Najwa Zebian

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Najwa Zebian
Born (1990-04-27) 27 April 1990 (age 34)
Bekaa, Lebanon
Citizenship
  • Canadian
  • Lebanese
Occupation(s)Activist, author, speaker, and educator
Notable workMind Platter (2016)
The Nectar of Pain (2016)
Sparks of Phoenix (2019)
Website www.najwazebian.com

Najwa Zebian (born April 27, 1990), is a Lebanese-Canadian activist, author, poet, educator, and speaker.

Contents

Early life and education

Zebian was born in Bekaa, Lebanon, and moved to Ontario, Canada at sixteen during the 2006 Lebanon War. [1] [2] [3] She attended the University of Western Ontario, earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2010 and a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies in 2013. Then, she continued her studies and earned a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership in 2022. [4] Now she resides in London [ when? ], Ontario. [5]

Career

#MeToo Movement Protest -ME TOO and her too and them too and him too (39853767673).jpg
#MeToo Movement Protest

Zebian self-published her first book, Mind Platter, in January 2016. [6] She described it as a "compilation of reflections on life as seen through the eyes of an educator, student, and human who experienced her early days in silence." [7] In its first month, Mind Platter earned $2,300, which Zebian donated to the Syrian Refugee Fund in London. She also allocated a percentage of her profits to finance summer activities for city high school students. [8] In March 2018, a revised and expanded version of Mind Platter was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. [9]

Her second book, The Nectar of Pain, [10] combined poetry and prose, focusing on the feelings elicited by a painful breakup; it was self-published in October 2016. [11] [12] A revised and expanded edition was released in March 2018 by Andrews McMeel Publishing. [9]

In 2017, Zebian lent her voice to the #MeToo movement when she opened up about being a victim of sexual harassment by an authority figure with whom she worked as a teacher. [13] [14] She wrote of her abuse: "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." An excerpt of her comments was referenced by the New York Times, [15] [16] and one of her poems was featured in news stories about the #MeToo movement.

In March 2019, Zebian's third book, Sparks of Phoenix, [17] was published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. The collection focused on her healing from abuse and progress toward resilience and strength. [18] [11] [19]

Published works

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dundas, Deborah (18 April 2019). "Najwa Zebian on how poetry helps her define home". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  2. ↑ "London Writer Joins #MeToo Campaign". London. 12 January 2018. Archived from the original on 20 January 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "A Day in the Life with Canadian author Najwa Zebian". Toronto Guardian. June 2019. Retrieved 26 January 2025.
  4. ↑ Graham, Andrew (14 February 2024). "Dr. Najwa Zebian on the transformative power of authenticity". Faculty of Education. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ↑ Hawksley, Rupert (1 November 2018). "Najwa Zebian: writing was genuinely my only way of dealing with the world". The National. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  6. ↑ Zebian, Najwa (27 March 2018). Mind Platter. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4494-9551-0.
  7. ↑ "Mind Platter".
  8. ↑ Beitollahi, Yasamin (12 May 2016). "Millennials Paving The Way: Najwa Zebian, Author of "Mind Platter"". HuffPost. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Is Najwa Zebian poised to be the next Rupi Kaur?". Quill and Quire. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. ↑ Zebian, Najwa (2 October 2018). The Nectar of Pain. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4494-9988-4.
  11. 1 2 "Najwa Zebian: Healing through the power of words". The Gazette • Western University's Student Newspaper. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "The Nectar of Pain".
  13. ↑ "Facebook admits it made a mistake pulling post that sparked police investigation". CBC.
  14. ↑ "London principal takes legal action against poet Najwa Zebian". CBC.
  15. ↑ "Najwa Zebian: The Lebanese poet speaking up about the #MeToo movement". The National. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Zebian, Najwa (5 March 2019). Sparks of Phoenix. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN   978-1-5248-5272-6.
  18. ↑ "#MeToo: How Lebanon-born poet Najwa Zebian stood up to her harasser". Emirates Woman. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  19. ↑ "Poet Najwa Zebian rises again with Sparks of Phoenix". Quill and Quire. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
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