How to Honour the Story, with Crystal AJ Smith

Send us a text! We'd love to hear your thoughts on the show.Some conversations stay with you long after they end. This was one of them.In this episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show, I'm joined by writer, poet, playwright, and activist Crystal AJ Smith to talk about her powerful debut novel, Gitwaałtk. Crystal is Haisla and Ts’ymsen, was adopted into the Heiltsuk Nation, and brings both lived experience and deep cultural knowledge to every page of her work.Our conversation begins with Crystal introducing herself in Lik̓wala, honoring the land she lives on and the ancestors who continue to guide her. It immediately sets the tone for a discussion about identity, language, storytelling, and the responsibility of carrying stories that matter.At the heart of Gitwaałtk is the Highway of Tears, the stretch of Highway 16 in British Columbia where countless Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered. Crystal explains that while there are documentaries, statistics, and news stories about the Highway of Tears, she wanted to create something that would help readers do more than understand the facts. She wanted them to feel them.We also talk about the novel's unique structure. Rather than following a traditional beginning-middle-end format, Gitwaałtk weaves together prose, poetry, Indigenous oral storytelling, and Sm'algya̱x language. Crystal shares that she didn't consciously design this structure—it simply arrived that way. The story came through her, and her role was to listen, write, and honor it.One of my favorite parts of our conversation is our discussion about ancestors and creativity. Crystal describes writing as something much bigger than inventing a story. For her, it feels like the stories already exist, and she has the responsibility to receive them, tell them truthfully, and pass them on. We also talk about language revitalization, why she's learning Lik̓wala, and how reconnecting with language has become part of both her life and her writing practice.Crystal also speaks candidly about balancing creativity with motherhood. As a mother of four, she's spent more than a decade bringing Gitwaałtk into the world while completing her education, leaving an abusive relationship, raising children, and continuing to learn her language and culture. Her honesty about protecting time for both family and creativity will resonate with many writers trying to hold all the pieces of their lives together.This conversation is about much more than writing a novel. It's about resilience, remembrance, community, healing, and the power of stories to create empathy where facts alone sometimes cannot.Whether you're interested in Indigenous literature, writing from lived experience, or simply want to hear one of the most thoughtful conversations I've had about why stories matter, I think you'll find this episode both moving and unforgettable.