AVIS BLACKBIRD is Secwepemc and Sto:lo and of mixed European heritage, living in Coast Salish territory in British Columbia. She is an author, poet, visual artist and photographer. She is a member of the Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada and the Federation of BC Writers. Avis holds Bachelor and Master’s degrees from the University of British Columbia and recently completed her graduate work for counselling. She has had multiple publications and an artist feature in Muskrat Magazine: Enigma. Her full-length book of poetry, Lightning in Our Roots, has just been released through Brick Books.