Interviewee Bio – Yolanda Bonnell
Yolanda Bonnell
Yolanda Bonnell (She/They) is a Bi/Queer 2 Spirit Anishinaabe-Ojibwe, South Asian mixed performer, playwright and multidisciplinary creator/educator. Originally from Fort William First Nation, Ontario, her arts practice is now based in Tkarón:to. In February 2020, Yolanda’s four-time Dora nominated solo show bug was remounted at Theatre Passe Muraille while the published book (Scirocco Publishing 2020) was shortlisted for a Governor General’s Literary Award. In 2022, White Girls in Moccasins, was produced at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Tkarón:to as well as at the frank theatre on Coast Salish Territory. Yolanda was the first Indigenous artist recipient of the Jayu Arts for Human Rights Award for her work and won the PGC Tom Hendry Drama Award for My Sister’s Rage. She has taught/facilitated at schools like York University and Sheridan College and proudly bases her practice in land-based creation, drawing on energy and inspiration from the earth and her ancestors.