Author of children’s and young adult books born in Igloolik (Nunavut) in 1992.
Aviaq Johnston was born on October 23rd, 1992, in Igloolik, in present-day Nunavut, to an Inuit mother from Quaqtaq (Nunavik) and a father from Québec.
After completing her high school studies in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Aviaq Johnston continued her education in Ontario, where she first graduated from the Inuit post-secondary program offered by Nunavut Sivuniksavut in Ottawa before pursuing a diploma in social work at Canadore College in North Bay. She also enrolled as an English major at the University of Ottawa, but after completing the first year of this program, she realized she would rather learn creative writing independently and put her formal studies on hold. She took a year off, during which she penned the short story that launched her writing career, “Tarnikuluk” (literally: “little soul”). In 2014, “Tarnikuluk” won first place in the Indigenous Arts and Stories competition, as well as the Governor General's History Award. This short story, still unpublished, is available on the Indigenous Arts and Stories competition website.
In 2017, Aviaq Johnston published her first novel, entitled Those Who Run in the Sky in English and Taikkua silakkut ullakpaktut in Inuktitut, with Inhabit Media, an Inuit publishing house. In 2018, a braille version of this book was published by the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA). Aviaq Johnston received numerous awards for this first novel: in 2017, she was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award in the English-language Young People's Literature – Text category, for the Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Literature, and for the Foreword INDIES Award for Young Adult Fiction. In 2018, Those Who Run in the Sky won an Indigenous Voices Award for the best work of prose in English by an emerging Indigenous writer. Also in 2017, Aviaq Johnston published What's My Superpower? with Inhabit Media; a French-Inuktitut bilingual version was published the same year. In 2019, the French version Quel est mon superpouvoir? was published by Éditions les Malins, earning Aviaq Johnston a position as finalist for the 2021 Prix des libraires du Québec in the 0-5 years category.
2019 was a prolific year for Aviaq Johnston. She published Those Who Dwell Below and the Inuktitut version, ᑕᐃᒃᑯᐊ ᓯᓚᒃᑯᑦ ᐅᓪᓚᒃᐸᒃᑐᑦ, with Inhabit Media; this Inuktitut version was reissued in 2023. Also in 2019, her short story “The Haunted Blizzard” was published in the anthology Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories. In 2020, Inhabit Media released an English and Inuktitut version of her children's book Grandfather Bowhead, Tell Me a Story. In 2023, this book was translated into Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) under the title Aataa Arfivik, oqaluttuutilaannga and published in Greenland by Milik Publishing.
Aviaq Johnston has also published several titles with Inhabit Education, a branch of Inhabit Media dedicated to the education of Nunavut youth. These include TJ's New Friend (2019), Celebrations in Nunavut (2019), TJ and the Sleepover (2020), Inuki's Birthday Party (2020), Showing You Care (2020), Sometimes I Feel Shy (2021), and Saying What You Think (2023).
In 2018, CBC Books named Aviaq Johnston among 18 Canadian authors worth following.
Though Aviaq Johnston is well-travelled, has lived in Australia and Vietnam, and now splits her time between Ottawa and Iqaluit, she still feels at home in Igloolik, where she grew up. Her literary involvement is not limited to writing: she also teaches writing workshops to Inuit youth in Nunavut, aiming to raise awareness of the importance of sharing the region’s history and culture.
Aviaq Johnston’s two siblings are also involved in promoting and broadcasting their community’s cultural work: her sister Alannah Johnston is the Executive Director of the Alianait Arts Festival, which takes place annually in Iqaluit, and her brother Anguti Johnston is an actor and director, as well as the owner and president of Qanukiaq Studios, an Inuit production company based in Iqaluit.