Shannon Webb-Campbell is Canadian writer, poet and editor. She is descended from

Miꞌkmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

people from the

Qalipu First Nation The Qalipu First Nation (Pronounced: ha-lee-boo, meaning: Caribou), is a Mi’kmaq band government, created by order-in-council in 2011 pursuant to the Agreement for the Recognition of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq Band. After the band was approved as a ...

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Writing career

In December 2013 Webb-Campbell was chosen to be the 2014

Canadian Women in Literary Arts Canadian Women in Literary Arts (CWILA) was a Canadian non-profit organization that was founded in Spring 2012 and active until early 2019. CWILA was the foremost compiler of gender-related statistics on Canadian book-review culture. Beyond simply r ...

(CWILA) "critic in residence". As part of her residency, she published interviews and reviews in ''The National Post'', ''The Telegraph Journal'', ''The Coast'' and ''Plenitude Magazine.'' Her first book, ''Still No Word'', was published by

Breakwater Books Breakwater Books Ltd. is a Canadian publishing company based in Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, pr ...

in 2015. The collection of poetry explores identity, wounding and healing. The publication of the book was part of the

Egale Canada Egale Canada (formerly Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere) is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 by Les McAfee to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, across Canada. ...

Out in Print Literary Award, which Webb-Campbell had won in 2014. The award provides "financial and publishing support to an emerging queer and/or trans-spectrum, female-identified writer in Canada."

Controversy surrounding ''Who Took My Sister?''

In 2018, Webb-Campbell published her second collection of poetry titled ''Who Took my Sister?'' focusing on themes of

missing and murdered Indigenous women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is an epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in Canada, the United States, and Latin America; notably those in the FNIM (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) and Native American communities. Acros ...

. The family of Loretta Saunders, one of the women whose murder Webb-Campbell described in a poem, spoke out against the book and revealed that the poet did not seek their permission prior to publication. It emerged that Webb-Campbell had not spoken to any of the families of those who were depicted in her book. In response

Book*hug Book*hug, formerly BookThug, is a literary press in Toronto, Canada, founded in 2003, which originally concentrated on experimental poetry and currently publishes contemporary books of literary fiction, literary nonfiction, literature in translation ...

, her publisher, withdrew the book from sale and halted distribution. In addition, Book*hug donated revenue from the book to the Loretta Saunders Community Scholarship Fund. Webb-Campbell personally wrote letters of apology to each of the families and, in collaboration with

Lee Maracle Bobbi Lee Maracle (born Marguerite Aline Carter; July 2, 1950November 11, 2021) was an Indigenous Canadian writer and academic of the Stó꞉lō nation. Born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, she left formal education after grade 8 to tr ...

, reworked the book, eventually publishing it as ''I Am a Body of Land'' in 2019. The new book studies the relationship between individual and collective trauma, and bears little resemblance to the withdrawn work. Reviewing the book for ''

Arc Poetry Magazine ''Arc Poetry Magazine'' is a triannual literary magazine established in 1978, publishing poetry and prose about poetry. History ''Arc'' was started in 1978 by Carleton University professors Christopher Levenson, Michael Gnarowski and Tom Henigh ...

'', Kathy Mac describes the poet " rapplingwith the collapse of both her social life and her sense of self." She notes that there is a "deliberate awkwardness" reflecting the alienation felt by the poet. Reviewer

T. Liem Tess Liem or T. Liem is a Canadian poet from Montreal, Quebec, who published their debut poetry collection ''Obits'' in 2018. The book was named one of the year's best Canadian poetry collections by CBC Arts,Quebec Writers' Federation The Quebec Writers’ Federation (QWF) is a not-for-profit registered charitable organization representing and serving the English-language literary community in the province of Quebec, Canada. QWF is a literary arts presenter, provides professio ...

A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb-Campbell, Shannon Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Mi'kmaq people Writers from Newfoundland and Labrador First Nations women writers 21st-century First Nations writers 21st-century Canadian women writers First Nations poets Canadian women poets Canadian LGBT poets Canadian literary critics LGBT First Nations people 21st-century Canadian LGBT people