Have you met Kenneth, Associate Professor in the Drama Department and a 2019 Alumni Award recipient? Spend the next few minutes getting to know him a little better.
Where is your favourite place on campus?
HUB Mall — I have a lot of good memories there. When I was an undergrad they were finishing some renovations including putting those desks down the middle of it. I found those desks to be really conducive to writing for me. The noise of people walking around created a sort of neutrality that helped me focus.
Tablet or paper?
I don’t write on tablets. I have three or four notebooks in my bag at all times.
Name one thing you’ve brought to work from home.
My Thunderstick poster. It’s the first play I ever produced. It came out in 2001 in Saskatoon.
What is the one thing you can’t live without?
My computer or at least some kind of writing device. In the end you have to type things up. No one’s ever going to accept a play written in pencil, especially if you’ve seen my handwriting.
If you won airfare to anywhere in the world, where would you go?
New Zealand. I haven’t been yet, and I want to get down there and check out the Māori theatre scene. I’m jealous of my friends who have been down there and tell me how great it is.
You can invite anyone — alive or dead, real or fictional — to dinner. Who would it be?
My great-grandfather, John Blind. I never got the chance to really know him. He died when I was six, but he had a huge impact on my life. He was a hard worker and never let circumstances hold him back. Sometimes I think he would want to kick my ass while I’m sitting here staring into space and calling it work.
If you could switch jobs with someone else on campus for a week, what would you do?
Tend bar at RATT. I used to be a bartender and I liked it a lot. Plus RATT was a place I hung out a lot as an undergrad.
What does “uplifting the whole people” mean to you?
Part of the idea of a liberal arts university is that people come here to be challenged, to get their eyes opened a bit, to expand their thinking. That’s always what I’ve seen it as — you never know what’s going to be useful to you. It’s really funny how the things I’ve learned here have ended up being applied in my life. So I think it’s all about expanding your vision and your willingness to see what the rest of the world looks like.
If you could solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
Climate change. We’re dinosaurs building our own asteroid right now. We can’t solve anything else if we’re burning up, dying in deserts, or being flooded by extreme weather.
What 3 words best describe your U of A experience?
Maturing — It took me a couple of shots to get myself situated in university, and figure out what I really wanted to do. In high school things were easily prescribed, you just filled in your slots. University assumes you’re an adult, and your time is yours to manage. That little difference doesn’t seem like much, but it really bent my head. It took me a while to figure it out.
Fun — I had a lot of fun as a student here. Once I figured out what direction I wanted to go, all of my efforts became worth it, and things became fun. I enjoyed the challenges after that, and I really enjoyed that I needed to be challenged in that way.
Enlightening — I learned quite a bit! As a student my program gave me a lot of flexibility, so I went nuts and just started studying everything. I did a lot of history courses, film studies courses, polysci courses… all of which eventually led me to drama.
Kenneth T. Williams has achieved some impressive firsts: he was the U of A’s first Indigenous student to earn a master’s in playwriting and 25 years later, he’s the drama department’s first Indigenous, full-time professor. Perhaps the greatest impact is found in the Cree playwright’s works, which tackle real and sometimes uncomfortable issues experienced by Indigenous people in stories told with humour, hope and a sense of possibility. Williams is considered one of Canada’s best and most-produced Indigenous playwrights, with six published plays. In 2017, he received the Saskatchewan Arts Award for Artistic Excellence. He’s a gifted mentor and teacher, who inspires young artists in Saskatchewan and Alberta to develop their craft and become the future generation of storytellers who will make a difference.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.