Wordfest presents David A. Robertson

Wordfest presents David A. Robertson

"A treasure." That's what Shelagh Rogers says about David A. Robertson and his new memoir, All The Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety. "My friend Dave is wide open, unflinchingly honest, and brave. So brave." The opening chapter recounts unforgettable backstage and onstage examples of collective kindnesses that took place during the 2019 Imaginairium festival. It's all part of Wordfest's David Robertson lore, our special bond that makes the Calgary launch event an unmissable opportunity. 

The conversation, hosted by Wordfest's Creative Ringleader Shelley Youngblut, includes an audience Q & A and book signing. Owl's Nest books will be on site with copies of All The Little Monsters, in addition to Robertson's extensive backlist. 

We are grateful to HarperCollins Canada for making it possible to connect you with David A. Robertson.

About All the Little Monsters: How I Learned to Live with Anxiety

With humour, warmth and heartbreaking honesty, award-winning author David A. Robertson explores the struggles and small victories of living with chronic anxiety and depression, and shares his hard-earned wisdom in the hope of making other people’s mental health journeys a little less lonely

From the outside, David A. Robertson looks as if he has it all together—a loving family, a successful career as an author, and a platform to promote Indigenous perspectives, cultures and concerns. But what we see on the outside rarely reveals what is happening inside. Robertson lives with “little monsters”: chronic, debilitating health anxiety and panic attacks accompanied, at times, by depression. During the worst periods, he finds getting out of bed to walk down the hall an insurmountable task. During the better times, he wrestles with the compulsion to scan his body for that sure sign of a dire health crisis.

In All the Little Monsters, Robertson reveals what it’s like to live inside his mind and his body and describes the toll his mental health challenges have taken on him and his family, and how he has learned to put one foot in front of the other as well as to get back up when he stumbles. He also writes about the tools that have helped him carry on, including community, therapy, medication and the simple question he asks himself on repeat: what if everything will be okay?

In candidly sharing his personal story and showing that he can be well even if he can’t be “cured,” Robertson hopes to help others on their own mental health journeys.

About David A. Robertson

David A. Robertson is an author, editor, and speaker on Indigenous issues, mental health and freedom of expression. His books include the novel The Theory of Crows, the memoir Black Water, the picture books When We Were Alone and On the Trapline, and the middle-grade series the Misewa Saga. He has won awards such as the TD Canadian Children’s Literary Award, the Alexander Kennedy Isbister Award for Non-Fiction, the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award and the Governor General’s Literary Award and has been shortlisted for many others. He was the writer and host of the podcast Kiwew, which won the 2021 RTDNA Prairie Region Award for Best Podcast. In 2023, the University of Manitoba honoured him with a doctor of letters for his contributions to the arts. David A. Robertson is a member of Norway House Cree Nation. He lives in Winnipeg.

Instagram/Threads: @davidrobertsonwriter
Bluesky: @davidarobertson

About Host Shelley Youngblut

Shelley Youngblut is the CEO & Creative Ringleader of Wordfest. She was the recipient of the 2020 Calgary Award for Community Achievement in the Arts and the 2018 Rozsa Award for Arts Leadership. She also won the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Western Magazine Awards. Youngblut was the founding editor of Calgary’s award-winning Swerve magazine and has created magazines for ESPN, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan, Nickelodeon, Western Living, and The Globe and Mail. She was also a former pop-culture correspondent for ABC World News Now and Canada AM.

Facebook @ShelleyYoungblut 
Instagram/Threads: @youngblutshelley
Bluesky: @youngblut.bsky.social 

Be Curiouser

• The Next Chapter with Alicia Elliott, Sarah Leavitt & David Robertson (recorded at the 2019 Imaginairium Festival). –The Next Chapter
• How I Learned to Live with Anxiety. –TelusTalks
• David Robertson Shares His Intimate Experiences with Anxiety. –CBC Books
•