In this episode, I’m joined by award-winning Cree Métis storyteller and multidisciplinary artist Arnolda Dufour-Bowes to discuss her latest children’s book, Maggie Lou Meets Her Match.
Arnolda shares her creative strategies, the importance of family and cultural storytelling, and her approach to balancing humour and serious themes in her work. You’ll find the initial part of our conversation deeply motivating as Arnolda talks about plunging headfirst into creative endeavours.
Show highlights
- Creative strategies and fearlessness
- The Maggie Lou series
- Family dynamics and Indigenous storytelling traditions
- The balance of family love and discipline in Indigenous culture
- Bringing back Indigenous stories of joy
- Celebrating playfulness and audacity in girls
- Authenticity in writing about non-Western cultures
“We all have injustices. But what about all the good that we’re made of? Share that. That’s what people want to hear.”
Arnolda Dufour-Bowes
Maggie Lou Meets Her Match is a story about girlhood, creativity, and Indigenous family traditions. But mostly, it’s about joy, healthy competition, and the audacity to discover the world through the balance of joy and pain.
Maggie Lou Meets Her Match is out now from Groundwood Books.
Got any thoughts on this episode, or want to suggest authors you’d like to see on the show? Send me a note here.
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About Halina St James
Arnolda Dufour Bowes is an award-winning Cree-Métis storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist from Saskatchewan.
She has an art exhibit and a short film featured in three galleries this past year, has a play that is listed for production in April 2026 with the Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre, and she is a part of the Whistler Film Festival Screenwriter’s Lab 2025 with her dramatic feature Truthwalkers.
Currently, her Maggie Lou series is in the development stages of becoming an animation.
Find out more about Arnolda: www.arnoldadufourbowes.com
About Maggie Lou Meets Her Match
When Uncle Bobby gets married, Maggie Lou suddenly finds herself with a new cousin, Rosie. Rosie is the same age as Maggie. She also has a fabulous head of curls, although hers are red. And Rosie knows everything about horses and riding — something Maggie Lou has longed to do.
A rivalry sparks between the girls from the start at Uncle Bobby and Aunt Bonnie’s wedding, which features an all-you-can-eat dessert table, as well as lots of energetic dancing. On Rosie’s horse farm, Maggie experiences her share of humiliations as she learns how to ride on a pony so short that her feet can touch the ground.
Eventually, the cousins become allies and wreak some hair-raising mischief, including a secret midnight horseback ride. And in the end, they are joined by friends and family to train, hilariously, for the famous Otipîm’sowak Race — a Métis voyageur relay — carrying on a family tradition.
Guest’s links
Buy Maggie Lou Meets Her Match: House of Anansi Press
Find out more about Arnolda: www.arnoldadufourbowes.com
Host’s links
Book a one-on-one with Lola: https://wordcaps.com/coaching/
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