Welcome to Well Read: our new bookish Q&A series in which we probe the minds of our favourite local-ish and visiting literary people.

Helen Knott’s latest book will hurt. Becoming a Matriarch is full of pain, beautifully rendered: after losing her mother and grandmother in the span of six months, Knott explores a path to becoming the matriarch that those two important women spent years teaching her how to be. It’s tender, and touching, and vulnerable, and thought-provoking—so it’s no wonder it was chosen as one of Indigo’s Best Books of the Year.

Here, Knott describes herself in her own words (including a random but impressive leg wrestling title), and shares what she’s reading right now.

Tell us about yourself. 

I am a woman of Dane Zaa, Cree, Metis, and mixed Euro descent. I currently live in my home territories located in the northeastern corner of what is now known as British Columbia. In the summer of 1999, I became the West Moberly First Nation’s leg wrestling champion for my age group. It is a championship title that has been almost completely inconsequential to my trajectory. However, I was proud about it then, as I was 11 years old and had grown up watching a lot of WWF with my brothers on my grandma’s television set. Currently, I am a mediocre bannock maker, a skilled berry picker, a nonsensically committed writer, and an average beadwork artist.

What’s something you want everyone to know about you?

Everything that I want people to know about me right now is in my memoir, Becoming a Matriarch, that has been selected to be in Indigo’s Best Books of the Year. Outside of that, I try to reserve a little mystery for myself. 

What are you currently reading?

I am currently reading Half-Bads in White Regalia written by Cody Caetano. 

Who is your favourite local author?

I recently met Angela Sterritt, and I hold so much respect and love for her work and who she is.

Controversial: Are you someone who has to finish every book you start, or can you abandon ones that aren’t working for you?

I was once on a nonfiction literary jury and this ruined my ability to finish reading books for several years. I made peace with the fact that I have many half-read novels on my shelves. However, I have finished the last three books I started reading and have fallen back in love with writing all over again—like I did as a kid.