Where the Heart Carries the Light
by Stephanie Mikki Adams

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Rooted deep in its author’s lived experience as an Inuk woman, Where the Heart Carries the Light is a deeply evocative poetry collection that takes the reader on a journey through love, grief, motherhood, leadership, and the enduring strength of Inuit culture and community despite generations of systemic governmental abuses and neglect. A deeply personal and starkly honest examination of healing, identity, and reclamation, this collection takes a vividly poignant look at the impacts of colonialism still being felt by Indigenous communities, as well as the strength required to continue rising up each day with light despite the crushing weight and darkness of continued injustice and loss. “This book is not simply poetry. It is my testimony. It is my reclamation. It is my truth-telling. It is my love for my people and a refusal to let our voices be quieted. I wrote this for Inuit who carry generational strength and generational grief in the same body. For those who were told to be quiet or small. For those who are learning to speak again. For those who have lost loved ones, lost themselves, or lost their places and are finding their way home in their own time.”

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Stephanie Mikki Adams is an Inuk storyteller whose life is shaped by kinship, memory, and responsibility. Born into a large Dutch and Inuk family, she learned early that strength is woven through connection, through siblings, laughter, shared hardship, and the steady presence of love. Mother to three and grandmother to four, she measures success not in titles but in the growth of the next generation. Watching her children and grandchildren step into their own lives is her deepest pride living proof that tenderness and resilience can exist side by side. Her work as a leader and advocate is guided by the same principles that shape her writing: honesty, accountability, compassion, and courage. She writes not from theory but from lived experience, transforming reflection into language that invites others to pause, feel, and remember. Through her poetry and leadership, Mikki honours Inuit strength, uplifts women’s voices, and bridges past and present with clarity and care. She believes that storytelling is not simply expression. It is preservation, resistance, and renewal. At the centre of everything she does is a simple conviction: healing is possible, dignity is deserved, and love (when chosen daily) is a powerful act of leadership.

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Contributors

Author

Stephanie Mikki Adams

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