- Source: Wanda John-Kehewin
Wanda John-Kehewin is a Cree-Métis (Kehewin Cree Nation) author and poet.
Early life and education
John-Kehewin grew up on the Kehewin reserve in Alberta, but did not grow up speaking the Cree language. She lived with her mother, a Métis woman who struggled with alcoholism, for parts of her childhood. John-Kehewin began writing poetry at age six, as a way to express he feelings. She became aware of the lack of literature centering First Nations voices at a young age, after seeing the lack of representation in the books in her reserve's library. At age 19, John-Kehewin became pregnant. She left her reserve and traveled to Vancouver.
She attended Douglas College, where she studied criminology, and she also studied Sociology and Aboriginal Studies at Langara College. She earned her Master of Fine Arts at University of British Columbia. In 2011 she completed The Writer's Studio, a creative writing program at Simon Fraser University.
Career
John-Kehewin has worked for the Canadian Ministry of Children and Families.
John-Kehewin released her first graphic novel, Visions of the Crow, in 2023, with illustrations by Nicole Marie Burton. The story features a Cree-Métis teenager who tries to figure out his relationship to a crow and a new girl at his school, while also dealing with his mother's alcoholism and life away from his Alberta reserve. It is the first in a planned trilogy.
Her first young adult novel, Hopeless in Hope, was published by Highwater Press in September 2023 and was included among the 41 titles selected for the 2024 USBBY Outstanding International Books List.
Personal life
John-Kehewin currently lives in Vancouver. She has five children.
Books
= Poetry
=In the Dog House (2013), Talonbooks
Seven Sacred Truths (2018), Talonbooks
Spells, Wishes, and the Talking Dead ᒪᒪᐦᑖᐃᐧᓯᐃᐧᐣ ᐸᑯᓭᔨᒧᐤ ᓂᑭᐦᒋ ᐋᓂᐢᑯᑖᐹᐣ mamahtâwisiwin, pakosêyimow, nikihci-âniskotâpân (2023)
Nominated: League of Canadian Poets 2023 Raymond Souster Award
= Graphic novels
=Visions of the Crow: Volume 1 Dreams (2023)
= Novels
=Hopeless in Hope (2023)
Shortlist: 2023 B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize for the best non-illustrated book written for children, awarded by the West Coast Book Society
Shortlist: 2024 Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Awards; Middle Reader category
2024 USBBY Outstanding International Books List
Nominated: 2025 Northern Lights Award, Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards
Awards
World Poetry Empowered Poet Award 2018, for In the Dog House
Finalist for the Indigenous Voices Awards 2019, Published Poetry in English, for Seven Sacred Truths