Michelle Porter is a Canadian writer, whose debut novel ''A Grandmother Begins the Story'' won the 2024

Thomas Head Raddall Award The Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award is a Canadian literary award administered by the Atlantic Book Awards & Festival for the best work of adult fiction published in the previous year by a writer from the Atlantic provinces.

and was a shortlisted finalist for the 2023

Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. ...

. Porter, a

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

woman born and raised in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, currently lives in St. John's,

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

where she teaches in the Department of English at

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, or MUN (), is a Public university, public research university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook ...

. She previously published the poetry collection ''Inquiries'' (2019), the non-fiction history book ''Rebel Women of the East Coast'' (2005), and the family history memoirs ''Approaching Fire'' (2020) and ''Scratching River'' (2022).Laurie D. Graham
"Scratching River"
''

Alberta Views ''Alberta Views'' (also ''AlbertaViews'') is a Calgary, Alberta regional magazine, established in 1997, that covers political, social and cultural issues in the province of Alberta. It is published 10 times annually and its monthly print run w ...

'', September 1, 2022. Porter was a shortlisted

Pat Lowther Award The Pat Lowther Memorial Award is an annual Canadian literary award presented by the League of Canadian Poets to the year's best book of poetry by a Canadian woman. The award was established in 1980 to honour poet Pat Lowther, who was murdered by ...

finalist in 2020 for ''Inquiries'', and an

Indigenous Voices Award The Indigenous Voices Awards are a Canada, Canadian literary award program, created in 2017 to honour Indigenous literatures in Canada.

nominee for English Creative Nonfiction and Life-Writing in 2021 for ''Approaching Fire''.

References

21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian memoirists 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women poets Canadian women memoirists Métis writers Writers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Poets from Newfoundland and Labrador Poets from Manitoba Novelists from Newfoundland and Labrador {{Canada-writer-stub