Lieutenant Governor awards talented Nipissing First Nation writer

By Kelly Anne Smith

NIPISSING FIRST NATION—Elders say Cole Forrest Stevens-Goulais makes them proud and he is a role model in the making.

Eighteen year old Stevens-Goulais has won the James Bartleman Aboriginal Youth Creative Writing Award for his one-act theatrical storytelling piece about his grandmother’s death.

Former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario James K. Bartleman says that each year he is inspired by the powerful submissions from Indigenous Youth. “These six recipients are pillars of strength and courage, as they share their unique perspectives, which are essential to understanding our First Nations communities.”

Stevens-Goulais says his play called “Grandmother” or “Inspiring Poetry” has an honest, rich history.

At just 18-years-old, the creative writing talent from Nipissing First Nation has been busy with the play. Stevens-Goulais performed for the District and Regional Sears Drama Festivals. As well, he performed as a one-man fringe festival piece. The play won five awards in the Sears Drama Festival circuit and was short-listed for the Wayne Fairhead New Play Award.

Stevens-Goulais spoke to me from Sault College in Sault St. Marie where he attends Digital Film Production. “For the Sears Drama Festivals it was performed as a five-person piece that myself, five other students, and my teacher/mentor Andrea Lefebvre work-shopped after classes during the week.”

The recognition was in a competitive field of over 300 submissions. “They selected the six works that they feel touched the most in the sense that it comes from the heart and is honest.”

With a professional mother often travelling for business, Cole’s great grandmother became his caregiver when she was away.

“It was a piece that I didn’t know how to write until I was a certain age,” states Stevens-Goulais. “Because of my age, I wasn’t able to think about it for a long time. As I developed my craft as a writer, I got to a certain stage that I could deal with the subject matter. I became mature, in terms of age and my writing.”

“Family means everything,” adds Stevens-Goulais. “That’s why so many people connect with this piece. It is the bond and the relationship I had with my Grandmother, that of unconditional love. And what happens when that unconditional love is gone. And how is it dealt with.”

Cole was nine when his grandmother died.

Stevens-Goulais’ interest in the arts began with his mentors at the Big Medicine Studio on Nipissing First Nation. He began the Aanimatagzi Summer Arts Program at 13 years old. “It taught me about this new world of the Arts. I thank Clayton Wyndatt, Sid Bobb, and Penny Couchie for pulling me into the Arts World.”

Stevens-Goulais encourages new writers to always write down ideas. “You want to be writing about something. Even if you think it is stupid, someone will gravitate towards it. Document your ideas as a writer and look back on them.”

The young Indigenous writer opens his heart for us with the second part of Grandmother.

“This is for you, Grandmother. I am no longer the little boy I once
was I hope I am now everything you wanted me to be. I write this out
of the affection of never having the chance to intellectually
conversate with the real you, Beth, but please understand that I bleed
clear tears from my veins that drip into the floor boards just to know
that all this is real. Despite you being gone I will linger on the
thought of you and your memories with my distant self in an easier
time when the walls weren’t hollow and I didn’t have to swallow my
tongue, just to keep things professional. I’d prefer to keep things
emotional. And I hope I was everything you prayed about at the foot of
the bed every night before tucking me in. I might do a different kind
of prayer, but I still pray, that you travel safely, as the
Grandmother who inspires a young mans poetry.”

Stevens-Goulais explains.

“The first part is written as a rhyming piece where I recall the whole morning of my Grandmother’s death. While, in the second half, I am accepting that she is gone and talking to her as though we are having a conversation.”

We will be hearing more from writer Cole Forrest Stevens-Goulais. He assures he has many more stories to tell.