Zondra "Zoey" Roy releases her debut poetic memoir, homecoming, at JackPine Press' chapbook launch on November 21, 2015 at PAVED Arts in Saskatoon. Other artists launching chapbooks at the event are Alison Calder, Katherin Edwards and Melissa Haney.

Roy was the recipient of an Indigenous Pathways Initiative grant from the Saskatchewan Arts Board, which enabled JackPine Press to commit all of the project funding to production alone and go beyond its usual limited edition to offer 250 copies. Lisa Johnson, administrator for JackPine Press says, "This is an exciting first! We've never printed this amount of copies before; we've never done anything autobiographical; and we've never published an oral storytelling narrative like this." She adds, "It's a chapbook Ms. Roy is very excited to share with as many people as possible and, judging by the interest so far, I'm sure it will be a resounding success."

The title of the chapbook, homecoming, refers to the Cree, Dené, and Métis author's ongoing process of self-discovery, reawakening and the pursuit of home. It is the story of a girl with a love of poetry and spoken word who uses it as a means to search for her identity, purpose, and place.

The autobiographical narrative is composed of a mix of non-fiction prose and spoken word poetry. "This form can bridge everyday storytelling with the sophisticated, nuanced and sometimes esoteric techniques of written poetry," Johnson notes. "It makes accessible, with real-life context and personal backstory, the very stuff that makes most people uncomfortable about poetry."

Roy is an activist, spoken word poet, emcee, community-based educator and social entrepreneur. Says Johnson, "She is a passionate artist possessed of an utterly unique voice - one that commands attention and demands to be published, distributed and shared."

Saskatoon-based chapbook publisher JackPine Press facilitates the creation of hand-produced chapbook projects in limited editions. Its mission is to publish chapbooks whose form and content are both artistically integrated and unique. The result of these collaborations between writers and artists are handmade books that are as interesting as art objects as they are as engaging works of literature. JackPine artists and writers are the creative directors of their work, overseeing the creative direction and production from concept to completion.

JackPine Press receives Professional Arts Organizations Program funding from the Saskatchewan Arts Board.