Najwa Zebian

Najwa Zebian (born 27 April 1990) is a Lebanese–Canadian activist, author, poet, educator, and speaker based in London, Ontario. Zebian achieved fame on Instagram through sharing her instapoetry and gained popularity during the Me Too movement along with her subsequent TEDx talks and interviews on Canadian news outlets such as CBC, Entertainment Tonight, among others.

Early life and education
Zebian was born in Lebanon and moved to Canada in 2006 at the age of sixteen due to the 2006 Lebanon War. As of 2019, she lives in Ontario, Canada.

Zebian completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology in 2010, a Bachelor of Education in General Science and Biology in 2012, and a Master of Education in Curriculum Studies in 2013, all at The University of Western Ontario. She completed her Doctorate in Educational Leadership in 2022 at the University of Western Ontario.

Career
Zebian self-published her first book Mind Platter in January 2016. She described it as a "Compilation of reflections on life as seen through the eyes of an educator, student, and human who experienced her early days in silence." Upon its publication, it raised $2300 in the first month for donations to the Syrian Refugee Fund in London. Zebian also distributed a percentage of the profits to summer activities run by the city for high school students. The revised and expanded version of the book was published in March 2018 by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Her work slowly gained public recognition on social media by celebrities such as Mathieu Kassovitz, Lisa Rinna, LeAnn Rimes, and Hilary Swank.

Her second book, The Nectar of Pain, is a collection of poetry and prose self-published in October 2016. Zebian wrote about feelings that emerged from a painful heartbreak. A revised and expanded version of the book was published in March 2018 with Andrews McMeel Publishing.

In 2017, Zebian took part in the forefront of the Me Too movement when she talked about the repercussions of coming forward with sexual harassment accusations (and a subsequent investigation) about an authority figure where she worked as a teacher. She wrote "I was blamed for it. I was told not to talk about it. I was told that it wasn’t that bad. I was told to get over it." and was referenced by the New York Times. Her poem went on to be featured in news stories about the Me Too movement from The Huffington Post, BBC News, CBS News, and Glamour.

Zebian faced another public incident when, as a Muslim woman, she decided to remove her hijab.

In March 2019, Zebian published her third book of poetry, titled Sparks of Phoenix with Andrews McMeel Publishing in which she recounts her journey in healing from abuse, building resilience and strength.

Published works

 * Mind Platter. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2018.
 * The Nectar of Pain. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2018.
 * Sparks of Phoenix. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2019.
 * Welcome Home Harmony Books, 2021.
 * The Book of Healing. Andrews McMeel Publishing. 2021.
 * Trust Your Heart. Scribd Original. 2023.
 * The Only Constant. Penguin Canada. 2024.