| Birth Place: | L’sɨtkuk (Bear River First Nation) |
| shalan joudry | |
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shalan joudry is an award-winning Mi'kmaw writer, oral storyteller, podcast producer, theatre/film director, drummer/singer, and ecologist. Using her theatrical background, shalan brings Mi’kmaw stories to a new generation of listeners, as well as recounting personally crafted narratives.
joudry's first book, a collection of poems titled, Generations Re-merging, was published by Gaspereau Press in 2014.[1] Her poetry had previously appeared in "The Nashwaak Review" and "Mi'kmaq Anthology II".[2] In August 2018, joudry's play Elapultiek premiered with Two Planks and a Passion Theatre in Kings County, Nova Scotia at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts. Joudry played Nat opposite Matthew Lumley's Bill. The production subsequently toured four Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia.[3] A second tour was carried out in the fall of 2019.[4]
joudry managed programs for species at risk and ecology for more than ten years.[5] joudry's artistic work often weaves in ecological and Indigenous teachings.
Her second published poetry collection, Waking Ground, was released in 2020 also by Gaspereau Press.[6] In 2021, it was selected by the Writers' Trust of Canada as one of 25 books for the WT Amplified Voices program, which aims to amplify BIPOC voices in Canadian writing and promote works of BIPOC writers created during the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] Waking Ground was shortlisted for numerous poetry awards in 2021.
Also in 2021, joudry's play KOQM, premiered at the King's Theatre in Annapolis Royal, starring joudry as all six characters.[8] KOQM tells the 400-year story of Nova Scotia through the lives of L'nu (Mi'kmaw) women. It was subsequently staged by Neptune Theatre in Halifax and Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsborro as well as the Highland Arts Theatre in Cape Breton.[9] [10] KOQM was nominated for Best Production and won Best New Nova Scotian Play at the 2023 Robert Merritt Awards.[11] In the summer of 2024 shalan toured an off-grid version of KOQM in Newfoundland as well as performing a run at Two Planks and a Passion Theatre in Ross Creek Centre for the Arts.
joudry was named the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21's artist-in-residence in Halifax for 2023 .[12] As Artist in Residence, shalan recently previewed a multi-disciplinary piece based on Kmitknu, in partnership with Mocean Dance and Sarah Prosper. Early next year the poem version of Kmitknu will be published in a limited run by art house publisher Running the Goat Books and Broadsides.
shalan is currently adapting a new piece of dance theatre, Winter Moons, that will premiere at Neptune Theatre in Halifax November 12-24, 2024. Working with Mi’kmaw choreographer Sarah Prosper under the guidance of cultural grandmothers, shalan keeps her stories grounded within her culture. In this regard she and her fellow artists first shared a workshop performance of Winter Moons around an artificial fire in a yurt in shalan's home community of L'sitkuk in December 2023.
Her first short documentary, Welima'q, is having it's world Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), it's Atlantic Canada Premiere at the Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF), and it's Newfoundland Premiere at the St Johns International Women's Film Festival (SJIWFF) and also being shown at the Lunenburg Doc Festival. Welima'q, is a poetic doc witnessing a sweetgrass landscape on the shores of Mi'kma'ki. Between the salt water and forest line, a family weaves themselves within these grasses. The picking of sweetgrass becomes an action — and word — with profound meaning in this gently mesmerizing piece.
| 2021 | Atlantic Book Awards | Maxine Tynes Poetry Award | Waking Ground | |||
| J.M. Abraham Poetry Award | ||||||
| Indigenous Voices Awards | Published Poetry in English | [15] | ||||
| League of Canadian Poets Awards | Pat Lowther Memorial Award | [16] | ||||
| 2023 | Robert Merrit Awards | Best New Nova Scotian Play | Koqm |
joudry is from L’sɨtkuk (Bear River First Nation). She has two children and lives in Kespukwitk (southwest Nova Scotia) with her partner Frank Meuse.