Founder and publisher
Paula Sevestre
Paula Sevestre is a Mi'kmaw author from Membertou First Nation in Nova Scotia and the founder of Belonging Ground Press. Her writing explores hidden truths, human behaviour, spirituality, and the spaces between what is seen and what is understood.
The writing
Her path to fiction began with her own story.
Paula's first three books grew from lived experience and her exploration of intergenerational trauma, healing, resilience, and the complicated journey of learning to trust herself. Writing became a way of examining experiences that were not always easy to understand—or initially easy to tell.
With Shadow of the Healer, Paula moves from non-fiction into psychological suspense. The novel is the first book in the four-book Lex Tocara™ series, where suspense, human behaviour, Indigenous perspectives, spirituality, and the unexplained intersect.
Paula founded Belonging Ground Press as an independent, Indigenous-owned Canadian publishing house and a home for her fiction and non-fiction, with a vision for the press to grow thoughtfully over time.
Beyond the page
For more than 25 years, Paula has worked with Indigenous organizations at local, regional, and national levels in partnership development, governance, strategic planning, communications, and organizational leadership.
Today, her professional work also extends into Indigenous engagement and health research. As Indigenous Engagement Program Lead with the Canadian Critical Care Trials Group, she conceived and leads Voices in Care, a national initiative working to strengthen meaningful Indigenous inclusion in critical care research. She also develops and leads Indigenous curriculum for the LifTING Health Research Training Platform.
Paula holds a Graduate Certificate in Public Relations, is a member in good standing of The Writers' Union of Canada, and received the Nova Scotia Native Women's Association's Linda Maloney Award for Entrepreneurship in 2023.
Originally from Unama'ki (Cape Breton), Nova Scotia, Paula now lives on Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation in Ontario with her husband, Mark. Together, they have twin adult sons, Brad and Nate.