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Wanda John-Kehewin writer/poet/mother
POETRY
THE BOOKS
Wanda John-Kehewin has three new books coming out in September, December 2022, and February 2023. One is the first volume of a three-part Graphic Novel series about identity and finding home (More details to come!) Her first YA novel is also coming out in December 2022 about being in care and resilient. Her third book of poetry, "Spells Wishes and the Talking Dead", is going into substantive editing in May and will be hot off the presses in the fall , just in time for pumpkin spice lattes, cool weather, warm fuzzy sweaters and warm hugs!
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Sneak peek of, "Visions of Crow" Graphic Novel coming out Spring of 2023 (Shhhhh)
Illustrator is nicole burton (Nicole signs her work all lower case, no disrespect intended)
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Seven Sacred Truths presents a powerful exploration of an Indigenous woman's healing journey. Seeing the world through "brown" eyes, poet Wanda John-Kehewin makes new meaning of the past, present, and future through a consideration of Love, Wisdom, Truth, Honesty, Respect, Humility, and Courage. By sharing her views on these Seven Sacred Truths and what they meant to her growing up, John-Kehewin instigates a therapeutic process of restoration and transformation. Her Seven Sacred Truths uncovers new meaning in the written word – meaning that can be shared with others who have lived trauma or who want insight into it. John-Kehewin strives to create a safe space and provide the opportunity to experience another perspective; she invites readers to embark on their healing journeys. She writes that the closer you are to the truth, the freer you become.
In her first idiom-shattering book of poetry, "In the Doghouse," Wanda John-Kehewin endeavors to “speak her truth,” combining elements of First Nations oral tradition with a style of dramatic narrative that originates from the earliest rules of cultural storytelling and also keeps pace with the rhythmical undulations of Canadian poets such as James Reaney and E.J. Pratt.
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In vibrant and yet wryly unsentimental tones, John-Kehewin lends her voice to many forms of suffering surrounding the enforced loss of culture, addressing alcohol addiction, familial abandonment, religious authority, sexual abuse, and the pain of mourning for loved ones. John-Kehewin does not spare herself when relating her own stories, even as she tells the stories of others that are so like her own, admonishing humanity for its lack of conscience in poems that journey from the turmoil of the Gaza Strip to rapidly dissolving ice floes …
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Wanda John-Kehewin is, as she describes herself, “a First Nations woman searching for the truth and a way to be set free from the past” – shoving aside that lingering sense of shame and stigma – taking the reader on a healing journey that reveals language to be an elusive creature indeed and one that gives new definition to what being “in the dog house” could be if we as human beings listen carefully and learn to remedy our misunderstandings.