Van Camp attended the En'owkin International School of Writing and
University of Victoria's Creative Writing BFA Program, and received a Master's Degree in Creative Writing at the
University of British Columbia. He teaches creative writing with an aboriginal focus at the
University of British Columbia in
Vancouver and teaches creative writing and storytelling at the
Emily Carr Institute. Van Camp works with
Musqueam First Nations youth with the Musqueaum Youth Project. Van Camp began his career as an intern on the writing staff of the television series
North of 60, produced by the
CBC. He was also a CBC script and cultural consultant for four seasons. He has published several short story collections. Most of his work is set in the community of Fort Simmer, a fictionalization of his hometown. He worked with the Healthy Aboriginal Network to create and edit graphic novels. Van Camp's writing has been influenced by the tradition of oral storytelling. He has stated: "I need oral storytelling in my life as a listener because I'm always filtering the pauses, the slang, the rockabilly of pacing, the delivery. When I listen to a master storyteller or someone just sharing a story, I'm studying how they're talking and how they're standing, and what the pitch is in their voice. I can sometimes take their techniques and put them into a story."Van Camp was the first Dogrib writer to publish a novel. At 24 he published
The Lesser Blessed, which was later adapted for film and released in 2012. One of Van Camp's short stories, "Dogrib Midnight Runners", was re-imagined as a film directed by
Zoe Leigh Hopkins called
Mohawk Midnight Runners. The film was released in 2013 through
Big Soul Productions. The story appears in Van Camp's short story collection
The Moon Letting Go (2013). In 2018, his novella
When We Play Our Drums, They Sing was published alongside
Monique Gray Smith's
Lucy & Lola in the compilation
The Journey Forward. The book was named as a shortlisted finalist for the
Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature. His short fiction collection,
Moccasin Square Gardens, was published in 2019. In June 2014 Van Camp was announced as a juror for the NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature. His finalist nominee was
Little You artist
Julie Flett. Van Camp was the 2017 Edmonton Metro Libraries writer in residence. He was also the winner of the 2013 and 2020
Georges Bugnet Award for Fiction for his short story collections
Godless but Loyal to Heaven and
Moccasin Square Gardens, respective. Van Camp was shortlisted for the
ReLit Award for Short Fiction in 2010 for
The Moon of Letting Go, in 2016 for
Night Moves, and in 2020 for
Moccasin Square Gardens. ==Personal life==