Embracing Multiculturalism: Uncovering the Journey of Ashlee Campbell's Cultural Identity
Ashlee Campbell wears her heart and heritage on her sleeve. Co-author with her dad, Duncan Campbell, the father-daughter author duo celebrates cultural heritage and fostering community care with their debut children’s book, Señora Sanasana.
This English-Spanish picture book aims to empower families by celebrating cultures and modeling trust. With its vibrant colors, unique play on the classic Spanish nursery rhyme, and heartfelt storyline, Señora Sanasana is a must-read for families looking to explore and validate their own cultural identity or learn about other cultures.
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Rebecca Richardson: So what’s been feeding your mind lately? Any role models, music, podcasts, books, stuff that inspired you for Señora Sanasana.
Ashlee Campbell: First, I had, like, a funny answer. I was, like, every single break up song Shakira has been putting out. I've been living for that. I love this era.
But, actually, I've been sitting so much in, like, legacy, the older I get, like, heritage, who I come from and, you know, asking my mom and dad more stories from when they were younger. I get older, and I have a family. I have kids. You don't have to have kids to have a family, but I happen to have kids.
Richardson: How many kids do you have?
Campbell: I have four kids. I have a teenage foster son and then three bio kids. And I live with my mom and dad. My husband and I share a house with my parents. So we're in this, like, big, intergenerational household. And we added a dog because, like, I'm not trying to keep enough stuff alive. Let me have a dog too.
But, yeah, I want my kids to be confident in themselves because I grew up not really knowing I was Latino, because I was a white kid. You know, I'm a white passing Latino. Like, let's be very clear on that. That's, you know, I don't need to pretend that's not true. I grew up in Africa. I do speak Spanish. And it's so funny. Other people would say I'm fluent, but I'm very aware that it's my second language. I grew up, you know, in Niger, Central America, and we were expats with so much privilege. But then I moved to Canada when I was seventeen and people would be like, “where are you from?” I'd be like, I'm Canadian. Literally, they'd be like, “no, you're not. Where are you from?” I'd be like, well, I grew up in Africa. And they’d say, “oh, are you African?” I just moved around a lot and I am so grateful for every country that I got to live in, but I don't feel that I am from this country. I was only ever a guest. You know? I’d say, my mom's Peruvian. They'd say, “oh, you're Latino.” And I be like, “okay. Sure.”
And the longer I lived in Canada, the more I had to figure out, like, what does it mean to be Latino? What does it mean to be Canadian and Peruvian? What does it mean that I don't culturally always fit in with the centered White North American culture?
Richardson: What is your past relationship with writing, before Señora Sanasana?
Campbell: So, I studied French Literature because I went to French high school for six years. It wasn't a good fit. Then I went to seminary, which was a good fit because I did work as a pastor for many years. But then I went to journalism school, loved it! I feel like journalism school is such a good way to just get the preciousness beaten out of you as a writer because you are on deadline and your editor does not care about your feelings. So I'd just like to put it out there that I am a dream to edit! Because I'm, like, here for the feedback and, you know, I thank journalism school for that. Because if you’re gonna be precious about your writing, like, how are you supposed to survive a news cycle? Then when I finished journalism school, I thought I wanted to do hard news. At the end of that, I just realized that is not the world for me. I'm such an empathetic, heart first person that it really burnt me out. I wanted to be more involved with people than, like, telling their stories is such an important thing. I love and value the journalistic process and work, but to me, it felt one layer removed, from what I would wanna be doing.
Richardson: How did Señora Sanasana come about?
Campbell: I literally was just, like, at home. With my kids, and it was a pandemic. And I was like, who am I? And so I homeschooled my kids because going to school was really stressful with the masks and everything, and we were very supportive of all the public health measures. It was just high anxiety, and I didn't have a job. So I was like, I'll teach you. We loved it, and I spent hours a day reading to my kids. And one day we were reading this old book called Mrs Piggle Wiggle about this magical woman who loves kids. And I said, Oh, wouldn't it be fun if there was a Latino, Mrs Piggle Wiggle? And her name was? And my kids are like, oh, that's so good. And honestly, I left the idea there. And I told my husband, and he was like, that's literally the best idea you've ever had. I told him to calm down. Like, You think everything I do is amazing. And he didn't even know the, like, Sana Sana thing. I had to explain it to him. And he's like, that's so clever.
Then I was at that point also trying to decide, like, well, what do I do? I've always wanted to be a writer. And I've always been too chicken shit to do it. Because I know that it includes a lot of rejection, and I've been hedging my bets for a big chunk of my life. Only doing things that I knew I would excel at without anyone seeing the failures. So I took a risk and I took this Blocked 2 Book course with Rebekah Borucki, who's the founder of Row House, and it was before Row House was, like, really a thing. Like, she had just founded Row House. And she was like, this is gonna be the last time I ever do the Blocked 2 Book seminar. And I was like, okay, this is my chance. Blocked 2 Book is a seminar that she created to help new authors or long time authors go from an idea and leave with the tools and skills to, like, complete your manuscript query, query publishing houses, and agents. It just teaches you the business and the industry of publishing.
My husband had written down my idea, and then in a coaching session with Rebekah who had just founded her new publishing house, said hey, I kinda have this idea for a kid's book, Señora Sanasana. She loved it and the next meeting, she said, I'm signing you for my new publishing house. And I was like, that's really weird. What's happening right now? I started crying. So that's, you know, that's been the process for me. A lot of people have asked me how did you get into the industry? It's so hard. I was really honest with them. I said, hey, I invested in this program that gave me access. So I did have to pay and you don't have to do that, but it definitely made it easier. And there was no guarantee that I was gonna get signed for a book from that. You know? My publishing house in particular is, like, looking for more diverse voices in publishing. So I had found the right people for my type of writing.
Richardson: How did your dad get involved?
Campbell: The truth of the matter is my dad rescued me. No. He would totally cut me off and be like, that is not what happened. So what happened was I pitched an idea for a character And it was such a great idea that my publisher took a chance on me and was like, I believe you can write this story, and I'm gonna sign you and then you will write it. So it's a bit different from an editorial process in that it was development and editorial. So, at the time, Row house was one or two people. That's it. Just two founders. So I got to work really closely with Rebekah, which was awesome. Now it's like a whole organization with a publisher and a president and multiple editors, which we love to see. So proud, and so grateful to be part of it. But I got to work with Rebekah at first. So it's like, let's make it a chapter book. For late elementary. Okay. So I wrote that version. She reads it. She's like, I like it. But now I'm thinking of a really short early reader's chapter book. I rewrote it, then she goes, you know what? Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Actually, it should be a picture book. 700 words. I was like, okay. Rewrote it again. Then she goes, I think this would be amazing if it rhymed. Like, let's make a rhyming picture book. And I said I was a poet, but children's poetry is like a whole other beast of its own.
My dad, who is an author in his own right, he's writing an amazing memoir right now. He's been doing that for years, but my whole life, he wrote songs. He wrote poems. He wrote poems to my mom. He wrote silly songs for us growing up. So I had written the whole story. I had created all the different characters and the narrative. I asked my dad to help me but I was like, look, I haven't asked my publisher yet but I'm asking you and then we have to ask her if this is okay. I asked him if he could do a sample. So he took the opening two paragraphs and he rewrote them with rhyme and meter. He did this poetry magic where words in Spanish are rhyming with words in English and it’s great. It's like a super fun Spanish rhyming kids book now. So that's how my dad got involved. I dragged him into it. It was a really great process. We didn't always agree, but we figured it out. The fact that it is what it is because we collaborated, it felt really important to me to honor that. And also, like, I'm a little child. Getting to do stuff with my family involved makes me the happiest.
Richardson: Who is this book for?
Campbell: Mhmm. Yeah. I think there's two groups that she's really for. One, is for children. It's fun and it's funny and it's brightly colored. It's a fun, children's book for children, you know, it's not one that's, like, wink, wink, nudge, nudge to the adults. Like, it's fully for kids, and it models the kind of adult that they should be able to trust. There's even a line in there about how at the end of the day, Señora Sanasana offers them a hug, a high-five or a wave. Here's an adult who they can look up to and be like, wow, she's so amazing and see how she respects people's physical boundaries. She just has those values pouring out of her. The other group that it's for is, I think, people my age, you know, or older, anyone who has lost language, you know, as part of immigration. So, I speak Spanish, but my kids don't. But Sana Sana will always be familiar to them and this book is in English, but it's sprinkled through with Spanish words and Peruvian references. It’s saying, we get to celebrate even if that's “all we have.” My publisher put this short essay that I wrote about about those things, and I think that will resonate with a lot of adults who maybe normally wouldn't buy or pick up a children's book, but I've already had a couple of people be like, oh my gosh, I teared up reading that, and I think it will make them feel validated and affirmed that piece is for them also. Generally speaking, I love to learn about other cultures, so I think anybody would enjoy the Peruvian imagery and food in it.
Drink 🫖
What is Ashlee’s go-to drink?
Bubble Tea
Listening To 🎧
What is Ashlee listening to at the moment?
“I want to give like a funny answer first: Every single break up song Shakira has been putting out. I love this era! But, actually, I've been sitting so much in, like, legacy, heritage, who I come from and, you know, asking my mom and dad more stories from when they were younger.”
Your Truth 🗣️
What is a Ashlee’s truth? What inspires her?
“The older I get, the more I want to feel connected to my past, even the past that I don't know about, like, I didn't live my parents' life. I live my grandparents' life, but the older I get, the more I'm like, something about who you are has deeply shaped me. And I wanna celebrate that and I wanna understand it more. And I want my kids to to be confident in the pieces of themselves.”
Your Plug 🔌
What is Ashlee plugging today?
Buy Señora Sanasana.
Read more about how the story came about and how Ashlee collaborated with her rhyme expert dad, Duncan Campbell, in the Interview Transcript.
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More About Ashlee
Ashlee Campbell is a poet and writer who spends most of her time cooking for people. A mother and foster parent of four kids aged four to sixteen, Ashlee is raising her boisterous crowd with her husband in Toronto — a city she didn’t grow up in but has adopted as her heart-home. Ashlee grew up across the globe, born to a Peruvian mama and Canadian dad in Niamey, Niger. She’s also lived in Haiti, El Salvador, Honduras, Mali, Chad, Malawi, South Africa, Germany and Canada, so far!
Instagram: @ashleecampbellauthor
Website: www.ashleecampbell.com
