Najwa Zebian

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

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

Her work draws from feelings of displacement and heartbreak and addresses themes of love, friendship, honesty, and identity.[2] A revised edition of her 2016 self-published first collection, Mind Platter, came out with Andrews McMeel Publishing in 2018, followed by her second title, The Nectar of Pain.[9] Zebian's third book, Sparks of Phoenix, was published in 2019 and recounts Zebian's journey in healing from abuse and rebuilding.[9]

Early life and education[edit]

Zebian was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada in 2006 at the age of sixteen due to the 2006 Lebanon War. She currently lives in Ontario, Canada.[10][11]

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 completed her Doctorate in Educational Leadership in 2022 at the University of Western Ontario.[12][13] Her dissertation, titled "Breaking Barriers: A Blended Mosaic Model of Inclusion for English Language Learners," presents an organizational improvement plan for English language learners at a secondary school in Ontario, Canada.[14] 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 in her students and found the courage to resume her writing journey.[3]

Career[edit]

#MeToo Movement Protest

Zebian self-published her first book Mind Platter in January 2016.[15] 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."[16] Upon its publication, it raised $2,300 inches (5,800 cm) the first month for donations to the Syrian Refugee Fund in London. Zebian also distributed a percentage of the profits to summer activities run by the city for high school students.[17] The revised and expanded version of the book was published in March 2018 by Andrews McMeel Publishing.[18] Her work slowly gained public recognition on social media by celebrities such as Mathieu Kassovitz, Lisa Rinna, LeAnn Rimes, and Hilary Swank.[3][2]

Her second book, The Nectar of Pain,[19] is a collection of poetry and prose self-published in October 2016.[20] Zebian wrote about feelings that emerged from a painful heartbreak.[21] A revised and expanded version of the book was published in March 2018 with Andrews McMeel Publishing.[18]

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.[22][23] 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.[24][25] 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.[3]

Zebian faced another public incident when, as a Muslim woman, she decided to remove her hijab.[26]

In March 2019, Zebian published her third book of poetry, titled Sparks of Phoenix[27] with Andrews McMeel Publishing in which she recounts her journey in healing from abuse, building resilience and strength.[28][21][9]

Published works[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  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. ^ a b c "Is Najwa Zebian poised to be the next Rupi Kaur?". Quill and Quire. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "Najwa Zebian Tackles Racism, Isolation, Sexual Harassment Through Poetry". HuffPost Canada. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Najwa Zebian". Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. ^ "How Najwa Zebian uses poetry to connect with herself, her students and nearly one million Instagram followers | CBC Radio".
  6. ^ "ET Canada Connects: Najwa Zebian". Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  7. ^ "London Writer Joins #MeToo Campaign". London. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  8. ^ "Ontario High School Teacher Has Celebs Hanging Onto Her Every Word". HuffPost Canada. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  9. ^ a b c "Poet Najwa Zebian rises again with Sparks of Phoenix". Quill and Quire. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  10. ^ Dundas, Deborah (18 April 2019). "Najwa Zebian on how poetry helps her define home". The Toronto Star. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  11. ^ "London Writer Joins #MeToo Campaign". London. 12 January 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  12. ^ Rodriguez, Jeremiah (28 October 2017). "Ontario High School Teacher Has Celebs Hanging Onto Her Every Word". HuffPost Canada. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  13. ^ Graham, Andrew (14 February 2024). "Dr. Najwa Zebian on the transformative power of authenticity". Faculty of Education. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  14. ^ Zebian, Najwa (6 August 2022). "Breaking Barriers: A Blended Mosaic Model of Inclusion for English Language Learners". The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University.
  15. ^ Zebian, Najwa (27 March 2018). Mind Platter. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4494-9551-0.
  16. ^ "Mind Platter".
  17. ^ Beitollahi, Yasamin (12 May 2016). "Millennials Paving The Way: Najwa Zebian, Author of "Mind Platter"". HuffPost. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  18. ^ a b "Is Najwa Zebian poised to be the next Rupi Kaur?". Quill and Quire. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  19. ^ Zebian, Najwa (2 October 2018). The Nectar of Pain. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4494-9988-4.
  20. ^ "The Nectar of Pain".
  21. ^ a b "Najwa Zebian: Healing through the power of words". The Gazette • Western University's Student Newspaper. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Facebook admits it made a mistake pulling post that sparked police investigation". CBC.
  23. ^ "London principal takes legal action against poet Najwa Zebian". CBC.
  24. ^ "Najwa Zebian: The Lebanese poet speaking up about the #MeToo movement". The National. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  25. ^ 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.
  26. ^ "Najwa Zebian On Being Instagram Famous, Removing The Hijab & Finding Her Power". Shedoesthecity. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  27. ^ Zebian, Najwa (5 March 2019). Sparks of Phoenix. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5248-5272-6.
  28. ^ "#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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