MEET ZOEY ROY

A poet. An emcee. An author. A self-determined iskwew with abundant love and imagination. She has earned a Bachelor's of Education from Saskatchewan Urban Native Teacher Education Program and a Masters of Public Policy from Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. She is currently studying for a PhD in Education at York University where she is primarily focused on understanding how to apply decolonial tools to withdraw Indigenous dependency on Canadian systems.

To learn more about Zoey, visit her website and see her work here!

2022 Residency

In partnership with the Saskatoon Public Library, the University of Saskatchewan Library hosted Zoey Roy as the 2022 Indigenous Storyteller in Residence. Zoey Roy facilitated 8 online writing workshops from December 2021 to February 2022. These workshops featured a variety of themes such as dreams, Idle No More, and self-reflection. Each week Zoey focused on expanding the toolkit, knowledge, performance techniques, and confidence of participants. Contributors joined Zoey in writing original poems, prose, or songs that they then performed publicly as a part of a collective for Indigenous Achievement Week. The final performance was not mandatory and all the work that was created in the sessions remains the intellectual property of the authors and are shared in the video below with their permission.

A MESSAGE FROM ZOEY

For the last 20 years, I have been embraced by the citizens of Saskatoon. For me, making
meaning and finding connections were important. It was hard to believe in myself though and
would often fall short of what I really wanted for myself. Graduating high school at 21 presented
both the challenges I needed to overcome and the opportunities I would embrace with all I had.

I cherished learning and resented school. Making the decision to go to University was hard because
I didn't want other people who had no understanding of me to tell me that I was a failure. I felt very misunderstood. Idle No More was a catalyst for me like it was for many people and nations across
Turtle Island. I wanted to use my gifts and talents for good - even if I didn't always "succeed", I
at least wanted to give it a shot. Learning that I was capable was the best lesson I've learned and
this inspires me to keep using my imagination to create. It makes my life enjoyable and it makes
me a better student. My definition of success has changed from external validation to internal gratitude.
This is a bit of my story...

I want to help people tell their stories in all their glory. I want to help affirm how capable people are
when they are freely themselves. Nobody relates to perfection. Somewhere along the way, I learned
that action precedes motivation. You have to show up to feel a part of the movement. I use my
gift of vulnerability to inspire others to show up as they are.

Join me in this year's residency to create something magical.

POETRY PERFORMANCE

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH