Tara McGowan-Ross

Tara McGowan-Ross (born May 1, 1992) is a Canadian Mi'kmaw multidisciplinary artist, poet and writer. She is the host of Drawn & Quarterly’s Indigenous Literatures Book Club and a critic of independent and experimental theatre for BroadwayWorld.

Background
The daughter of guitarist Don Ross, McGowan-Ross was born in Toronto and grew up in Cannington, Ontario. Her mother died of breast cancer when she was young. As a teenager, McGowan-Ross became involved with Toronto's punk scene. At age 17, she moved to Halifax, where she finished high school.

She later moved to Montreal, Quebec to study at Concordia University, where she received her bachelor's degree in Philosophy and minored in Creative Writing.

Works
McGowan-Ross is the author of three books: two collections of poetry — Girth and Scorpio Season — and a memoir, Nothing Will Be Different. She is currently working on a debut novel.

McGowan-Ross' first published book was Girth, in 2016.

She began working on a memoir after a health scare that sparked intense self-reflection. Her 2021 memoir Nothing Will Be Different was met with warm reception by critics and was shortlisted for 2022 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction. The book details much of McGowan-Ross's early twenties, focusing on themes of illness, grief, sobriety, philosophy, and relationships.

Personal life
McGowan-Ross is married; her husband is a painter. She considers herself to be an anti-capitalist.