Jónína Kirton
Biography
Jónína Kirton, an Icelandic and Red River Métis poet was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Treaty 1, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene peoples and the homeland of the Métis. She graduated from the Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio in 2007. She released her first book, page as bone ~ ink as blood, in 2015 and was sixty-one when she received the 2016 Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award for an Emerging Artist in the Literary Arts category. Her second collection of poetry, An Honest Woman, was a finalist in the 2018 Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. Her third book, Standing in a River of Time, released in 2022, merges poetry and lyrical memoir to take us on a journey exposing the intergenerational effects of colonization on her Métis family.
Jónína currently lives in seniors housing in New Westminster BC, the unceded territory of the Hul’qumi’num speaking peoples. A chronic pain sufferer she has walked with her husband as he has faced life threatening health issues. Living in a subsidized senior housing she has also witnessed, firsthand, the challenges of others as they age and live with health issues while on a low income. This journey is documented in her fourth book. Save Your Prayers – Send Money, which will be released in April 2026 with Talonbooks.
Micro-interview
I do not recall reading any poetry in high school. As a trauma survivor I have very few memories of that time in my life.
My writing life began at the age of fifty. I was first introduced to writing poetry while enrolled at the Simon Fraser University's Writer's Studio (TWS) in 2006. I enrolled hoping to get into the non-fiction cohort but was told that my writing sample indicated I should be in poetry. I resisted at first but am now so grateful to TWS and Miranda Pearson, my mentor while at TWS. I quickly learned that poetry could be used to tell my story.
It took some time for me to fully claim the title of poet. The more I leaned into poetry, the more I began to see that I had the heart of a poet all along.
I think there is more than one answer to this question and that each poet needs to decide for themselves what it is they want their poetry to do out in the world. I write poetry to share my story and the stories of others who have experienced childhood trauma, grief, loss, sexual violence, racism, sexism, chronic pain and caregiving. I also share about my healing journey, my time in recovery and the New Age world.
In recovery we use our story as a way to teach and encourage anyone seeking recovery. Given this I like to think of my story as good medicine, and the poems I write can become a companion as others explore healing. I feel we can say things in poetry that 'educate' or inform about all manner of social justice issues and when done well poems can bypass the minds need for control and allow teachings to go straight to your heart.
