Editing Ian Ross (playwright)

{{Short description|Canadian playwright}}
{{Other people|Ian Ross}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name          = Ian Ross
| image         = 
| imagesize     = 
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| pseudonym     =
| birth_name     = 
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1968|4|8}}
| birth_place    = [[McCreary, Manitoba]], Canada
| death_date     =
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| occupation    = [[Playwright]], [[Novelist]]
| language      = [[English language|English]]
| citizenship   =
| education     = [[Bachelor of Arts]] in Film & Theatre
| alma_mater    =
| period        =
| genre         = [[Comedy]], [[Drama]]
| subject       =
| movement      =
| notableworks  = fareWel, Joe from Winnipeg
| spouse        =
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| awards        = 1997 [[Governor General's Award]] for English Drama
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'''Ian Ross''' (born April 8, 1968 in [[McCreary, Manitoba]], Canada), the son of Grace and Raymond Ross, is a [[Métis]] / [[Ojibwe]] playwright.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/ian-ross |title=Ian Ross |publisher=[[Canada Council|National Arts Council]] |access-date=January 12, 2025}}</ref>

== Life ==
Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in film and a minor in theatre from the [[University of Manitoba]] in 1992. He spent the first five years of his life in the Métis community of [[Kinosota|Kinosota, Manitoba]] before moving to [[Winnipeg]], which he currently now calls his home.<ref>New, W.H. "Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada." Toronto University Press, 2002. Pp 987. Print</ref> Ross has written for theatre, film, television and radio, and has been writing plays for a number of years but is perhaps best known as the creator of ''Farewel. FareWel'' is Ross’ first professional production, which later won him the 1997 [[Governor General's Awards|Governor General's Award]] for English Drama, making Ross the first Métis to win the award.<ref>New, W.H. "Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada." Toronto University Press, 2002. Pp 987. Print</ref>

Ross is also the author of a number of plays which include: ''The Gap, Heart of a Distant Tribe, Bic Off!, Bereav'd of Light, An Illustrated History of the [[Anishinabe]],'' and a children's play called, ''Baloney!''  Ross' plays have been produced by the [[Manitoba Theatre for Young People]], [[Black Hole Theatre Company]], and the [[Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival]]. Ross has written many segments for [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]], but is well known for his humorous segment on the radio as "Joe from Winnipeg".<ref>Morley Walker. Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Man.: Nov 19, 2009. pg. D.4</ref> After "Joe from Winnipeg" aired, episodes were later published in two books, ''The Book of Joe'' and ''Joe from Winnipeg''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/archives/collections/complete_holdings/ead/html/ross.shtml |title=Ian Ross: An Inventory of his papers at the University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections|access-date=2010-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320053908/http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/archives/collections/complete_holdings/ead/html/ross.shtml |archive-date=2012-03-20 }}</ref>
 
''FareWel,'' is fictional comedy about a group of [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] that are forced to take control of their own lives, when their chief leaves to gamble in Las Vegas.<ref>New, W.H. "Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada." Toronto University Press, 2002. Pp 987. Print</ref> As the Reserve is declaring self-government and the people are no longer receiving their welfare cheques, a new chief is elected by manipulation.<ref>Canadian Literature #168 (Spring 2001) Mostly Drama. Pp 126-128. Print</ref> The text was published by Scirocco 1997, and the play premiered at [[Prairie Theatre Exchange]] (PTE) in 1996, and was remounted at PTE in 1998. ''FareWel'' was later invited to the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] in 2001.<ref>Canadian Literature #168 (Spring 2001) Mostly Drama. Pp 126-128. Print</ref>

''The Gap'' is a play that portrays a love relationship between an [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous]] man and a French woman set against the backdrop of a flood and premiered at Prairie Theatre Exchange in 2001.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.canadiantheatre.com/dict.pl?term=Ross%2C%20Ian|title=Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia}}</ref>

''An Illustrated History of the Anishinabe'', is a three-person play that started in Winnipeg for only eight days of school performances. The play uses a healthy amount of [[comedy]] to tell the story of First Nations history on the [[Prairies]]. [[Anishinabe]] is a word the prairie [[Ojibwa]] people used to describe themselves.<ref>Morley Walker. Winnipeg Free Press. Winnipeg, Man.: Nov 19, 2009. pg. D.4</ref>

==Plays==
*''Don't Eat Any Red Snow''
*''CDED''
*Canadian Steel
*''King of Saturday Night''
*''Zombies''
*''Residue of Pain''
*''fareWel''
**''Asamikawin-- ("fareWel" in Cree translation)''
*''Heart of a Distant Tribe''
*''The Gap''
**''Towaw -- ("The Gap" in Cree translation)''
*''Bereav’d of Light''
*''Bic Off!''
*''An Illustrated History of the Anishinabe''
*''Baloney!''
*''Fabric of the Sky''
*''Doubtful House''

==Awards==
*Winner, [[James Buller Award]], 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/r_profiles/ross_i.html |title=Welcome to the Ian Ross Profile |access-date=2010-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008064839/http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/r_profiles/ross_i.html |archive-date=2006-10-08 }}</ref>
*Winner, ''fareWel'', [[Governor General's Awards|Governor General's Award]] for Drama, 1997.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/r_profiles/ross_i.html |title=Welcome to the Ian Ross Profile |access-date=2010-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008064839/http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/r_profiles/ross_i.html |archive-date=2006-10-08 }}</ref>
*Winner, [[John Hirsch Award]] for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, 1996.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/r_profiles/ross_i.html |title=Welcome to the Ian Ross Profile |access-date=2010-11-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008064839/http://www.mbwriter.mb.ca/mapindex/r_profiles/ross_i.html |archive-date=2006-10-08 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Governor General's English drama|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Ian}}
[[Category:1968 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Métis writers]]
[[Category:Ojibwe male writers]]
[[Category:Governor General's Award–winning dramatists]]
[[Category:Canadian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian male writers]]


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