings dismantle colonial representations, expose the mechanisms of systemic racism and sexism, and assert the right of Indigenous peoples to define themselves.
- Groundbreaking Literary Criticism: The collection includes LaRocque’s pioneering work on Indigenous literature, her nuanced analysis of Métis identity, and her feminist interventions that challenge patriarchal structures.
- Personal and Scholarly Intersections: Through deeply personal essays and poetic testimony, LaRocque demonstrates how lived experience and rigorous scholarship can together forge powerful tools of resistance and cultural renewal.
- Timely and Relevant: As Indigenous writers, scholars, and activists continue to resist and reimagine, this volume provides the context, inspiration, and intellectual rigour needed for the next generation of changemakers.
The Emma LaRocque Reader: On Being Human is available for purchase at utpublishing.com and major book retailers.