Jesse Wente, Tough Lies Book Event
Part of the 3rd Annual Art of Visiting: National Indigenous Presenters Gathering
Monday, October 5, 2026 | 2:30–4:30 p.m.
Hotel Wolfe Island Café
As part of the 3rd Annual Art of Visiting: National Indigenous Presenters Gathering, join award-winning writer, broadcaster, and thinker Jesse Wente for a conversation exploring healing, reconciliation, and the questions at the heart of his new memoir, Tough Lies.
How do we heal from colonialism? What does healing from colonialism look like for First Nations, and for non-Indigenous people? What barriers stand in the way of that healing, and what can we do to move beyond them?
About the Book
In Tough Lies, Jesse Wente returns to the introspective and candid style of his bestselling first book, Unreconciled: Family, Truth and Indigenous Resistance. Drawing from his own experiences, Wente explores healing and anti-colonial thought while reflecting on the complexities of reconciliation in Canada.
The memoir examines the deeply personal experiences that have shaped Jesse’s understanding of healing, including racism, grief, family and community, the pressure to succeed, and his encounters with false claims to Indigenous identity. Along the way, he considers what his own healing journey can teach us about the present and future of reconciliation between Nations.
With the honesty, humour, humility, and directness that have become hallmarks of his work, Jesse brings a deeply personal perspective to some of the challenging conversations surrounding reconciliation today. Tough Lies also offers unexpected moments of reflection, including Jesse’s rediscovery of golf and the role it has come to play in his life.
This conversation offers an opportunity to hear directly from one of Canada’s foremost Indigenous thinkers about the personal and collective work of healing, and the possibilities that emerge when we are willing to confront difficult truths.
About Jesse
Jesse Wente is an Anishinaabe writer, broadcaster, speaker, and cultural leader. Born and raised in Toronto, his family comes from Chicago and Genaabaajing Anishinaabek, and he is an off-reserve member of Serpent River First Nation.
Jesse spent more than two decades as a columnist for CBC Radio’s Metro Morning and a decade with the Toronto International Film Festival as a curator, including leading film programming at TIFF Bell Lightbox. In 2018, he became the founding director of the Indigenous Screen Office, and in 2020 he was appointed Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts.
His first book, Unreconciled: Family, Truth and Indigenous Resistance, was a national bestseller and was named one of the best books of 2021 by Indigo, Apple Books, and The Globe and Mail. Jesse received the Arbor Award from the University of Toronto in 2021 and is a Senior Fellow of Massey College.
Jesse is also a husband and father, and continues to bring his experiences as a writer, community member, and cultural leader to conversations about Indigenous rights, reconciliation, and the work of healing.
Claiming Your Tickets
This event is open to the public, and tickets are limited. Those who have already registered for the Art of Visiting: National Indigenous Presenters Gathering are encouraged to claim their tickets ahead of time.
Indigenous: Free
Treaty Partner/Non-Indigenous: $11.30 (including HST)
This event is part of Art of Visiting, LodgePole Arts Alliance’s annual National Indigenous Presenters Gathering, bringing Indigenous and Treaty Partner arts presenters, artists, and cultural workers together through connection, conversation, and shared experiences.