Author Kristy Jackson’s 2025 Athabasca Book Tour 

April 8, 2026 in News People
Explorer: Spring 2026

In late 2025, Kristy Jackson, Athabasca Basin Development’s director of marketing and communications, packed up a stack of books and headed north to visit students across the Athabasca region. Her goal was to share stories, encourage reading, and remind young people that their own ideas and experiences can become stories too. 

Kristy visited schools in Fond du Lac, Hatchet Lake, Black Lake, Wollaston Lake, Stony Rapids and Uranium City – six of the seven northern Saskatchewan communities that own Athabasca Basin Development (Camsell Portage is the seventh). At each stop, classrooms were filled with curious students eager to ask questions, share laughs, and talk about books. 

It was Kristy’s second visit to Uranium City and Stony Rapids as a published author. She visited those communities to launch her first book in 2024. But Kristy is no stranger to the north. She’s worked for Athabasca Basin Development for 14 years and visits the communities regularly. A member of Whitefish Lake First Nation #128, Kristy shared how she became a writer, where her story ideas come from, and why reading can open up new possibilities. “I’ve always believed books can take you places,” Kristy told students. “Sometimes they show you a world you didn’t know about, and sometimes they help you see your own world in a new way.” 

Kristy introduced students to her two middle-grade novels, Mortified and Touching Grass. “Touching Grass was inspired by my time in Athabasca communities,” says Kristy. “I wanted the students there to have a book where they could see themselves and their own language and culture. Participating in a culture camp at Black Lake, visiting the cultural centre at Fond du Lac, touring the land around Uranium City, and working closely with Rosalie Tsannie-Burseth and Ronelda Robillard from Hatchet Lake all contributed to the story.” Touching Grass tells the story of Tristen, a serious gamer who would rather stay indoors. Released in September 2025, the book has already been shortlisted for awards, bringing a whole new generation of readers more awareness of life in the north. 

Throughout her presentations, Kristy encouraged students to try writing their own stories. “Your stories are beautiful, amazing and important,” she says to the students. “I hope one of you is standing up here talking about your books someday.” 

Supporting literacy and education throughout the region is one of the many ways Athabasca Basin Development continues to invest in the strength and future of its northern communities. Other literacy events include author David A Robertson, author-illustrator Miriam Korner, literacy camps, sponsoring Foundations Learning to do activities in the region, and book fairs. 

“We are always looking for ways to give back to our shareholder communities,” says Jackson. “We’ve sponsored many events and speakers in the past, like Rebecca Strong last year, or coaches for fastball, or even Persephone Theatre. It was a strange experience for me to be on the other side of the stage, but I really enjoyed a chance to encourage other Indigenous writers out there to write their stories.”