Jessie Conrad was staying in Fort Smith for the 50th anniversary of the Paulette Caveat in Fort Fitzgerald when she visited the nearby snake pits for the first time.
“I always wanted to see the snake pits. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get too close because there were various sinkholes there, and I didn’t realize that,” she said.
“There was one point where I could have lost my footing and fallen in. It was just a really destabilizing experience there, and I couldn’t stop thinking about sinkholes after that.”
That fascination helped fuel Conrad’s short story, titled The Sinkhole, which is set to be published in an upcoming issue of The Malahat Review.
“It’s a contemporary fiction story. It covers climate change adaptation, repaired family bonds and references traditional stories and mythos from the North and the Middle East,” said Conrad, who is Dënesųłiné and a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
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Another influence on The Sinkhole, Conrad said, was the novel Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko, which centres on an Indigenous veteran who has returned from World War Two.
Conrad noted Silko was a significant figure in what has been dubbed the first wave of the Native American Renaissance, a period of increased production of and public interest in literature from Indigenous writers that began in the 1960s.
Conrad said she was also inspired by her family, particularly her brother, who is a master corporal in the Canadian military.
“One of the main characters in The Sinkhole is a vet from the war in Afghanistan. I wanted to write something that my brother would be interested in reading,” she said.
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Unfiltered, authentic lived experiences
Conrad said she hopes readers of The Sinkhole will appreciate the life lessons that the characters learn, and come away with an interest and respect for contemporary fiction based on “the unfiltered, authentic lived experiences of Indigenous people.”
“I guess I like fiction so much because it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted,” she said. “We weren’t always able to do it, right? Meaning that a lot of Indigenous voices were silenced.”
Conrad said she has been writing since she was a child and this will be her first time being published in The Malahat Review, which is a leading literary journal in Canada.
The winter 2025 edition of the journal will be a special issue dedicated to contemporary Indigenous storytelling, with guest editor Richard Van Camp. It will also feature a short story from NWT-based Tłı̨chǫ writer Mason Mantla.
Conrad said it’s a privilege and honour to be included in the journal, which has previously published the work of Emily Riddle and Joshua Whitehead. She said they have both “beautifully detailed the urban Indigenous experience and our connection, disconnection, reconnection to the land and our culture.”
Write what you know, would like to know
As for advice to other writers, Conrad said “write what you know,” whether that’s tanning hides or being raised by your grandparents on the land, or “write about the things that you would like to know.”
“I find that the most powerful writing, it comes from your truth,” she said.
Conrad added that writers should talk to people who are experts on the subjects they are interested in and compensate them for their time, especially if they are Elders and knowledge keepers.
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She also advised people to not be afraid to fail, request specific constructive feedback, and use resources like Northern Quill Publishing.
The Malahat Review can be purchased online or at several book stores in southern Canada and the Yukon.
Clarification: August 28, 2025 – 15:33 MT. This story initially stated that Jessie Conrad was in Fort Smith for the 50th anniversary of the Paulette Caveat. It has been updated to clarify that she was staying in Fort Smith while the anniversary took place in Fort Fitzgerald.
