Vancougar frontwoman returns to songwriting, optimistic on Reconciliation and youth
Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Public Library is pleased to announce author, musician and visual artist Eden Fine Day as the Indigenous Storyteller in Residence for 2022. Starting in February, Fine Day will share her experience as an East Vancouver artist connected with her Cree culture using multidisciplinary storytelling techniques. During this residency, Fine Day will engage with the community through workshops, programs and events while also working on several creative projects.
Raised in East Vancouver, Fine Day was 14 when she first met her father and was reconnected to her family and community in the Sweetgrass First Nation in Saskatchewan. “My father took me to the place where I was born and together we picked sweetgrass. He taught me the laws of giving and receiving from the earth and, for the first time, I realized there were people who held the same values I held, even though I had never met them,” said Fine Day.
The world is changing and Canadians are starting to realize that the very culture they tried to beat out of us is the one thing that will help us survive the global crisis. I’m ready to share what I know with the people of Vancouver, and the rest of Canada, so that we may move forward together.
During her time at VPL, Fine Day plans to write and record a new album of original music, which she will share through an online listening party at the end of her residency. She also has the early work on a YA graphic novel series, virtual classroom visits, development of a reading series and more projects for adults and youth to fill out her residency. “I especially feel called to share our worldview with children – all children – because in them I see a light that has not yet been doused,” explained Fine Day.
“VPL is honoured that Eden Fine Day has chosen to share her knowledge and creative work through the Indigenous Storyteller in Residence program,” said Christina de Castell, the Library’s Chief Librarian. “She brings a powerful voice and important perspectives that will enrich the community’s understanding of Indigenous experiences and the long road we are all on towards Truth and Reconciliation.”
Fine Day’s musical career spans more than 25 years as a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist. She has made six albums with three different projects, including three with the Vancouver-based rock band Vancougar. In addition to song, Fine Day expresses herself in fiction, nonfiction and occasionally through visual art. Fine Day has studied music, linguistics, literature and history in schools in the U.S. and France, and earned a BA in language studies from University of California, Santa Cruz.
The VPL Indigenous Storyteller in Residence has played a unique and valuable role at the Library since the program’s inception in 2008, using storytelling or other narrative tools as a way to highlight and share Indigenous traditions and contemporary culture. The program seeks to honour Indigenous cultures and to promote intercultural understanding and communication between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. More information about the program can be found at vpl.ca/storyteller.
