Najwa Zebian

Najwa Zebian (born 27 April 1990) is a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, poet, educator, and speaker based in London, Ontario.[1][2][3] Zebian rose to fame on Instagram through sharing her instapoetry[4] and gained popularity during the Me Too movement[5] along with her subsequent Tedx Talks[6] and interviews on Canadian news outlets such as CBC,[7] Entertainment Tonight[8], among others.[9][3]

Najwa Zebian
Portrait of Najwa Zebian
Born (1990-04-27) 27 April 1990
OccupationActivist, author, speaker, and educator
Notable work
Mind Platter (2016), The Nectar of Pain (2016), Sparks of Phoenix (2019)
Websitewww.najwazebian.com

Her work draws from feelings of displacement and heartbreak and addresses themes of love, friendship, honesty, and identity.[4] A revised edition of her 2016 bestselling self-published first collection, Mind Platter, came out with Andrews McMeel Publishing in 2018, followed by her second title, The Nectar of Pain.[10] Zebian's third book, Sparks of Phoenix, was published in 2019 and recounts Zebian’s journey in healing from abuse and rebuilding.[10]

Early life

Zebian was born in Lebanon and was forced to move to Canada in 2006 at the age of sixteen due to the 2006 Lebanon War. She currently lives in Ontario, Canada.[2][11][12]

Zebian completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2010, a Bachelor of Education in General Science and Biology in 2012, and a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies in 2013, all at The University of Western Ontario. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Western Ontario.[13] Zebian's first teaching assignment at UWO was to teach writing to a group of young Libyan refugees. Zebian saw her 16-year old self while teaching and found the courage to resume her writing journey.[5]

Career
#MeToo Movement Protest

Zebian self-published her first book, a compilation of reflections, in January 2016 called Mind Platter, describing it as "compilation of reflections on life as seen through the eyes of an educator, student, and human who experienced her early days in silence."[14] Upon its publication, it helped raise $2,300 where 100% of the profits for the first month was donated to the Syrian Refugee Fund in London. Zebian also distributed a percentage of the profits to summer activities ran by the city for high school students.[15] The revised and expanded version of the book was published in March 2018 with Andrews McMeel Publishing.[16] Her work slowly became recognized to the public on social media by celebrities such as Mathieu Kassovitz, Lisa Rinna, LeAnn Rimes, and Hilary Swank.[5][4]

Her second book, The Nectar of Pain, was a collection of poetry and prose self-published in October 2016.[17] Zebian wrote about feelings that emerged from a painful heartbreak.[18] A revised and expanded version of the book was published in March 2018 with Andrews McMeel Publishing.[16]

In 2017, Zebian took part in the forefront of the Me Too movement when she talked about the repercussions of coming forward with sexual harassment accusations (and a subsequent investigation) about an authority figure where she worked as a teacher.[19][20] She wrote “I was blamed for it. I was told not to talk about it. I was told that it wasn’t that bad. I was told to get over it.” and was referenced by the New York Times.[21][22] Her poem went on to be featured in news stories about the Me Too movement from The Huffington Post, BBC News, CBS News, and Glamour. [5]

Zebian faced another public incident when, as a Muslim woman, she decided to remove her hijab.[23]

In March 2019, Zebian published her third book of poetry, titled Sparks of Phoenix with Andrews McMeel Publishing in which she recounts her journey in healing from abuse, building resilience and strength.[24][18][10]

Published works
gollark: Send it to Site-117, they'll deal with it.
gollark: I can't exactly provide a time without being sure we're in the same reference frame, anyway.
gollark: [REDACTED]
gollark: I recompile myself from source using a repeatedly bootstrapped toolchain periodically.
gollark: Why not? I mean, obviously I would stop you before you finish, but still.

References
  1. Hawksley, Rupert (1 November 2018). "Najwa Zebian: writing was genuinely my only way of dealing with the world". The National. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  2. Dundas, Deborah (18 April 2019). "Najwa Zebian on how poetry helps her define home". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  3. "Ontario High School Teacher Has Celebs Hanging Onto Her Every Word". HuffPost Canada. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  4. "Is Najwa Zebian poised to be the next Rupi Kaur?". Quill and Quire. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  5. "Najwa Zebian Tackles Racism, Isolation, Sexual Harassment Through Poetry". HuffPost Canada. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  6. "Najwa Zebian". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/thursday-april-25-2019-nia-vardalos-najwa-zebian-and-more-1.5109220/how-najwa-zebian-uses-poetry-to-connect-with-herself-her-students-and-nearly-one-million-instagram-followers-1.5109238
  8. "ET Canada Connects: Najwa Zebian". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. "London Writer Joins #MeToo Campaign". London. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  10. "Poet Najwa Zebian rises again with Sparks of Phoenix". Quill and Quire. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  11. "London Writer Joins #MeToo Campaign". London. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  12. Sohani (8 November 2017). "Najwa Zebian: Author. Poet. Speaker. Teacher. Human". Goalcast. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  13. Rodriguez, Jeremiah (28 October 2017). "Ontario High School Teacher Has Celebs Hanging Onto Her Every Word". HuffPost Canada. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  14. "Mind Platter".
  15. Beitollahi, Yasamin (12 May 2016). "Millennials Paving The Way: Najwa Zebian, Author of "Mind Platter"". HuffPost. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  16. "Is Najwa Zebian poised to be the next Rupi Kaur?". Quill and Quire. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  17. "The Nectar of Pain".
  18. "Najwa Zebian: Healing through the power of words". The Gazette • Western University's Student Newspaper. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  19. "Facebook admits it made a mistake pulling post that sparked police investigation". CBC.
  20. "London principal takes legal action against poet Najwa Zebian". CBC.
  21. "Najwa Zebian: The Lebanese poet speaking up about the #MeToo movement". The National. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. Codrea-Rado, Anna (16 October 2017). "#MeToo Floods Social Media With Stories of Harassment and Assault". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  23. "Najwa Zebian On Being Instagram Famous, Removing The Hijab & Finding Her Power". Shedoesthecity. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  24. "#MeToo: How Lebanon-born poet Najwa Zebian stood up to her harasser". Emirates Woman. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
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