Ruth DyckFehderau (pronounced dyke-FAY-der-ow)
Ruth DyckFehderau grew up on a farm on the Niagara Peninsula in Southern Ontario. She holds degrees from Universities of Alberta (’01 PhD, '95 MA) and Winnipeg (’91 BA). She has lived in many places, including Eeyou Istchee (a remote Cree territory in Northern Quebec), Bangladesh, France, Italy, Poland, Kenya, and South Africa, and has travelled widely. Sometimes she teaches Creative Writing and English Lit at the University of Alberta where she is an Adjunct Professor. She does quite a bit of public speaking, has published many short works in literary journals and anthologies, and has received awards for writing, for teaching, and for activism. She lives in Edmonton with her partner. She is hearing-impaired.
Ruth has written three books. I (Athena) was released by NeWest Press in April, 2023. E nâtamukw miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree, Volume One, nonfiction, written with James Bay Cree storytellers, was released in March, 2023. The Sweet Bloods of Eeyou Istchee: Stories of Diabetes and the James Bay Cree (2017), nonfiction, also written with James Bay Cree storytellers, is now in Second Edition (2020) and is being translated into Northern East Cree, Southern East Cree, Ojibwe, French, and excerpts into Chinese.
Stuff people said about I, Athena
"[P]resents with symptoms of acute excellence... well-composed, making perfect use of voice, found-form composition and sentence-level beauty." — Emily Woodworth, CAROUSEL Magazine (full review)
"DyckFehderau has written a remarkable novel that bursts with cruelty — and kindness ... I (Athena) is rich and complex and deserves a huge amount of attention." — Candace Fertile, ALBERTA VIEWS (full review)
"I (Athena) is a wonderful piece of fiction, DyckFehderau’s first novel and a truly captivating work. It is an impressive slow burn in every capacity, asking big questions and telling a story that will not easily leave you. For fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The Convenience Store Woman and The Rosie Project comes another unforgettable, quirky narrator. " — Laurie Burns,THE MIRAMICHI READER (full review)
"This novel is impressive in its undertaking and at times heart breaking and then on the next page, making you laugh out loud. " — Laurie Burns, THE MIRAMICHI READER (full review)
"A catastrophic misdiagnosis shunts a young life off the rails, leaving young Verity Blessure to waken, again and again, to worlds that profoundly mistake her. In I, Athena, Ruth DyckFehderau leads us on a memorable quest for human recognition and dignity through the eyes of the irrepressible Verity (Athena). A journey full of surprises, both wrenching and joyous, I, Athena also uncovers along the way the endlessly resourceful bonds of longing and belonging among the socially discarded and historically spurned, immersing us in a community that remains too often unseen, unheard, unwritten, to this day. A debut novel that on multiple levels reflects a triumph of informed empathy and imagination." — Christine Wiesenthal, author of Instruments of Surrender and editor of The Collected Works of Pat Lowther
