Poet, playwright, visual artist.
Born at Heart Lake First Nation in northern Alberta in 1955, he lived in Edmonton during his teen years. After quitting high school in 1971, he travelled across Canada and worked at various industrial jobs, including on oilrigs and for the railroad. After he came to Manitoba in the late 1980s, he studied at the University of Winnipeg and began his life as a poet, playwright, actor, theatre director, painter, and printmaker.
He wrote and/or directed radio plays for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, such as The Sniffer and Punching Out Judy, that reflected his unique perspective on Manitoba urban life. He also expanded into writing short stories, such as “Pencil Beauty,” which appeared in the 2005 Manitoba Aboriginal Writers Collective anthology, Bone Memory. He created virtual Internet exhibits of his visual art. Turnstone Press of Winnipeg published two volumes of his poetry: City Treaty (2002) and Bush Camp (2008).
In 2003, he won the John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer. He was an active and founding member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective of Winnipeg, long-time board member of Urban Shaman Gallery, and board member of the Manitoba Writers Guild. He was a passionate supporter of Canadian indigenous people and the urban poor of Winnipeg. At the time of his death, he was pursuing his doctoral studies in English at the University of Manitoba.
He died at Winnipeg on 8 January 2005. He had one daughter.
Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 11 January 2005.
“Biography of Marvin Francis,” University of Manitoba Libraries.
Marvin Francis, Authors, Turnstone Press.
Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water edited by Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair and Warren Cariou, Highwater Press, 2012.
This page was prepared by Lois Braun.
Page revised: 6 January 2022
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