Alicia Elliott
Alicia Elliott (born 1987 or 1988) is a Tuscarora writer and editor. Early life and education. Elliott was born in the United States and moved with her family to the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario when she was 13. Although located in southern Ontario close to major cities, her home, like many others on the reserve, didn't have running water. She attended high school in the nearby city of Brantford, graduating in 2005. Career. Elliott's first paid writing opportunity occurred in 2015 when she wrote an article about band elections for "Briarpatch  magazine titled The Meaning of Elections for Six Nations". In 2016, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson asked Elliott to contribute to the issue of "The Malahat Review" she was editing. Elliott's essay, "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground", went on to win a National Magazine Award, a prize that Elliot credits with kickstarting her career. The next year, Elliott was selected by Tanya Talaga to receive the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award, which includes a cash prize and a mentorship component. A collection of Elliott's essays, also titled "A Mind Spread Out On The Ground," was published by Penguin  Random House in 2019. From 2017-2018 she was the Geoffrey and Margaret Andrew Fellow at the University of British Columbia. She was selected as the first mentor-in-residence for Canadian feminist literary journal "Room" and currently serves as the creative nonfiction editor at "The Fiddlehead." In addition to her essays, Elliott has written for newspapers and magazines including "The Globe and Mail", "Maclean's", "Maisonneuve", "Today's Parent" and "Reader's Digest".