January Rogers (born 1963) is a

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people (Kanien’kehá:ka), an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language (Kanien’kéha), the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a ...

Tuscarora Tuscarora may refer to the following: First nations and Native American people and culture * Tuscarora people **'' Federal Power Commission v. Tuscarora Indian Nation'' (1960) * Tuscarora language, an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people * ...

writer from the Six Nations in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Her work includes poetry and spoken-word performance poetry.

Early life

Janet Marie Rogers was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. She moved to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

in 1994.

Career

First working as a visual artist, she began writing in 1996. Rogers moved to the Six Nations

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

in June 2019, where she founded Ojistoh Publishing and launched a Six Nations Inaugural Literary Award (SNILA). Rogers has hosted the radio programs ''Native Waves Radio'' on CFUV and ''Tribal Clefs'' on

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...

Victoria. She produced the radio documentaries ''Bring Your Drum: 50 Years of Indigenous Protest Music'' ''Resonating Reconciliation'', which received awards for Best Radio at the

imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Aboriginal and First People ...

. She produced a 6-part radio documentary titled NDNs on the Airwaves 2016 and a short doc of the same title with her media team 2Ro Media. From January 2012 to November 2014, Rogers was City of Victoria's Poet Laureate. In 2015, she was named writer in residence for the

University of Northern British Columbia The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a university serving the northern region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The main campus is located in Prince George, with additional campuses located in Prince Rupert, Terrace, ...

. In September 2018, Rogers began a year-long writer in residence position at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. Rogers formed the collective Ikkwenyes (Dare to Do) with Mohawk poet Alex Jacobs. The collective has received a Collaborative Exchange Award from the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

and a Loft Literary Fellowship prize from

The Loft Literary Center The Loft Literary Center is a non-profit literary organization located in Minneapolis, Minnesota incorporated in 1975. The Loft is a large and comprehensive independent literary center which offers a variety of writing classes, conferences, grant ...

. From September 2022 to April 2023, Rogers was Western University in London ON's 50th Writer-In-Residence, a position shared with London Public Library, where she mentored both students and writers in the general community alike.

Published works

Poetry

* ''Splitting the Heart'' (2007), Ekstasis Editions * ''Red Erotic'' (2010), Ojistoh Publishing * ''Unearthed'' (2011) Leaf Press * ''Peace in Duress'' (2014), Talon Books * ''Totem Poles and Railroads'' (2016) ARP Books * ''As Long as the Sun Shines'' (2018) Bookland Press, Mohawk edition translated by Jeremy Green (2019) * “Ego of a Nation” (2021) Ojistoh Publishing * "The State of Indigeneity 2022" (2024) F(r)iction Magazine (written under the name "January Rogers")

Recordings

* ''Firewater'' (2009) * ''Got Your Back'' (2012) * ''6 Directions'' (2013) * ''As Long As the Sun Shines'' (2018) companion recording on reverbnation

Awards

In 2020, the American Indian Film Festival gave Rogers' “Ego of a Nation" the best music video award. Rogers has been nominated in the category Best Spoken Word Recording at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards and the

Native American Music Awards The Native American Music Awards (also known as the NAMAs or "Nammys") are an awards program presented annually by Elbel Productions, Inc., The Native American Music Awards Inc., and The Native American Music Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profi ...

. She has also been featured at the Vancouver Youth Poetry Slam, where she performed her spoken word poem "Opposite Directions" in 2013.Archived a
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Wayback Machine

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Janet 1963 births Living people Canadian women poets Tuscarora people Canadian Mohawk women writers Canadian Mohawk writers 21st-century Canadian poets First Nations poets 21st-century Canadian women writers First Nations women writers 21st-century First Nations writers Six Nations of the Grand River people Canadian Mohawk poets