Deanna Barnhardt Kawatski is the author of ten books including best-selling memoir, Wilderness Mother (Lyons & Burford, New York) and Clara and Me, (Whitecap Books) a BC Book Prize nominee, plus the novel, Stalking the Wild Heart, a travel memoir called Burning Man, Slaying Dragon, the children’s book, Samira, the Singing Salmon and Big Trees Saved (Shuswap Press). In 2020 she released Magda’s Odyssey, a YA novel, and also narrated an audio book version in collaboration with CKVS, Voice of the Shuswap.
Deanna’s latest novel, My Life is in Your Hand (The many loves of Sophia, a Norwegian rebel & Shuswap pioneer) is historical fiction based on the life of her great-grandmother, Sophia, who was one of the first pioneers in the North Shuswap.
For the past thirty years Deanna has lived in the North Shuswap where her roots reach back over one hundred years. This followed thirteen years of pioneering in the northwestern BC wilderness, an experience that she shared in magazines such as Mother Earth News, Harrowsmith, and Country Journal Her life in the wilderness also inspired many of her books.
Deanna is a popular workshop presenter and has given over one hundred public readings. She is also a founding member of the Word on the Lake Writers’ Festival in Salmon Arm and is featured on the Literary Map of BC. A thirtieth anniversary edition of Wilderness Mother was released by Ronsdale Press in 2025.
Deanna was chosen to narrate an audiobook version of the updated thirtieth anniversary edition of Wilderness Mother for Audible.
To learn more visit her at: deannabkawatski.com.