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Winner of the 2023 Robert Merritt Award for Outstanding New Play
A beautiful koqm, an ancient tree, has fallen in the forest, beckoning an L’nu woman seeking to reconnect with her roots. This encounter sets in motion a sprawling journey backwards through time carried by the voices of her ancestors.
Weaving through four centuries of history in Mi’kma’ki, including residential schools, the Indian Act, and the Peace and Friendship Treaties, storyteller shalan joudry tells the story of colonialism through the eyes of L’nu women and the natural world around them. Invoking the interconnectedness of relations, KOQM is an enchanting and vital reclamation of history that plants a seed of remembrance and resilience for generations to come.
“What shines through most is the remarkable spirit of joudry’s women, their strength and their struggle to preserve their culture and people.”
—NS Reviews
shalan joudry is an award-winning Mi’kmaw writer, oral storyteller, podcast producer, drummer/singer, and ecologist. Using her theatrical background, shalan brings Mi’kmaw stories to a new generation of listeners, recounting personally crafted narratives that follow Indigenous storying methodologies. shalan has published two books of poetry, Generations Re-merging (Gaspereau Press, 2014) and Waking Ground (Gaspereau Press, 2020). Her first full-length play, Elapultiek, was produced twice by Two Planks and a Passion Theatre (2018 and 2019) and published by Pottersfield Press. Her second play, KOQM, a one-woman show and winner of the 2023 Robert Merritt Award for Outstanding New Play has been touring Nova Scotia since its inception. shalan lives with her family in their community of L’sitkuk (Bear River First Nation) where she is reclaiming her L’nu (Mi’kmaw) language.