Billy-Ray Belcourt Books in Order

Billy-Ray Belcourt is a writer and academic from the Driftpile Cree Nation. As a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of English & Film Studies at the University of Alberta, he is working on a creative-theoretical project called "The Conspiracy of NDN Joy." A 2016 Rhodes Scholar, Belcourt holds an M.St. in Women's Studies from the University of Oxford and Wadham College. His notable achievements include a 2019 Indspire Award in the First Nations Youth category, which is the highest honor the Indigenous community bestows on its leaders. Billy-Ray's debut book of poems, This Wound is a World (Frontenac House 2017), won the 2018 Griffin Poetry Prize, making him the youngest winner ever. The collection also received the 2018 Robert Kroetsch City of Edmonton Book Prize. This Wound is a World was shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry, the Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry, the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, and the Raymond Souster Award. The collection was named the best "Canadian poetry" collection of 2017 by CBC Books and will be released in U.S. and French editions in 2019.