Nicola I. Campbell
Children's book author Nicola Campbell is Interior Salish of Nle7kepmx (Thompson) and Nsilx (Okanagan) ancestry on her mother's side and Métis from Saskatchewan on her father's side. Although she currently lives in North Vancouver, British Columbia, her home community is BC's Nicola Valley.
Her second free-verse children's picture book and the sequel to Shi-shi-etko titled, Shin-chi’s Canoe was released fall 2008 by Groundwood Books. Shin-chi’s Canoe was a finalist for a 2008 Governor Generals award for illustration. Kim LaFave is the illustrator of both books.
Her first free-verse children’s book titled, Shi-shi-etko, was published in September 2005 by Groundwood Books – House of Anansi Press. Shi-shi-etko was a finalist for the 2006 Ruth Schwartz Children’s Book Award, the 2006 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the 2006 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and was the co-winner of the 2006 Aboriginal Children’s Book of the Year Award.
Nicola has a BFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and will be returning to UBC in September 2009 to complete her MFA in Creative Writing. She writes adult and children’s short fiction, poetry, screen plays and is working on her first novella. She lives a drug and alcohol free, active lifestyle and loves the outdoors; biking and hiking and has been participating in traditional cedar dug-out war canoe racing for eleven years. She has a strong respect and an absolute belief in First Nation’s spirituality, culture, languages and tradition.
"I heard an elder speak of the importance of our languages and our culture. He said that our words are powerful; our stories are elastic; our languages are music: they dance, they move and they are medicine for our people. He said they are a spirit within themselves and we are only the channel that brings them to life. I write because I know what he said is true."
