David A. Robertson has always been a big believer in children’s literature – after all, most of his 33-and-counting books are for kids and young adults. Now he’s taking his passion further, launching a new imprint to publish Indigenous writers and illustrators.
“I want to actively create social change,” says Robertson, a member of Norway House Cree Nation who has won the Governor General’s Literary Award twice, for When We Were Alone and On the Trapline. “Luckily, Indigenous storytelling inherently has teachings embedded within it that can show us a better way to live.”
Last month, Penguin Random House Canada announced Swift Water Books, Robertson’s new imprint for children’s division Tundra Book Group, would publish its first books in early 2026. They’ll include the young-adult novel Here for a Good Time by Kim Spencer and a picture book adapting a poem by the late Richard Wagamese.
Writers such as Waubgeshig Rice and Cherie Dimaline have also signed on for future titles.
David A. RobertsonDavid A. Robertson/Supplied
“It’s a huge step towards advancing and celebrating Indigenous stories coming from communities across Turtle Island,” said Rice, the Anishinaabe author of four books including the acclaimed Moon of the Crusted Snow and Moon of the Turning Leaves. “Sharing these experiences and realities, with young people especially, is what’s going to fill in the gaps that have persisted in this country pretty much forever.”
To encourage new voices, writers won’t have to submit traditional proposals or need an agent. As editorial director, Robertson says he’s already signed about a dozen Indigenous writers for around 20 books. “There’s been two and a half years of work, not only acquiring, but preparing the infrastructure for the imprint,” he says.
Swift Water Books emerged from conversations between Robertson and fellow author Dimaline about “being in the positions we are because of the people who came before us,” Robertson says – writers such as Lee Maracle, Thomas King and Maria Campbell. They wanted to open new doors for another generation of new and emerging writers.
When they approached Penguin Random House Canada and Tundra, “it took about a second for us to say yes,” says Tara Walker, Tundra’s publisher.
She and her staff had been toying with the idea of launching a children’s imprint focusing on Indigenous stories, especially after reading the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Reports. There was interest from book buyers already – since 2021, demand for Indigenous-created children’s books had grown about 25 per cent in Canada and 35 per cent in the United States, says Liz Kribs, Tundra’s associate publisher.
Their team wanted wanted an imprint to be helmed by the right Indigenous leader who knew the publishing sector. Then Robertson showed up.
There is a long history of Indigenous children’s publishing in Canada through independent imprints such as Theytus Books, Eaglecrest Books and Medicine Wheel Publishing. Tundra, which historically has and still will publish books by Indigenous authors and illustrators under its own banner, is touting Swift Water Books as the first Indigenous children’s imprint within the major publishing houses that operate in Canada.
It’s a business line that carries a lot of gravity and responsibility. And while the timing of Swift Water’s launch has nothing to do with the current cultural moment – diversity, equity and inclusion programs being gutted, jurisdictions such as Florida banning books with LGBTQ+ themes – it nonetheless offers an antidote.
“Kids don’t need protection from books,” Robertson says. “Books need protection because kids need them. I’d fight to the death for books.” Adds Walker: “This is why we need these voices.”
The imprint’s name, Robertson says, pays tribute to his father, Don Robertson, who bestowed the name Swift Water to the rivers around his ancestral home. His plan for the Swift Water Books honours his father, too. “My dad had this vision of his work – not in publishing, but in education – that if you really want to create change, you have to look years ahead,” he says. “It doesn’t happen overnight. We’re also are looking years ahead.”
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