Suzanne Steele

Background and Education

Suzanne Steele was born in Manitoba and is Red River Métis. She grew up in a home damaged by alcoholism, and she suffered depression. However, she avoided drugs and alcohol, calling them “empty calories of the spirit.” When in high school, she pursued her love of music and writing.

Steele earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music at the University of British Columbia. She went on to complete a master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Western Ontario (now Western University). In 2017, she earned a PhD in English Literature from the United Kingdom’s University of Exeter.

Steele’s partner is musician Jeff Hilberry, and they have a daughter, Ella.

War Poet

In October 2001, Canada joined the American-led alliance in the 12-year Afghanistan War. In 2005, Suzanne Steele was writing a poem about a young soldier who had died in the war. She contacted the Department of National Defence (DND) about the colour of dust in Afghanistan. A few months later, the DND asked her to join its Artists Program (see also Canadian War Art Programs). From 2008 to 2010, she served as an Official Canadian War Artist, the DND’s first war poet and the first Indigenous Official Canadian War Artist to go to a war zone.

For 18 months, Steele spoke with the soldiers of Edmonton’s 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry as they trained. She visited Afghanistan in November 2009. She lived with soldiers inside the relative safety of their encampment and accompanied them on missions.

Steele created a website on which she posted her diary and poetry. The poems were hard-hitting, bleak and directly addressed soldiers’ experiences, fears and courage.

Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation

Suzanne Steele and composer Jeffrey Ryan were commissioned to create a symphonic/choral work about the war. Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation premiered in Calgary on 10 November 2012.

The Requiem’s nine movements involve an orchestra, soloists, and adult and children’s choruses. Steele’s lyrics — the libretto — were sung in English, French and the Afghan language of Pashto. Like her poems, Steele’s libretto related the horrors of war and the bravery and sacrifices of both those fighting it and their families back home. Steele said her work speaks “to each of us, to our country, and to a generation that will be paying for this war emotionally or financially…for another generation.”

Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation was later broadcast across Canada, recorded and, in 2017, performed by the Vancouver and Toronto symphonies.

Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North

In 2017, Suzanne Steele won a Canada Council 150 New Chapter Award, which commissioned her to write an opera about Métis leader Louis Riel. She worked with composer Neil Weisensel and Métis fiddler Alex Kusturok.

Li Keur: Riel’s Heart of the North premiered with the Manitoba Opera in Winnipeg on 18 November 2023. The play was performed in five different languages, including French Michif, Southern Michif, Anishinaabemowin, English and French. A reviewer wrote that it is “a love letter to the Métis nation, as well as a joyous celebration of its women and culture.”

The Red River Jig Network

Suzanne Steele and Red River Métis poet Dr. Michelle Porter accepted the University of Lethbridge’s invitation to undertake a multi-year project to explore the cultural importance of the Red River Jig, considered the unofficial anthem of the Métis people. The project explores the role that music and dance play in reflecting and protecting Métis culture, identity and spirituality. It examines the Métis diaspora and the involvement of First Nations in Métis cultural traditions.

The project includes concerts and the presentation of art that includes beadwork, poetry, essays, short stories and podcasts.

Other Projects

Suzanne Steele is a research fellow at the University of Lethbridge and at the University of Exeter. She is a popular speaker and teacher addressing war poetry, Métis culture and history, and creative writing. With Neil Weisensel, she is creating a database to help in the translation of Indigenous languages. Steele is also the co-director of Hidden in a Plain Site: The Indigenous Soldier at the Western Front, which is bringing attention to the contributions of Indigenous soldiers in the First World War (see Indigenous Peoples and the First World War). From 2012 to 2015, she contributed to 1914FACES2014, the University of Exeter’s examination of facially injured First World War soldiers and what their recovery teaches us about our understanding of the face in culture and history.