SANDRA LARONDE is from the Teme-Augama Anishinaabe (People of the Deep Water) in Temagami, Northern Ontario. An accomplished arts innovator, author, multi-disciplinary artist, and visionary leader, Laronde plays a pivotal role in the ongoing Indigenous cultural resurgence of Canada.
Her debut novel, She Holds Up the Stars, received a Kirkus Star Review which marks books of exceptional merit, won the 2023 Horace Mann Upstander Award, listed as one of the Best of Canadian Books for Kids and Young Adults in 2022 by CBC Books as well as 2023 CCBC’s Best Books for Kids & Teens List, and nominated for the 2024 Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards.
Laronde’s accolades are numerous and include the 2023 Indspire Award for the Arts, the 2023 Indigenous Artist Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation, the 2023 Horace Mann Upstander Award, the 2021 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, the 2021 Order of Ontario and the 2020 Celebration of a Cultural Life Award, among other recognitions.
Laronde is also the founder of Red Sky Performance, an award-winning company that leads in the creation, elevation, and evolution of contemporary Indigenous performance in Canada and worldwide. She has created an extraordinary body of work in the performing arts which has toured across Canada, USA, Europe, and Asia.