Skip to Content

Poetry Reading: Douglas Walbourne-Gough, Michelle Sylliboy, shalan joudry

POETRY READING WITH DOUGLAS WALBOURNE-GOUGH, MICHELLE SYLLIBOY, & SHALAN JOUDRY
Art as a Tool for Change Symposium
March 5, 2 PM

Online Event

This poetry reading will highlight the work of three Atlantic Canadian Indigenous poets whose work explores their relationship to place and the land.

 

 


Michelle Sylliboy- Award winning author and award winning Interdisciplinary artist Michelle Sylliboy (Mi’kmaq/L’nu) was born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised on her traditional L’nuk territory in We’koqmaq, Cape Breton. While living on the traditional, unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, Sylliboy completed a BFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and a Masters in Education from Simon Fraser University. She is currently a PhD candidate in Simon Fraser University’s Philosophy of Education program, where she is working to reclaim her original written komqwej’wikasikl language. Her collection of photography and L’nuk hieroglyphic poetry, Kiskajeyi—I Am Ready, was published by Rebel Mountain Press in 2019 now available as an ebook. She was recently appointed at St FX University as new tenure track faculty in Education, Modern Language and Fine Arts departments.

 

 

Douglas Walbourne-Gough is a member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation from Corner Brook, Newfoundland. His poetry and reviews have appeared in journals and magazines across Canada and he has worked, in editorial capacities, with both The Fiddlehead and Riddle Fence. His first collection, Crow Gulch, was named winner of the 2021 EJ Pratt Poetry Award, was shortlisted for the 2020 Raymond Souster Award, the 2019 Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry, and the 2021 NL Reads award. It was also nominated for the 2020/21 First Nation Communities READ Award. He is currently a PhD candidate in English/Creative Writing (UNB Fredericton).

 

 

 

shalan joudry is a Mi’kmaw mother, poet, playwright, oral storyteller and ecologist. Using her theatrical background, shalan brings Mi’kmaw stories to a new generation of listeners, as well as recounting personally crafted narratives that follow Mi’kmaw storying custom. The author of three books, her most recent book, Waking Ground (2020) was shortlisted for the J.M. Abrahms Atlantic Poetry Award, the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award, the 2021 Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the 2021 Indigenous Voices Award for Poetry in English. shalan recently wrote and performed her second theatrical play, Koqm. After a successful two-night performance of this solo show, shalan and the production team are looking forward to the upcoming two-week run on the Neptune main stage in Halifax (2022). shalan lives in her home territory of Kespukwitk (southwest Nova Scotia) with her family in their community of L’sitkuk (Bear River First Nation), NS.


Art as a Tool for Change is supported in part by the Canadian Artist Presentation Fund.
Ce projet est financé  par le gouvernement du Canada