ABOUT ADDENA SUMTER-FREITAG
Addena Sumter-Freitag is from a 7th generation African-Canadian family.
She grew up in Winnipeg’s North End, and lived 12 years in Canada’s Arctic where she worked as a Community Development Worker for Status of Women NWT, and served 4 years as a Board member of Status of Women Canada. In her Social and Community Services career, Addena worked extensively with Women, Women’s Groups and with Aboriginal youth.
Addena is an actor as well as a published and award winning author.
Her first book “Stay Black & Die”, published by Commodore Books, has been included in English curriculum reading lists at UBC, Universery of Victoria, Emily Carr, Vanier College (Montreal), and also included in U.B.C Women’s Studies courses.
Her second book, “Back In The Days”, published by Wattle and Daub, was the 3rd of three books reviewed in Canadian Literature Quarterly by Atef Laouyene. The review was entitled, “Of Violence and Poetry”.
Addena writes and performs in English, although her poems have been translated to French and Korean. She is well known in the Canadian Theatre and Arts community. Writing and performing are her first loves.
Addena Sumter-Freitag / Author
Available Titles by Addena
Stay Black & Die
Stay Black & Die is a story that reveals the real deal about growing up as a little black girl in the North End of Winnipeg in the 1950's and 60's. Growing up is difficult and confusing for the sweet and observant Penny as she struggles to find the strength to survive the cruelty of her family and the outside world. A story set in Canada, yet it echoes the experience of racialized minorities throughout the world. Funny, moving, unsettling and beautiful.
Back In The Days
“Sumter-Freitag brings her stories and poetry to life by fusing the poetically suggestive with the brutally honest and the brazenly humorous with the unspeakably tragic.”
