Stephen Jenkinson has taught internationally and is the creator of the Orphan Wisdom School, co-founded with his wife Nathalie Roy in 2010. The School convened semi-annually in Ontario, and in the Gulf Islands, Canada and in Wales and Iceland.
He has Master’s degrees from Harvard University (Theology) and the University of Toronto (Social Work).
Apprenticed to a master storyteller when a young man, he worked extensively with dying people and their families, is former programme director in a major Canadian hospital, and former assistant professor in a prominent Canadian medical school.
He is also a sculptor and traditional canoe builder whose house won a Governor General’s Award for architecture.
Since co-founding the Nights of Grief and Mystery with singer/ songwriter Gregory Hoskins in 2015, he has toured this musical/ tent show revival/ storytelling/ ceremony of a show across North America, U.K. and Europe, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. They released their Nights of Grief & Mystery album in 2017, and at the end of 2020 released two new records: Dark Roads (live) and Rough Gods (studio). In 2026 they released Caldera, a studio double record, as an LP (including a vinyl limited edition) and CD.
He is the author of Trembling, Still: The Awful Clarity of a Mind in Eclipse (2026), Matrimony: Ritual, Culture and the Heart’s Work (2025), Reckoning (with Kimberly Ann Johnson, 2022), A Generation’s Worth: Spirit Work While the Crisis Reigns (2021), Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble (2018), the award-winning Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (2015), Homecoming: The Haiku Sessions (a live teaching from 2013), How it All Could Be: A workbook for dying people and those who love them (2009), Angel and Executioner: Grief and the Love of Life (a live teaching from 2009), and Money and The Soul’s Desires: A Meditation (2002). He is a contributing author to Palliative Care: Core Skills and Clinical Competencies (2007).
Stephen Jenkinson is also the subject of the feature length documentary film Griefwalker (2008, dir. Tim Wilson), a portrait of his work with dying people. Lost Nation Road (2019, dir. Ian Mackenzie), is a shorter documentary on the crafting of the Nights of Grief and Mystery tours, and Murmurings of the Land (2025, dir. Mattias Olsson) is a feature-length portrait of Stephen’s land-based life.
Photo by Heather Pollock
