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, as well as 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).  Waking Ground was shortlisted for numerous poetry awards. In 2020 her 13-language poem Kmitkinu was turned into an installation for Nocturne (Halifax) that played in the Halifax Public Gardens as well as an audio podcast and will be published soon in a limited run by art house publisher Running the Goat Books and Broadsides. shalan is currently the Artist in Residence at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax.

Her first full-length play, Elapultiek, was produced twice by Two Planks and a Passion Theatre (2018 and 2019) and then published in book form (Pottersfield Press 2019). shalan acted a lead role in both productions. Her second play, Koqm, a one-woman show and winner of the 2023 Merritt Award for Outstanding New Play toured the province in 2022. shalan is currently creating a new piece of dance theatre, Winter Moons, with Mi’kmaw choreographer Sarah Prosper and with the guidance of cultural grandmothers. Keeping her stories grounded within her culture, she and fellow artists shared a workshop performance of Winter Moons around an artificial fire in a yurt in her community in December 2023 and will be performing it on Neptune's stage November 12-24, 2024.

shalan lives with her family in their community of L’sitkuk (Bear River First Nation) where she is reclaiming her L’nu language.