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Jael Richardson Mayor Linda Jeffrey
ESSAYS
Jen Sookfong Lee Alicia Elliott Dorothy Ellen Palmer Erin Soros Jamil Jivani Orville Lloyd Douglas David Nazario
3 5
M E S S A G E FR OM T HE A R T IS T IC DIR E C T OR M E S S A G E FR OM T HE M A Y OR
8 12 16 26 30 34 38
On reading politically, or why the good old days are a flat out lie Canlit is a Raging Dumpster Fire When Buildings Do the Dirty Work, CanLit Hands Aren’t Clean Carbon Fighting Cancer and Finding My Voice Racism in the Canadian Book Publishing Industry Happy to be Nappy
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From the Artistic Director
For many, the Festival of Literary Diversity demon-
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Peel Region. We have partnered with organizations like The Reading Line and the Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) as well—partnerships that focus on mutually beneficial opportunities for community growth and readership. We are on a
JAEL RICHARDSON, Artistic Director The Festival of Literary Diversity
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Previously published on the Open Book Ontario blog, open-book.ca, February 16, 2018.
ON READING POLITICALLY, or why the good old days are a flat out lie BY JEN SOOKFONG LEE 8
It’s a funny time in the world of words. Every morn-
could be read politically, that individuals might
ing, when I log into Twitter, people are debating
take the words apart to examine them for appro-
freedom of expression and the politics of how
priation or colonization or just plain racism.
we read. Some of this is just nonsense, really just
Reading any piece of literature with a political
trolls picking fights among different communities
eye is not new. It is, really, as old as literature itself.
because they can, but some of it is also truly alarm-
Let’s take Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, that
ing. And nothing alarms me more than the idea
old chestnut, as an example. For some, reading
that politics should not colour the way we read.
Austen is an exercise in escapism, which is fair, es-
This argument has been made many times
pecially given the mini-industry that has ballooned
over many years, but recently it has gained more
around handsome, moody Darcy and his hand-
prominence as people are talking openly about cultural appropriation in relation to books by (usually) straight, white authors that depict characters of colour, or characters who are queer, trans, or non-binary, and, specifically, with the books of Joseph Boyden and Angie Abdou. Their books were, of course, discussed critically on social media, often by members of the Indigenous communities they were writing about. The result? Some authors grew uncomfortable with the idea that fiction
The best fiction builds narratives that delve deeply into humanity and humans are, like it or not, political creatures.
some, not-so-moody fortune. But, if you choose
complain about how your books are reviewed or
to, you can read Pride and Prejudice as social satire,
read. The benefit is in being read at all. Make no
as an indictment on the insularity of the English
mistake: having a book published and released
aristocracy, the ambition of the middle class, and
into the world is a great privilege very few people
the respectability politics that limited the choices
ever experience. Readers will read your book any
women could make for their own security. There is
way they want and talk about it any way they want.
no Elizabeth Bennet without class and feminism.
This is a good thing. They might hate it. They might
Just as there is no Heart of Darkness without colo-
love it. They might judge you on how many times
nialism, no Obasan without internment and war,
you use the word nascent (I mean, I’m not saying
no The Color Purple without race. The best fiction
I overuse it). But this is something beyond your
builds narratives that delve deeply into humanity
control, which is as it should be. Authors are given
and humans are, like it or not, political creatures.
the opportunity to write in isolation and in whatever
Society is political. Our existence is political. And
way they want and that freedom extends to read-
so it follows that our books will be too.
ers too. If someone wants to read your novel while
Politics are embedded in all art. In the songs
sitting on the toilet and tweets while they’re doing it,
of A Tribe Called Red. In the movies Get Out and
oh well. If someone takes issue with how you write
The Big Sick. In the comedy of Cameron Esposito
about characters who are from a different commu-
and Rhea Butcher. Politics are everywhere.
nity, they are fully allowed to do so. This freedom of
When I published my first novel, one of the best pieces of advice I ever received was that you cannot
writing and reading has never changed. This is why we love literature, isn’t it?
9
The problem is, in the end, not about the
When I first began publishing in 2007, well be-
freedom to read and express an opinion about
fore social media was in common usage, the only
what you’re reading. The problem is, really, that
critics who could express an opinion on my work
authors with privilege who have, thus far, enjoyed
were people writing for mainstream media. It’s
a complete freedom to write what they want and
no surprise then that my politics were examined
not experience criticism about race or gender or
through a very privileged lens. The most common
colonialism, have no coping skills for the speed at
complaint about my first novel? That I had written
which social media makes those criticisms obvi-
no white characters. That was, clearly, the politics
ous. The online world has made dissemination
of the reviewers taking aim at my politics. But
democratic, which results in a lot of chaos some-
so? If they wanted to read it that way, they were
times, but also results in a level of engagement
entitled to.
with both art and politics that can legitimately
One way I have seen people argue for the sep-
make change for groups who have been op-
aration of reading and politics is by bemoaning the
pressed, and that is also exhilarating for those of
good old days when social justice wasn’t a part of
us who just love to talk about culture. Communi-
literature. Well, that’s clearly not true (see above).
ties who have never had access to mainstream
And there is no such thing as the good old days.
media now can make their voices heard. And
In the good old days, authors with privilege were
the established, privileged authors now have to
publicly reviewed by critics with privilege. Authors
contend with these voices in a volume they have
of colour or queer authors were rare, and when
never experienced before. Navigating this is a new
they were published, were limited on all sides by
publishing skill. And it can be learned.
codes of narrative, editing, and promotion. This was never how books were supposed to be read.
10
The printing press and public education were intended to make ideas accessible, to bring stories and poems and debate to everyone. Social media and public conversation are just another step on this progression of accessibility and dissemination. Readers will read as they wish and say what they want. Shush now, it’s okay. Maybe, just maybe, you might learn some things from them. //
The printing press and public education were intended to make ideas accessible, to bring stories and poems and debate to everyone.
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Previously published on the Open Book Ontario blog, open-book.ca, on September 7, 2017.
CANLIT IS A RAGING DUMPSTER FIRE BY ALICIA ELLIOTT 12
CanLit is a raging dumpster fire. We’ve all said it, heard it, or, more than likely,
numerous sources that those allegations were, indeed, sexual harassment and sexual assault, not a
done both at some point in the past year and
single writer removed their name. Apparently, this
a half. In fact, it would seem that dissatisfaction
illustrious group had chosen their figurative hill to
with the state of CanLit, strangely enough, is the
die on: the reputation of a critically-acclaimed peer
current state of CanLit. One has to wonder: what
accused of committing sexual violence against one
is it about CanLit that makes people consider it a
of his students.
“dumpster fire”? Why are writers suddenly eagerly
As Kai Cheng Thom points out in her brilliant,
anticipating its fiery death? What are they hoping
searing essay, [“Sometimes Women Have to Make
to build from the ashes?
Hard Choices to Be Writers,”] (http://gutsmagazine.
It’s not hard to point to one moment that definitively cracked the literary community in half: the UBC Accountable letter. It was a demand by over 90 prominent Canadian writers and artists for an independent inquiry into the process by which UBC fired former Creative Writing head Steven Galloway. While many of the writers initially signed the UBC Accountable letter before any clear information about the allegations against Galloway was available, once it was confirmed by
One could very easily go through this entire essay, swap the word “CanLit” for “Canada” and it would still, for the most part, make perfect sense.
ca/sometimes-women-have-to-make-hard-choic-
closely parallels precisely what Thom describes.
es-to-be-writers/) powerful older men using their
She explains that, prior to the Galloway open
prestige to commit sexual violence against younger
letter, the general consensus was that CanLit was
women happens so often in this industry it’s almost
left-leaning and progressive. Though she herself
considered a rite of passage. Many women have
had experienced racism within the industry, she’d
experienced this trauma themselves at the hands
been denying the extent of this racism, especially
of mentors and professors—and yet, strangely,
to herself. Post-Galloway, Sookfong Lee could no
still don’t stop it from happening to others. Thom
longer hold onto these illusions, and had to admit
suggests this may be because, once a woman has
that having them in the first place only served to
established herself in CanLit, it is too painful and
uphold the racism that so often hurt her. “I had to
difficult to confront “the possibility that the same
finally admit that I had been working in an indus-
establishment that made her prosperous and
try that had never held a space open for me,” she
proud is built on the exploitation of her sisters.”
writes. Her own experience of CanLit “is not the
In her deeply personal essay [“Open Letters and Closed Doors: How the Steven Galloway open
CanLit experience I want for new writers.” While a lot of this anger has crystallized post-
letter dumpster fire forced me to acknowledge
UBC Accountable, it is ultimately part of something
the racism and entitlement at the heart of Can-
deeper—something that has been simmering be-
Lit”], (http://humberliteraryreview.com/jen-sook-
neath polite Canadian smiles for a very long time.
fong-lee-essay-open-letters-and-closed-doors/)
It’s bubbled over at key moments. For example,
Jen Sookfong Lee describes feeling pain that
in 1989, when Chippewas of Nawash poet Lenore
13
Keeshig took non-Native writers to task for appro-
tity crumbling. When you think about it, it’s really
priating Native stories and voices. Perhaps predict-
not that farfetched. One could very easily go
ably, non-Native writers did not stop. They took
through this entire essay, swap the word “CanLit”
Keeshig’s request as censorship. Nearly thirty years
for “Canada” and it would still, for the most part,
later, the “Appropriation Prize” scandal broke—and
make perfect sense. What words have traditionally
these same exact arguments were trotted out.
been employed to describe CanLit? Polite. Liberal.
We could also look at 1997, when Rinaldo Walcott wrote the landmark book Black Like Who?:
words consistently used to describe Canada? And
Writing Black Canada. This book described Cana-
if CanLit’s really none of these things, can we hon-
da’s continual erasure of black people from its his-
estly believe that Canada is?
tory, as well as its tendency to view black men as
14
Progressive. Welcoming. Aren’t these the exact
As Jian Ghomeshi’s recent sexual assault trial
criminals. Twenty years later, seeing little progress,
showed, rape culture is built into the Canadian jus-
Walcott decided to quit CanLit, saying, “CanLit fails
tice system. What’s more, this past February, Globe
to transform because it refuses to take seriously
and Mail reporter Robyn Doolittle revealed in an
that Black literary expression and thus Black life
extensive investigation that rape culture is also
is foundational to it. CanLit still appears surprised
built into policing: Canadian police dismiss one in
every single time by the appearance of Black liter-
five sexual assault claims as “unfounded” before
ary expression and Black life.”
they can even go to trial. Given this context, is it
How is CanLit continually making the same mis-
really that surprising so many powerful members
takes? Or, to put it more frankly, how do the writers,
of CanLit came forward to defend Galloway, ban-
editors, publishers and agents that make up CanLit
dying about that same word—“unfounded”—as
live through those mistakes, hear them pointed out,
though it were uncontestable truth?
do nothing to address them, then still somehow
Canadians have just spent an entire week de-
manage to tell themselves that CanLit is diverse
bating whether Sir John A. MacDonald should be
and progressive? And why are we suddenly—finally
criticized by “today’s standards.” MacDonald, the
—willing to actually see these mistakes now?
first Prime Minister of Canada, was also the geno-
Before I go any further I should, perhaps,
cidal leader behind creating residential schools,
mention that I’m a Haudenosaunee woman and,
starving Indigenous people into signing away their
therefore, have never felt any particular fondness
land, outlawing our ceremonies, murdering Métis
for or identification with Canadian nationalism.
leader Louis Riel, and publicly executing Cree
It’s quite difficult to feel nostalgic for the country
warriors in the largest mass execution in Canadian
that has been trying to systemically destroy my
history—which he forced their families to watch.
nation since before it was considered a proper
If Canadians refuse to listen to our perspectives
nation itself. That said, this lack of patriotism does
on a man that actively killed our ancestors, stole
permit me a very necessary perspective; after all,
their children and outlawed our culture, is it any
if I’m not attached to Canada’s national identity, I
surprise they don’t listen to our perspectives on
have no stake in maintaining it, and I feel no pain
non-Native writers appropriating that culture?
dismantling it. You may see where I’m going with this and
Black people in Canada continue to be murdered by police officers who do not value their
you may already be resisting. Wait. Bear with me.
humanity—and the lack of consequences for
I believe that this sudden anger at CanLit is the
those murders only reinforce and legitimize this
inevitable result of Canada’s own national iden-
dehumanization. On top of that, racist carding
policies that specifically target black men, pre-
constructive criticism. Though we can objectively
suming them to be inherently criminal, continue.
recognize that it ultimately makes our work better,
When Canadian institutions devalue and dehu-
when we’re hearing that constructive criticism, it
manize black Canadian lives, can we really be
hurts. Sometimes for days, weeks, months, years.
surprised that CanLit devalues and marginalizes
But eventually, we all sit down, assess the criticism
black Canadian literature?
and do the work to fix the problems.
A national literature’s job is to both define and
Currently, we’re collectively mourning the loss
uphold the nation. But what if that nation’s foun-
of a CanLit—and a Canada—that was always an
dational beliefs about itself are, well, lies? What’s
idea instead of a lived reality. It’s fine to mourn, of
left for those who are creating national literature
course. It’s natural. But we can’t just stand around
but to feel alienated, lost, hurt? Maybe, for those
and complain about the dumpster fire in front of
who still very much want to feel proud to be Ca-
us forever. Eventually we have to grab some fuck-
nadian, it’s simply easier to call CanLit a dumpster
ing fire extinguishers and put that fire out. In other
fire. That way, you don’t have to call Canada itself
words, we have to sit down, assess the criticism
a dumpster fire. You don’t have to acknowledge
and do the work to fix the problems.
how accepting and perpetuating Canada’s national
We don’t need to wait for stubborn, lagging in-
myths of politeness, acceptance and multicultural-
stitutions to change. We never have. We can make
ism necessarily erase any evidence to the contrary.
change ourselves, now. In fact, we are. So many
You also don’t have to acknowledge the existence
amazing people are stepping forward and speak-
of Canada’s systemic discrimination – or how your
ing out, or quietly writing revolutions. Take that
silence on that discrimination may be making you
momentum and build on it. Write the books you’ve
complicit in upholding it.
always wanted to read. Encourage others to write
It’s complicated to love a country that still
the books you’ve always wanted to read. Celebrate
actively hurts so many of the people who live
those books. Mentor young writers. Become the
within it. Do you let your love make you blind, do
support you wish you’d had. Put your ego aside
you stop loving the country entirely, or do you
and listen to the constructive criticism you need to
acknowledge its imperfections, shrug and try to
hear. Learn from that criticism. Give both CanLit
love it anyway?
and Canada no choice but to become better.
It doesn’t have to be that simple. All of us as writers know the blessing and curse that is
Okay, enough talk. Are you ready? We’ve got a lot of work to do. //
15
Previously Published on the Literary Press Group’s website, AllLitUp.ca, January 25, 2018.
WHEN BUILDINGS DO THE DIRTY WORK ,
CanLit Hands Aren’t Clean BY DOROTHY ELLEN PALMER 16
Like all those of its vintage, my old elementary
multiple times per day, likely without a second’s
school in Toronto’s west end had separate “Boys”
thought or guilt, abled Canadians enjoy inaccessi-
and “Girls” entrances chiseled in stone. Histori-
ble buildings that ban their disabled neighbours.
cally, many Canadian buildings have regulated, or
As if the 1960s never happened. As if Victoria still
denied, entrance to women, Indigenous people,
reigned. As if history can’t be rectified. As if ac-
people of colour, targeted nationalities, and faith
cessibility is “too expensive” and “too much work.”
groups. But by the time I reached Grade Three,
As if this discrimination is “just the way it is.” As if
all students used all school entrances. That was
disabled people are less deserving of justice than
1963. In an era when “whites only” lunch counters
other oppressed groups. As if abled people do
and washrooms were being challenged, tax-funded schools began choosing not to let the discriminatory history of a building dictate its use. In 2018, Canadians like to tell themselves this shameful use of buildings to enshrine and perpetuate discrimination has been eradicated, but this is a self-congratulatory lie. Canada still embraces an architecture of exclusion, one that excludes not just my walker and me, but my entire disabled community. Abled Canada is quite content to let old buildings do their dirty work. Every day,
Too many in CanLit, don’t see their ableist privilege at all. Complicit in their silence, their abled bodies vote nonstop for inaccessibility...
not benefit from our exclusion. As if abled people
see, or to own, the harm they perpetuate. Some
are not using buildings to maintain the benefits of
choose to stay silent. This is not neutral: silence is
ableist privilege.
cowardly and complicit. It enables and empowers
Sadly, my beloved CanLit community is but a microcosm of the ableist whole. Before I detail a case in point—my recent
all the oppressions of the status quo. Some folks in CanLit have become consistent allies against ableism in both word and deed. I
survey of independent bookstores—please let
cannot thank them enough for their on-going
me put my survey in the context of my activism.
support. But only a handful of abled readers and
Like racism and sexism, ableism is structural and
writers have embraced accessibility as everyone’s
systemic, but it is practised by individuals, people
fight. Unfortunately, in CanLit as in Canada, there
who maintain and enforce its rewards and pun-
is a clear hierarchy of urgency and importance.
ishments. As evidenced this past year, when priv-
Too often, even those allies with intersectional
ileged, white, CanLit heavyweights used their col-
critiques of sexism, transphobia, anti-Indigeneity,
lective punch to defend two powerful white men
and racism, still see ableism and the discrimi-
and offer a vile “Appropriation Prize,” we have all
nations of inaccessibility as less urgent and less
inherited a deformed cultural formation called
important. Too many in CanLit, don’t see their
CanLit. Some choose to critique and challenge it.
ableist privilege at all. Complicit in their silence,
Some, like the UBCAccountable signatories, make
their abled bodies vote nonstop for inaccessibili-
self-serving choices to benefit from it by defend-
ty: they continue to organize, read at, and attend
ing oppressive past practices, and refusing to
inaccessible literary events. Each time they make
17
this choice, they excuse, normalize, defend, and
show. If “the talent” refuses to work, the directors
perpetuate ableism.
must relocate the show.
And they reap the benefits. Abled CanLit benefits from the historic exclusion of disabled
the first approach of national and international
people the way male writers benefit from the
disability activists, and of CripCanLit, the organi-
exclusion of women, the way white people benefit
zation I founded with two other disabled writers,
from the exclusion of racialized writers. And the
Bronwyn Berg and Jane Eaton Hamilton. We
loss is enormous. Numbers matter. The abled 80
joined forces because the time, energy, and effort
percent of the population has seized a near 100
of convincing abled CanLit to address inaccessibil-
percent of the space and resources of CanLit for
ity was exhausting and demoralizing. Too many of
themselves. In the entitlement of ableist privilege,
our colleagues individualized our requests. They
they do not see themselves as thieves.
saw only one, lone, disabled individual “complain-
For two years, I’ve been “calling out” the
ing,” for themselves, about one, lone, inacces-
inaccessibility of literary events in Canada, and
sible vent. Too much of CanLit offered nothing
“calling up” all stakeholders to take individual
but “sympathy,” as useless to us as Trumpian
responsibility to change it. Like many disabled
“thoughts and prayers.” We needed each other
activists, my work must occur online. I fully admit
because when challenged, in a backlash of abled
that my activism reflects both a principled com-
fragility, some blamed the messenger rather than
mitment to my community and self-interest. Given
take responsibility for the message and checking
degenerating congenital birth defects in my feet
their privilege.
and whole-body arthritis, I’m in unrelenting pain.
18
Requesting individual responsibility, is likewise
When we contact organizers and writers about
I’m often housebound. I can count on one hand
inaccessibility, although provincial labour law and
the number of friends I can still visit in their own
human rights legislation forbid discrimination
homes. I have had to give up beloved hair salons
by ability, and mandate workplace accommoda-
and clothing stores, not to mention dinner par-
tions, much of abled CanLit still treats our right to
ties, and all kinds of celebrations at inaccessible
workplace accessibility as “optional” as a “negotia-
restaurants. But these are losses in my personal
tion” and a “debate.” We constantly find folks who
life. As a unionist for over two decades, I can-
give their abled selves a seat at the “debate,” then
not—I will not—accept this discrimination and
appoint themselves judge and jury. They want to
exclusion in the workplace. As a writer, readings,
“rule on” if, when, and how, they should “offer”
festivals, launches, retreats, and all events CanLit
accessibility. They want to “debate” and “negotiate”
are my workplaces. My practise on social media has been to contact individual workplaces of CanLit and the working writers who appear at them. My consistent, one-sentence request applies to all readers and writers, at all times, whether I’ve ever contacted them or not: “Please do not organize, read at, or attend any inaccessible literary events.” I appeal directly to writers, because, take it from this old unionist and Drama teacher: sit down strikes work. If there ain’t no performers, there ain’t no
They want to rule on when we’re too angry, on which tactics they will tolerate, when we’ve “over-stepped,” and when we should shut up and be satisfied.
just how much they should get to limit our careers. They want to rule on when we’re too angry, on which tactics they will tolerate, when we’ve “over-stepped,” and when we should shut up and be satisfied. They want to “debate” and “negotiate” just how much they should get to hurt me. For my response, I take my cue from Indigenous twitter. I’m indebted to Indigenous voices for
Appearing at
The FOLD
all I have learned about struggle from their postings. In Indigenous discussions, the role of settlers is to listen. Accordingly, in accessibility discussions, the role of abled people is to listen. The humanity of all marginalized groups, our equal inclusion, is not up for debate, or negotiation. It is certainly not going to be handed over to be decided by those who have built, and continue to benefit from, our exclusion, erasure, and oppression. But having lived fifty years of my life pretending to be able-bodied, I also understand why CanLit doesn’t see its ableism as either hypocritical or urgent. One of the first benefits of any privilege is the ability not to see it. But if Hollywood can do it, so can CanLit. After three days of tweeting,
Tanya Talaga Author of Seven Fallen Feathers
I successfully got the founders of #TimesUp to correct their ableist erasure, to include “disabled women” in their New York Times letter and their huge legal fund. This Drama teacher can admit to the momentary thrill of being thanked by America Ferrera and called “rad” by Patricia Arquette. I respect their very public apology and pledge to do better. It is in that light that I ask the same of our stars of CanLit: independent bookstores. Beloved independent bookstores play a vital role in supporting CanLit by promoting both diverse writers and small presses. Now let’s correct
Jillian Tamaki Author/Illustrator of They Say Blue
the erasures of ableism in that sentence: inaccessible independent bookstores, beloved by abled CanLit, historically and currently play a vital role in supporting abled CanLit by promoting abled diverse writers and abled small presses. To prove I’m not “complaining” about a few, atypical stores, I surveyed twenty Toronto
HOUSEOFANANSI.COM
19
>> >> >>
Is your store accessible? How do you define accessibility? How often do you hold events, readings, or launches? On site or off site? Please describe your entry way: • step or no step? • permanent or temporary ramp? • e-button on door both ways in and out?
>>
Inside: • flat floor throughout, no steps or barriers? • all aisles wide enough for wheelchair
>>
Washroom: • on main floor or in basement? • has room for wheelchair turning clearance in stall? • has grab bars, accessible sink, soap, and towel?
bookstores on “Best Bookstore” lists at TO.com:
20
Type Books, A Good Egg, Sleuth of Baker Street, Ella Minnow Children’s Bookstore, Another Story, Mable’s Fables, Book City Danforth, Seekers, The Beguiling, BMV Yonge, Glad Day, Parentbooks, Acadia, Swipe, She Said Boom, Balfour Books, A Different Booklist, Knife/Fork/Book, Bakka-Phoenix, and Ben McNally. I phoned all twenty stores, checked every
>> >> >>
Is there accessibility info on your store’s website? Any discussion with owner/landlord, or any plan to improve accessibility? Any comments you’d like to make?
website. I spoke to seventeen stores and relied
In tabulating my results, I defined accessibility
on website information for three that did not
using far less exacting criteria than the AODA,
return my call. I phoned even when a phone call
(Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act). I
was unnecessary, when website photos unasham-
defined it simply as: a flat entrance way or perma-
edly showed steps at their front door, shouting:
nent ramp, e-buttons on doors, a flat shopping
“No Disabled Need Apply.” In phone interviews, I
area with all aisles wide enough for wheelchairs,
identified myself by name as writing an article on
an accessible washroom including a stall with
accessibility for All Lit Up. I asked for a manager,
wheelchair turn clearance, grab bars, and accessi-
assured them that stores would be listed, but dis-
ble sinks, soap, and towels or dryers. Here are the
cussed only in the aggregate, and I recorded their
aggregate results:
answers to the following:
>> >> >> >> >> >>
Bookstores totally inaccessible given steps at their entrances: 10/20
Time and time again, I was told that accessibility was “just too expensive.” As one owner put it, “It’s an older building. I’d happily take ten to
Bookstores with e-doors: 1/20
fifty thousand dollars from somebody to fix it, but that’s not in the cards.” Another said, “Our land-
Bookstores with accessible washrooms: 0/20
lord has no interest in renovation. Moving is impossible. Any new store would be too expensive.
Bookstores with plans to improve
I’d love a modernized building, but that’s wishful
accessibility: 3/20
thinking.” Many repeated that they were barely making any money as it is, and as one owner put
Bookstores with accessibility information
it, “Accessibility is financially too much of an extra
on their store website: 0/20
burden to bear.” Would anyone ever argue that saving any
By the above definition, total of
amount of money permits organizers the right to
accessible independent bookstores: 0/20
ban any other marginalized group? Imagine what would happen to anyone in CanLit who claimed,
Let me begin by acknowledging that two stores
“But, hey, I’m entitled to use a venue that excludes
came close. I got permission from Glad Day to
women because I can save a hundred bucks.” Yes,
report that the only things they’re missing are:
that is truly offensive. That is my point. I have no
an e-button for exit, washroom grab bars, and
reason to respect the profit margins of any store
confirmation that a wheelchair user can slide
that bans me. I have no responsibility to provide
under their vanity to use sink, soap, and towel, all
solutions, but I have repeatedly offered some.
of which I was told are in the works. Swipe also
Many accessibility renovations are tax deductible.
gave me permission to say they came close: they
Bare minimum, bookstores could still promote
have one section with not enough room for a
authors, still sponsor and sell at readings, but
power chair and there is no store washroom, but
hold all these events off-site, at an accessible
there is an accessible one up the building eleva-
venue other than their inaccessible store. Only
tor. These stores are to be commended for their
one store stated they already do this some of the
awareness, planning, and on-going sensitivity
time. When I asked about off-site events, I got the
they demonstrated.
kind of excuses that, like Tim Horton’s owners, put
I also want to add that all those I spoke to
profits first. “But it costs money to go off site.” But
were thoughtful and polite. All were aware of
we’d have to pay somebody to move the books!”
accessibility issues and saw themselves as doing
“But we’d have to pay another staffer to work the
the best they could. Many wanted to emphasize
event, instead of just paying the regular staffer
that they were “almost accessible.” Unfortunately,
at the store!” “But we wouldn’t get any foot traffic
almost all blamed inaccessibility on their old build-
into the store.” “But we wouldn’t get the extra
ings, as if doing business in them wasn’t a choice.
business an event generates.”
When asked for their comments, they repeatedly
Let’s see just how much I’m worth. Al-
said it was “a shame” and “felt bad” but “had no
though more books may be sold at launches, in
choice.” Many blamed landlords, several saying
my decade of experience, regular readings are
because they rented, it was “out of their hands.”
lucky to sell a handful books. Many folks come
21
because they’ve already read the book. It’s safe to say the same few books would be bought in any
in CanLit. In 2018, we all know peeing is political.
venue, in store or off-site. I can only conclude this:
Would anyone ever dare to run an event telling
disabled readers and writers are not worth the
any other marginalized group they should be
cost of three hours wages for store employees.
willing to be singled out to take themselves off
To quote what so many in CanLit retweeted about
down the street to pee? Of course not. But that is
Tim Horton’s reluctance to raise the minimum
the degrading “negotiation” I’m repeatedly asked
wage: “If your business model depends on exploit-
to make, as if the very act of “debating” my right
ing others, you shouldn’t be in business.” Like Tim
to pee isn’t dehumanizing. Time and time again,
Horton’s owners, the inaccessible workplaces of
when I contact organizers, I’m expected to “com-
CanLit have historically benefited from the dis-
promise,” to agree that a venue is “semi- acces-
criminating enmeshments of ableism and capi-
sible,” because, “everything but the bathroom is
talism. When challenged to change, for too many,
accessible” and that should be “good enough.”
their entitled, default position is likewise to defend the status quo and prioritize their own profits. All but two stores surveyed held in-store pro-
22
The inaccessibility of washrooms is endemic
With enormous reluctance, I will share a story I feel forced to tell because CanLit refuses to hear a woman until she uses feels as a noun,
motional events; some a few times a year, some
or until she’s crying. Delighted to be asked to
several times a month. All but three said they
read at a prominent Toronto reading series,
“couldn’t afford” off-site events. Before anyone
after a two-hour drive, I needed their washroom.
praises these “beloved” bookstores for promoting
Proudly advertised online as “fully accessible,” it
“diversity,” please note this: conservatively speak-
had a table in it, leaving barely enough room for
ing, these twenty stores collectively total thirty
my walker, and no room for a wheelchair. And it
some events per month, or three-hundred-sixty
had no garbage disposal in the stall. I was forced
some events a year. That’s over three thousand
to leave my very full, very smelly, adult diaper on
events over the last decade. None of these events
said table, mortified at the thought that some
have been accessible. This is how inaccessible
poor employee would have to pick it up. From
bookstores participate in the exclusion of dis-
my walker, I couldn’t reach the soap, tap, or tow-
abled writers, how they play a role in the belief
els. I gave my reading with filthy hands. I smiled
that books by disabled writers don’t sell. They
and pretended. I left early and I cried all the way
don’t sell because we don’t have equal access to
home. I know many abled people can’t see or
the workplaces that sell them.
hear disabled pain unless we debase ourselves
Only three stores had a plan to improve accessibility. Without one, they have no hope of meeting the AODA goal of full accessibility by 2025. One owner with steps at their front door actually said, “I don’t have a plan because I don’t feel anyone is being turned down. Nobody is coming to the store and saying, dammit, I can’t come in.” No, disabled patrons are being driven to patronize Chapters and Indigo, stores with both accessible parking and accessible washrooms.
I will only say this: when I am hired and paid to work there, the provision of accessible workplace washrooms is not a debate.
to your pity, but I will never do so again. I will only
times a month. Do you really expect me to give up
say this: when I am hired and paid to work there,
my white privilege for you?”
the provision of accessible workplace washrooms is not a debate. Period. And this is where I likewise hold the audience
I feel pushed to this hyper-analogy because I am hyper offended by the fact that too many in CanLit are taking a page from UBCAccountable:
accountable. Would a store or publisher pay a few
continuing to do harm while pretending not to
hundred dollars to keep from having their names
see it, then refusing to own it even when it is
irreparably sullied by being known for hosting
pointed out to them. I can count on one hand
an event in a building that denied transgender
the abled colleagues who have publicly rejected
readers and writers their washrooms of choice?
their abled privilege, and have consistently and
Hell, yes. But it is precisely because they know an
permanently refused to organize, appear at, or
abled audience won’t mind, that their names will
attend, inaccessible literary events. Most of these
not be at all sullied by providing no washroom at
are women of colour and I deeply respect their
all for disabled readers and writers, that stores
principled understanding that true diversity must
and publishers continue to shrug and run events
include us all. Where are the rest of you?
in inaccessible buildings. So, dear colleagues, if on your personal time,
No abled white writers, no abled male writers, no abled agents, no abled publishers, no abled lit-
you want to uncritically patronize the entire rest
erary organizations, except the Festival of Literary
of the inaccessible world, stores, theatres, sport-
Diversity, no abled publishers large or small, have
ing events, bars, and restaurants, I don’t respect
taken a principled position to refuse to attend
that choice, but the disabled community is not currently asking you to boycott them. CripCan-
23
Lit and I are simply asking you not to work at or attend inaccessible CanLit workplaces. Please don’t be like UBCAccountable signatories who prioritize their privilege to keep their status-quo slice of status and profits. Please stop saying this: “I liked your last post on accessibility, Dorothy. I did my bit. So, sorry, I’m going that reading next week. Yes, it’s inaccessible and there aren’t any disabled authors in the series, but I’ve got to build my platform. I have the right to network. Do you really expect me to give up career opportunities for you?” While I find it interesting that these colleagues admit that they are at work whether giving or attending a literary event, I can’t ever in a bizillion years ever imagine myself looking one of my friends of colour in the eye and saying, “Hey, I liked the article on decolonization you posted last week. I did my bit. But I’m fine with going to, and appearing in, all-white reading series a couple of
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24
Proud supporters of the FOLD, and of diversity everywhere.
Get our stories, essays, books, and more at littlefiction.com
inaccessible events. Instead, CanLit smugly contin-
ist, homophobic or transphobic events. Because
ues to reap their abled privilege. This goes far be-
I am not a hypocrite, I hereby decide that as of
yond bookstores. The human right to accessibility
this moment I will not organize, read at, or attend,
and inclusion equally applies to all structures of
any inaccessible events.” Done. Ten seconds
CanLit: to all readings, retreats, launches, festivals,
tops. Thank you. If there ain’t no ableist talent, no
writing programs, journals, agencies and pub-
ableist producers, and no ableist audience, there
lishers. It likewise applies to my request of arts
won’t be any more ableist shows.
councils: tax payer money should not be used to fund inaccessible workplaces.
Is there even one accessible independent bookstore in all of Toronto? A good question.
CanLit needs to hear the urgency of dis-
abled twitter: “Access delayed is access denied.” I’m done with self-appointed “allies” telling me “it
Is there one anywhere in Canada? Another good question. What are we going to do about it? That’s the
takes time.” Who assure me “accessibility is on our
best question. In short, CanLit, it’s up to you.
radar,” but, “change moves slowly.” It’s ass-saving,
Inaccessibility is not chiseled in stone. If you want
horse-poopery. Here’s exactly how long it takes;
to take your signature off the ableist historical re-
please read this aloud: “I long ago decided that I
cord, if you want to stop letting buildings do your
will not organize, read at, or attend any racist, sex-
dirty work for you, please do so. //
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25
Previously published in GEIST 103: Winter, 2016.
CARBON BY ERIN SOROS 26
Age forty-six and I’ve moved in with my parents.
was in the hospital, my parents brought me
I’m not proud of this turn of events, but I make an
healthy foods—walnuts and grapes—and kept
effort, shower and dress, sit in front of the
asking if I was eating all right, as if my body were
computer for a few hours each day. At breakfast
in trouble and not my mind. They stuffed a folder
my father tells me his dreams. Last night I had
with photocopies of my certificates and awards
one, he says, about some random country, like
and presented it to the psychiatrist to prove that I
India. He scarfs down his porridge. He nods at me
wasn’t always this way. They gave food to the
to finish mine. It’s hard to concentrate when I’m
other patients and called them each by name. My
on these meds, and harder still to shrug off the
father went to shake everyone’s hand. One guy
feeling I’ve failed. Just tell people you are taking
had obsessive-compulsive disorder and wouldn’t
some time off, is what my father says in his booming, gruff voice. You are recharging the old batteries! Imagine you have cancer, my mother suggests, her voice enthusiastic, no one will judge you! The comparison to cancer makes me uneasy, how she uses one illness to legitimize another, without ever referring to what I actually have. It makes me suspect my family would be happier if I did have another kind of disease, one that would be easier to describe to the neighbours. When I
Just tell people you are taking some time off, is what my father says in his booming, gruff voice. You are recharging the old batteries!
let my father touch him. Instead he showed my
they still wouldn’t call it what it is. Mike Wallace,
father how you can shake someone’s hand just by
my father says, I saw it on TV. We don’t mention
holding your palm up in the air and pumping your
what I screamed in the hospital. We don’t discuss
arm, fingers outstretched and touching nothing.
what I dreamed when I was awake. I don’t have
My mother brought me a basket of clean clothes.
the slightest idea how to talk about psychosis,
She told me she had handwashed everything in
although now I’ve gone and mentioned the word.
the sink. I was careful, she said. I asked her why
My mother is reorganizing the spice cabinet.
she didn’t use the washing machine. I’m scared of
Some of these things, she says, we haven’t used
your clothing, she said. All the details, the sparkly
in years. Look at this, I can’t even tell what it is.
things—they could fall off. But I don’t think it’s my
Can you smell it? Can you identify it at all? Look
clothing that frightens her. My symptoms came
now, she says, I’m just going to throw it out. They
on suddenly, that’s the thing, and then left just as
worry that what happened to me could all be
suddenly, and now my parents have their daugh-
their fault. That they raised me wrong or passed
ter back but they’ve learned that my days can
along some gene that only finds expression in
collapse. So they move around me eagerly, ask
me. When does psychosis begin? That’s the
me my plans for the day, their voices chipper. My
problem. I could describe the full moon emerging
mother leaves stickers on my dresser—rainbows
from a rippling ocean; or a man sitting next to a
and butterflies. My father backs up my computer.
sign that asks for spare change; or the soundtrack
If I had experienced depression, that might have
to The Sweet Hereafter, Sarah Polley’s plaintive
been easier for them to understand, although
voice singing “courage, my word”; or the feel of a
27
28
bone snapping when I slipped on ice. Instead I
fried with twelve cloves of garlic and when my
drive with my mother to buy a plate shaped like a
mother took him out in the car she had to roll
fish. The plate is only available in one of the big
down the windows. It came through the pores of
box stores in Coquitlam, a neighbouring suburb
his skin, she said. I imagine the rank odour of
of Vancouver, the kind of suburb that calls itself a
garlic mingling with his old-man smell. He said the
city and even has signs that say “City Centre,” but
F word so frequently that the hospital had to put
you find there’s no centre at all, just long lines of
a sign on the door warning the nurses. They used
highway and high-rises that hug the highway and
the word “profanity.” She told me they didn’t use
ugly new buildings emerging in the kind of
the F word in the sign. My mother still hasn’t
emptiness that invites signs that say things like “If
managed to get out the joke. The traffic has
you lived here, you’d be home by now.” Who
started moving past the hole in the road. There is
would want to live here is what I ask my mother.
always a hole in the road in stories when a
We are lost, in any case, having missed some
narrator is avoiding something. My mother says
turnoff to the big box store that advertised a fish
what she regrets most is that she wasn’t at
plate for twelve dollars. I was going to hang it on
Densil’s side when he died. She’d gone home to
my wall and not use it ever or it would chip. We
make a phone call about the arrangements for
are stopped in traffic, the cars inching forward
the funeral, to make sure his sister Middy would
into the intersection and then just stopping so I
be there. He knew you loved him, I tell her. That’s
have to wait while the light goes red then green
what’s important. He didn’t want to die, she says.
then red again and nothing moves. We are going
Was he afraid? No, she says, he just liked life. I
nowhere. People in fluorescent vests by the
love how simply she says it, like life is there
highway are waving signs telling us to stop and
waiting for you to like it or not. My mother likes a
what else could we do? They are standing next to
nice mall. Oh, she says, this is a nice mall. Her
a giant hole. Think of all the carbon monoxide
face lights up and she walks with more energy as
they are breathing, I say. I can feel my own brain
we pass the stores. They look the same to me as
cells begin to die. There are two seasons in
all other stores. We stop in the A&W for a root
Canada, I say: winter and construction. My
beer. She talks to me and leaves pauses for me to
mother laughs like the joke is my original inven-
say something but I don’t say anything and she
tion. She says when my brother did construction
just keeps talking as if I have. I feel I’ve earned this
work on the highway, people yelled at him and
fish plate, having ventured into this no man’s land
threw coffee at him from their cars. People can
of a suburb and into this directionless mall. I
be like that, she says. She says this was the direction she used to drive to visit my aunt Nunny in the old-age home. My relatives have odd names, nicknames—Aunt Nunny, Aunt Middy, Cousin Nippers, Uncle Ticktie. My great-uncle Densil didn’t have a nickname. My mother starts to tell me something he said before he died but she can’t tell the story because she is laughing too hard. Of all my aunts and uncles, he was the funniest. Every morning he used to eat an egg
I know there are other plates, carbon copies of this particular plate, sitting on a shelf in other versions of this store, but I like to imagine that I’ve caught the only one.
notice there are no clocks, no windows. The plate
wrapped in paper and is sitting on the floor in the
is waiting for me at guest services. We call our
back seat of the car and when we get home I
customers “guests,” the woman had said helpfully
unwrap it carefully and put it up on my shelf
on the phone. I had put the plate on hold, wor-
above my computer in the bedroom where I used
ried someone else would nab what was mine. I
to live as a teenager when I hated my parents and
know there are other plates, carbon copies of this
didn’t want to look or sound anything like them.
particular plate, sitting on a shelf in other versions
Look at that. My mother and I stand and appreci-
of this store, but I like to imagine that I’ve caught
ate it. I’ll call it “Coquitlam.” I’ll always think of you
the only one. It’s pale blue. It’s twelve dollars. It’s a
when I see that fish. I’ll always think of our road
symbol of Christ, I’ve read on the internet, but
trip to the nice mall. We have salmon for dinner
also a symbol of determination and intuition, and
and I ask my father what he thinks of my fish and
I thought it would make a good decoration for my
he says it’s all right but I’d like a sauce on it to
writing room because when you are floundering
make it a bit less dry. I ask him if he believes in
in a sentence it feels like you are swimming
the afterlife and he says it’s all superstition and
against the current and when you are in the
malarkey and we are made of carbon. We’re all
depth of a story it feels like you are underwater. I
stardust, he says. We’re all going to return to
never feel like Christ, even when I’m psychotic. On
being a star. But what is going to come out of that
the way home from the nice mall I ask my mother
star, my mother says, people? Are people going to
if she believes in an afterlife. I don’t know, she
come out? //
says. I’d like to see Nana again. But I don’t believe in heaven with the angels and everything all white. Or hell, a great big fire! Who could believe that? I think people just made up hell to make other people feel bad. She’s not a very reliable
“A place where I can be heard.” —Geoffrey Chang,
inkwell participant
Catholic. Years ago on a ferry between Vancouver and Nanaimo I asked her if she thought Christ was the son of God and she said, rubbing her fries thoughtfully in the vinegar, well, I believe he was a nice man. Now in the car on the highway we are moving faster toward home because there is no construction on this side of the road. We are whizzing along. This is how life feels in its second half. I ask her if she feels hopeful about my life. I do, she says. I mean I feel sad about your episodes. (That’s the word we use, “episodes,” like they are a series on TV.) But I do feel hopeful. I think something good is going to happen. When she says this, I remember that feeling I had when I was a child, the sense of expectation, a giddy rush, a fish flipping in your stomach when you run barefoot down a grass hill. The fish plate is
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www.inkwellworkshops.com
29
Originally published on Medium.com, April 3, 2018.
FIGHTING CANCER AND FINDING MY VOICE BY JAMIL JIVANI 30
I’ve spent the last two years writing the story of my
age, the doctor replied with tears in her eyes. “It’s
life and that of other young men I’ve known along
just bad luck.”
the way, for a book called Why Young Men. After all
I later learned that non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
of that work, I thought I knew myself as well as a
has grown into my bones, causing fractures in my
30-year-old can know himself. But I learned that
neck and back, damaging my spine. It is consid-
there is at least one big thing I didn’t know. Some-
ered stage IV.
thing I wish I had figured out sooner. I have cancer.
I called my girlfriend, Christie, to tell her what was going on. She says she knew something was
Learning something new On Family Day 2018 (a public holiday in Ontario), I
wrong when all I could utter was “um” before a long pause. I’m not used to being at a loss for
went to the emergency room at North York General Hospital. I thought I was going in to have a routine problem dealt with and maybe leave with some antibiotics prescribed to me. I expected to be in and out within hours. No big deal. After checking me out and reviewing some tests, a doctor sat me down. “I’m sorry,” she said with concern in her eyes. “I think you have lymphoma.” When asked how I could get so sick at my
Words usually come easily to me. I might not always choose the right ones, but I almost always have something to say.
words, or needing to use “um” to buy myself some
ing. The older men already there looked uncom-
time. Words usually come easily to me. I might not
fortable, as if they were denied dignity when put
always choose the right ones, but I almost always
on public display like that. I chose to call the green
have something to say. Christie knows that better
zone home and tried to fall asleep in a small room
than anybody.
where x-ray machines are stored at night.
As if I lost my voice, I didn’t know how to
Eventually, I was moved to a hospital bed. I
tell her the bad news. I felt like I’d been sucker
could sleep, finally. It was quiet. The bright lights
punched, and I knew hearing the word “cancer”
of the emergency room were gone. I listened to
would hit Christie just as hard. The best I could
music to pass the time.
muster was “um” before being overwhelmed with
I cried when Bone Thugs’ “Tha Crossroads”
emotion. I gave the phone over to my dear mom
and Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying”
and asked her to break the news to Christie for
came up on my playlist.
me. Per usual, mom was strong enough to do so. I stayed at the hospital for four days to undergo testing. For the first two days, there were no hospital beds available (unsurprising in Ontario’s
I reminisced about simpler times when hearing songs from my childhood, such as Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” and Wu-Tang’s “Triumph”. I felt anxious when Lukas Graham’s “7 Years”
health care system). I was given the choice to lie
and Lauryn Hill’s “To Zion” played. Those songs
down on a stretcher in a crowded hallway full of
make me look forward to the future, and having
people or sit in the “green zone” waiting area.
my own family.
Lying down in the crowded hallway wasn’t appeal-
Music was a nice distraction when I needed
31
one, but little more than that. I needed more to
Kingdom House, I was embraced by community
cope with the news that my life might end much
leaders. “You have a purpose here that hasn’t
earlier than I expected. I needed hope.
been fulfilled yet”, one of the church elders said
In late March, I recorded a message to my
encouragingly. Another member of the church
friends after undergoing radiation and chemo-
told me as we hugged, “This is just a chapter in
therapy treatments.
your next book. You have more life to live.” Hope, for the first time since being diagnosed,
Finding hope
felt less elusive.
Four days after being told the life-changing news, I
over to the old neighborhood we grew up in and
went home to await biopsy results for the longest two weeks of my life. A friend shared a book with me, The Anatomy of Hope by Dr. Jerome Groopman. In it I found a definition of hope that was helpful. “Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when we see — in the mind’s eye — a path to a better future. Hope acknowledges the significant obstacles and deep pitfalls along that path. True hope has no room for delusion.” Most good things in my life have come from being able to see a path to a better future, even when there was little good reason to do so. Since
32
being told I was sick, I couldn’t see a better future on the horizon. My vision was clouded by the knowledge that I was seriously ill. It was hard to see a better future beyond the radiation and chemotherapy that awaited me. I did, at some point, need to return back to the rest of the world, though. To turn my phone on, check my emails, post on Facebook and, most importantly, see my friends. But, I was scared of finding myself without words again, overwhelmed by emotion like I was when calling Christie from the emergency room. I thought people would see
After church, my sisters and I then went walked around. Many things had changed since we last lived there more than 12 years ago. Seeing all of the changes in the neighborhood, I felt happy that I had written about my life and some of the other young men who grew up with me. Our history might have been lost with the rapid urbanization of Brampton, the increases in property value and the high turnover in families that call the area home. But, writers like me are able to document what we saw, felt and heard as we tried to find an identity for ourselves. Our generation of Canadians would be better known and, hopefully, better understood, even if the environment that shaped us was no longer recognizable. With this in mind, a path to a better future started to become visible. The better future I started to see is one in which the time I’ve spent on the earth thus far could have an impact that outlives me. My story, and its potential value to others, could have a future far brighter than my own. The path for me, then, was to finish what I started two years ago and get my story out to the world.
me as weak. Not just physically weak, but also
Absurdity
mentally and emotionally weak, if I couldn’t speak
Learning to be a writer over the last couple of
with the confidence and optimism that people
years was the culmination of a decade of me
who know me would expect.
breaking from a past of parroting others’ ideas.
On the Sunday after I was released from the
For a large part of my life, I had a very hard time
hospital, I attended church at Kingdom House in
thinking for myself. I was mostly a vessel for the
Brampton, about a ten minute drive away from
conclusions other people made. Hollywood, hip-
where I went to primary and middle school. At
hop, online conspiracy theories, racial nationalists
and divisive political movements dominated my
broader group agenda, which is often set by the
thinking. Others’ ideas had a hold on me in part
loudest people claiming the authority to speak on
because I was convinced that embracing them
behalf of an entire identity group without demo-
was a way to be real or authentic as a man and
cratic checks and balances.
a black person. I allowed people to dictate to me
In learning to be a writer, I’ve had to find my
what I should think and feel because of authority
own voice and cut through identity politics. I’ve had
they claimed over my identity.
to get used to thinking I have an individual story
Identity politics at the mainstream and at
that’s worth telling, however incomplete. I’ve also
the extreme fringes of our society encourage
had to get used to the possibility that share my
young people to stifle their own voices in the
experiences can help others be better understood.
ways I learned to. By placing group identity at the
When you think you have all the time in the
forefront of politics and culture, even the most
world, it’s less costly to waste time parroting oth-
well-intentioned use of identity politics often
ers’ ideas or stifling your own individual voice. As I
promotes a linked fate view of the world. Linked
was abruptly reminded a few weeks ago, though,
fate refers to the sentiment that an individual’s
none of us have all of the time in the world. I’m
success is tied to the success of her or his race.
thankful to have had the opportunity to tell my
This obfuscation of individual success and group
own story, in my own words. At minimum, I hope
success can also apply to other identity markers,
my experience might encourage other young peo-
like gender. A linked fate view of the world makes
ple to do the same. Don’t waste a single minute
individual thoughts and feelings subordinate to a
while you’re here being anything but yourself. //
33
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RACISM IN THE CANADIAN BOOK PUBLISHING INDUSTRY BY ORVILLE LLOYD DOUGLAS 34
Imagine opening your eyes, yet feeling like you are
books of Canada—that is, this country’s written
invisible. Imagine listening to the television or the
records and accounts of its history—offer a myth
radio and being told that your nation is a tolerant
that the Canadian book publishing industry is
place of racial harmony--while knowing that the
progressive, and inclusive of all writers regardless
truth is a lie. The Canada that I see on CBC Televi-
of their race. Yet this is a facade. The international
sion has nothing to do with me—except, of course,
success of Alice Munro and fellow white Canadian
if there is news about a black male committing a
author Margaret Atwood masks a severe problem
crime, or some bit of entertainment about a black
with the Canadian book publishing industry—its
rapper like Drake.
subversive racism. Canadians pride ourselves on
The image of Canada which is presented to
being open-minded and politically correct, yet
the world is a white image—one of hockey, cold winters, Molson beer, polar bears, and snow. This is of course a stereotype, but it is a stereotype that underpins much of how Canada is viewed by the rest of the world, and it automatically displaces Canadian people who are not white. This is true of the televised media world, and the world of books and publishing is no better. Books play an important role a nation’s history because they offer written records and accounts of a nation that can be traced through time. The
Since literary fiction has been the domain of white writers for so long, it follows that Canadian literature is focused around white writers.
another well-worn aspect of Canadian culture is
attitude that in order to be a good writer a writer
polite bigotry. This polite bigotry underpins how the
must write in the literary way. Since literary fiction
Canadian book industry operates in relation to non-
has been the domain of white writers for so long, it
white writers.
follows that Canadian literature is focused around
All too often, a dialogue about the issue of race
white writers. Yet what about the stories of Cana-
makes white Canadians uncomfortable. Race, and
dian people who are not white? For instance, a few
racial issues, is something that Canadian culture
years ago, I attempted to get a poetry book pub-
and literature choose to ignore—because for a long
lished in Canada. Over and over, I was told some
time, simply avoiding the abhorrent bigotry in the
variation of the same thing: “Sorry, it’s really interest-
Canadian book publishing industry was enough to
ing but it doesn’t fit our list very well. Best luck with it.”
convince many people that it didn’t exist. The “traditional”, myopic, snow-covered image
It’s one simple sentence, but it hurts every time. Every single writer is cognizant of the fact that
of Canada is a Eurocentric one, which displaces
rejection is a part of the game of writing. Writing is
and renders Canadians of colour invisible. Likewise,
kind of like dating—you have to impress the pub-
Canadian literature is also very Eurocentric, and
lisher or editor to publish your work, and rejection
espouses the same qualities—myopism, snobbery,
inevitably hurts in the same way. And like dating,
elitism—that render Canadian writers of colour
writing also has biases and prejudices, because the
invisible. The image of Canada that is presented to
gatekeepers who decide whether a manuscript gets
the world through books is a white image.
published base that decision on their personal feel-
To begin with: Canadian literature is biased toward the literary fiction genre, with the overall
ings. While it is true that publishers do also make decisions based on researching their audience and
35
understanding the demographics of the readers
to take on new clients is also, likewise, small. Visit a
and audiences they are trying to reach, Canadian
Canadian bookstore and you will see that there is
publishers are less willing to take a chance on a
a paucity of books being published by young Black
Black Canadian writer when compared to a white
Canadian writers under the age of forty. The most
Canadian writer.
prolific Black writers in Canada—writers like George
The response that this particular Canadian poetry editor had for my poetry manuscript was
Lawrence Hill—are all over the age of fifty! These
opaque, but beneath the surface her statement
Black Canadian writers have all achieved acclaim
was subversive. While she didn’t directly say, “Look,
in Canada and abroad, and so the Canadian book
you are an openly gay Black Canadian man and we
publishing industry doesn’t make an effort to
don’t want to publish Black writers and we don’t know
nurture younger Black talent because they feel like
how to market you,” I personally would have pre-
they don’t need to.
ferred this answer, because at least it would mean that she had been honest. My reason for thinking this is simple: this
36
Elliott Clarke, Nalo Hopkinson, Dionne Brand, and
And yet, despite this, if you visit any bookstore in any major Canadian city you’ll see a stereotypical Black Books section with few Canadian titles—the
particular Canadian publisher does publish gay
majority of the books are from African American
writers, but these writers tend to only be white.
writers such as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, or Terry
This Canadian publisher only published one book
McMillan. Despite the success of the aforemen-
by a Black Canadian—Dionne Brand. Brand is an
tioned Black Canadian writers, Canadian publish-
amazing writer—she is an educated professor who
ers are happy to continue to displace even them.
works at the University of Guelph—but her stand-
The Canadian book publishing industry isn’t doing
point in society is that of a senior citizen. I checked
enough to allow the voices and words of a new gen-
the catalogue of this Canadian book publisher and
eration of Black writing to emerge or to continue
the fact Brand is the only Black Canadian they have
celebrating those Black writers who have achieved
published speaks volumes. There are many talent-
widespread success.
ed Black Canadian writers who don’t get a chance to, NOT being white. It is no secret that the Canadian publishing
Although some people believe that in the Canadian publishing industry only judges a writer in relation to their use of grammar, originality, tone, and
industry is much smaller than the American or
structure, I would argue that Black writers—and all
even the British publishing industry. In Canada, the
writers of colour—are also judged on our race and
number of literary agents who are willing and able
sexual orientation. The fact is, book publishers in
There is very little fiction or non-fiction published in Canada specifically about the Black Canadian gay male experience.
Canada are trying to reach a white, predominantly straight audience. Since I am a gay Black man, the ideology of some editors is they cannot market my work to Black heterosexuals. And since I am a gay person of colour, even the gay publishing arena in Canada—which caters mostly to gay people who are white—remains closed to me. The Canadian book publishing industry is a lot like high school—there is an “in crowd” of writers, and the majority of these writers, this “in-crowd” that are praised by the industry, tend to be white. Once in a while, a token writer of colour may receive praise from the Canadian publishing industry—such as Esi Edugyan, the author of Half Blood Blues, or Lawrence Hill, the author of The Book Of Negroes—and these instances are almost always held up as examples of racial diversity in the Canadian publishing industry. Yet one of my concerns about Black writing in particular is that it is often pigeon-holed—why, in order for a Black writer to become successful, is it assumed that he or she must write about slavery? Why can’t we make space for new stories? There is very little fiction or non-fiction published in Canada specifically about the Black Canadian gay male experience. Our lives—they do matter. Young gay Black men experience an incredible amount of oppression and racism from both the Black heterosexual community and the white queer community. As a result of this, I often feel caught between two worlds. I want to give voice to this struggle. And so I write for the voiceless. I write to expose the fact that Canada as a utopian, multicultural paradise is a façade. And while I don’t have a solution to these questions I have asked myself, I am also not giving up. My second poetry book, Under My Skin, came out with Guernica Editions in May of 2014. It was a long
Open call for Fiction and Poetry submissions Because a national literature should look and sound like the people it represents. We welcome submissions from new and established authors of fiction and poetry year-round. Visit tnq.ca/submit for more information.
Nonfiction more your thing? TNQ has a range of nonfiction features that focus on the writing life: • Day Jobs • In Conversation • Magazine as Muse • On Writing • Soundings • The Writer at Large • Word & Image Most of these are works we’ve solicited from writers we know and love. We are open to queries, though, so pitch your best notion to editor@tnq.ca, and we’ll talk.
journey, and a struggle. My hope is as I continue to write, that the journey will become easier for other writers like me. //
tnq.ca/submit
37
Previously Published on S.T.A.R.C.H, January 19, 2017.
HAPPY TO BE NAPPY BY DAVID NAZARIO 38
As most people who identify within the African Diaspora, I have had an interesting journey with my hair. I’ve worn it short and long, had a box, almost had braids, picked it out, matted it down, relaxed it once, stuck up for it, and let it grow freely in an attempt to show pride in my African-ness. Growing up, I remember describing my hair as “confused.” It wouldn’t move and curl up neatly, but it wasn’t “bad”, either. Because of my mother and father, and those who came before them, my hair was and still is a representation of my African and Puerto Rican roots. Looking back, all of these experiences have given me insight into what it is that I truly want my hair to represent. Or have they? Because I identify as Afro-Latino, does it mean that my hair has to represent something? Furthermore, if this is the case, then how does one’s hair properly represent Blackness (if that is even what it’s supposed to represent)? Does this hair have to be locked? Does it have to be in an afro or braids? Can it be short? Should it be natural or can it be fake?
My oldest brother, who is darker-skinned than I am, has hair that is straighter than mine. My middle brother is lighter than I am, but his hair is coarser than mine - so much for the “dark skin, nappy hair, light skin, good hair” thing that we do, right? But this is not to say that it doesn’t exist, because of course it does. We know this goes on. Here are a few other things that we know for sure. We know that in 2018, thanks to long overdue advancements in fashion and art, what is considered to be “black hair” is becoming more and more popular and accepted by the day. But we also know that as with math, science, fashion, and religion, schools of thought and trends that are associated with Blackness are often criticized and even demonized. They are put down and considered less than only to then be consumed, mass produced, and celebrated by a group who is more dominant. Colored hair extensions, large hoop earrings, cornrows, Bantu knots, piercings, and rap music are all examples of this. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.
But the purpose of this article isn’t to point fingers at who should or should not be wearing a particular hairstyle. What I’ve learned from my own hair journey is that our hair is just that—our hair. It owes no explanations. It should not have to assimilate, but if it does want to assimilate, then that’s between us and our hair. It can be fake or relaxed if we want it to be, because it doesn’t now, nor will it ever, have the authority or privilege to negate or solidify Blackness. My hair owes my Blackness no explanation, and my Blackness need not look to my hair for its approval. That is not how Blackness works, although some would have us to believe otherwise. Without a doubt, our hair is a reflection of our African roots, but what it cannot be is the end all be all to our experience as Black people. It shouldn’t have that much power. And if it does, how can this power be reduced and put back into its proper place, considering all of the more pressing issues going on in the world? But wait—let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. The fact of the matter is, my hair does have
power that is deemed both good and bad. If I let it grow out, it is a mane unmatched; it can greet and leave a room even before I do. Like magic, it can stand on its own without help from anyone. But this power doesn’t always work for my good. As unfortunate as it is, I may one day go into a job interview and not be considered fairly because of my hair. I may be pulled over by the police more rapidly and thought of as less intelligent because of it. I might still have an African American friend with locs tell me that I no longer look “authentic” when my hair is cut short, and Latinos in my life who’d themselves rather go bald than have my “Black hair.” Despite all of this, every hair on my head has my permission to be exactly what I want it to be and nothing more, because my hair and hair that looks like mine has been through enough already. The fact of the matter is, in 2018, my hair is still being recognized as the most hated, copied, and now celebrated strands of all time—as “nappy” as they may or may not be. And I don’t know about you, but I’m happy with that. //
39
AUTHORS AND PERFORMERS
AMBER DAWN
BASSAM
SHARON BALA
S.K. ALI
NASIM ASGARI
LISA CHARLEYBOY
JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS
CHERIE DIMALINE
OMAR EL AKKAD
VICKI ESSEX
RACHEL GIESE
CATHERINE HERNANDEZ
JAMIL JIVANI
MICHELLE KADARUSMAN
FARTUMO KUSOW
KYO MACLEAR
RABINDRANATH MAHARAJ
LEE MARACLE
ROBYN MAYNARD
KAYLA PERRIN
MARIA QAMAR
DAVID A. ROBERTSON
WALI SHAH
DANE SWAN
TANYA TALAGA
JILLIAN TAMAKI
KIM THÚY
MICHELLE WAN
JOSHUA WHITEHEAD
40
FACES OF THE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS AMANDA BETTS
CHRIS BUCCI
ANITA CHONG
DANA GRIMALDI
41
BRITTANY LAVERY
ZOE MASLOW
PATRICIA OCAMPO
STEPHANIE SINCLAIR
DEBORAH SUN DE LA CRUZ
MEG WHEELER
ALI HASSAN
MIRANDA HILL
CARRIANNE LEUNG
RICKY LIMA
DUNCAN MCCUE
AMANDA PARRIS
MODERATORS LAMOI
KAI CHENG THOM
LÉONICKA VALCIUS
MALLE VALLIK
FESTIVAL PARTICIPANTS AUTHORS AND PERFORMERS AMBER DAWN lives on the unceded Coast Salish territories/ Vancouver. She is the author of the speculative fiction novel Sub Rosa (2010), memoir How Poetry Saved My Life: A Hustler’s Memoir (2013), and poetry collection Where the words end and my body begins (2015). Her sophomore novel Sodom Road Exit (2018) probes themes of systemic poverty, trauma, vengeful ghosts and lesbian desire, all set in a failed amusement park town in the early ‘90s. BASSAM (they/them or xe/xim) is a (gender)queer, Jewish/ Middle-Eastern spoken word poet and a long-time sufferer of body dysmorphia, bipolar and eating disorders. they were editor-in-chief for these pills don’t come in my skin tone, a poetry collection exclusively by Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) on the topic of mental health and illness, released in fall 2017.
42
S.K. ALI is the author of SAINTS AND MISFITS, chosen by Kirkus and NYPL as one of the best YA novels of 2017. She has a degree in Creative Writing and lives and teaches in Toronto. NASIM ASGARI is a thinker and dreamer, born in Tehran and based in Toronto. Nasim is currently in her third year at York University studying human rights and equity studies. A seeker and student of the truth who passionately writes and performs poetry. Nasim began writing at the age of 10 when she decided to use her voice and written words to express herself and bring awareness to issues that are often undermined by today’s world. SHARON BALA’s best-selling debut novel, The Boat People, was a 2018 Canada Reads finalist. She won the 2017 Journey Prize and had a second story on the long-list. Sharon is a member of The Port Authority, a St. John’s writing group. Her short fiction has appeared in: Hazlitt, Grain, PRISM international, The Dalhousie Review, The New Quarterly, Room, Riddle Fence, and in a collection called Racket. LISA CHARLEYBOY (Tsilhqot’in from Tsi Deldel First Nation) is an award-winning writer, editor, storyteller and host. She keeps her finger on the pulse of Indigenous issues through projects like the CBC Radio One series New Fire, the APTN documentary television series Urban Native Girl and through her anthologies with Annick Press—with the Fall 2017 release called #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women. JOHNNIE CHRISTMAS is the creator of of the graphic novel, FIREBUG. He co-created the #1 New York Times Best Selling graphic novel series ANGEL CATBIRD with acclaimed writer Margaret Atwood. He’s also co-created the critically acclaimed series SHELTERED. He is a graduate of the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, earning a BFA in Communication Design/Illustration. Johnnie makes Vancouver, BC his home.
CHERIE DIMALINE is a writer and editor from the Georgian Bay Métis Community in Ontario who has published four books. Her latest book, The Marrow Thieves, won both the 2017 Governor General’s Award and the prestigious Kirkus Prize for Young Readers and is a finalist for the White Pine Award. The Marrow Thieves was also named a Book of Year by the National Public Radio, the School Library Journal, the New York Public Library, the Globe and Mail, Quill & Quire, and Kirkus Reviews and is a national bestseller. Cherie currently lives in Toronto, Ontario where she coordinates the annual Indigenous Writers’ Gathering and is at work on her next novel. OMAR EL AKKAD is an author and journalist. He is the recipient of the Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for young journalists and a National Newspaper Award for investigative journalism. His debut novel, American War, was named a best book of the year by the New York Times, the Washington Post, GQ and several other publications. It has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Omar lives just south of Portland, Oregon. VICKI ESSEX has written 6 contemporary romances for Harlequin Superromance. She also writes YA the fantasy Western series THE DEVIL’S REVOLVER as V.S. McGrath. RACHEL GIESE is editor-at-large at Chatelaine and is a regular contributor to CBC Radio. She’s the author of Boys: What it Means to Become a Man (2018). CATHERINE HERNANDEZ is an award-winning author and Artistic Director of b current performing arts. Her first novel, Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press) won the Jim Wong-Chu Award, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award and longlisted for CBC Canada Reads. Scarborough made the “Best of 2017” lists for Globe and Mail, National Post, Quill and Quire and CBC Books. She is currently writing her next book, Crosshairs. JAMIL JIVANI is a Canadian lawyer, activist, professor and author. He holds research and teaching appointments at Yale Law School and Osgoode Hall Law School. He is also the executive director of the education and advocacy organization, Citizen Empowerment Project. Jamil is also the director of law and policy at Our Ohio Renewal, which was founded to develop solutions to the issues raised in J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy. MICHELLE KADARUSMAN is an Australian/Indonesian/ Canadian children’s author and the founder of a literacy initiative in Toronto called Raising Readers. She is also the submissions and marketing manager for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Michelle has contributed several stories for Chirp and chickaDEE magazines and published a YA novel, OUT OF IT, in 2014. A middle grade novel, THE THEORY OF HUMMINGBIRDS was released in 2017. She lives in Toronto.
Born in Somalia, FARTUMO KUSOW immigrated to Canada at the start of the civil war. Her first novel, Amran, was serialized in October Star, Mogadishu: Somali National Press in 1984. Since her arrival in Canada in 1991 she has earned a B. Arts Honours in English Language and Literature and B. Education from the University of Windsor. She now teaches English literature courses for the Greater Essex County District School Board. KYO MACLEAR is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. She is currently a doctoral student at York University and associate faculty with Guelph University’s Creative Writing MFA and The Humber School of Writers. She shares a home with her partner and two children. RABINDRANATH MAHARAJ is the author of five novels and three short story collections. His last novel, The Amazing Absorbing Boy, won both the Toronto Book Award and the Trillium Fiction Prize. Previous books were nominated for various awards, including the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, The Chapters First Novel Award, and The Rogers Fiction Award. In January 2013, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. North Vancouver–born LEE MARACLE is the author of numerous critically acclaimed literary works, A member of the Sto: Loh nation, Maracle is a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Ontario Premier’s Award for Excellence. Maracle is currently an instructor in the Aboriginal Studies Program at the University of Toronto. She is also the Traditional Teacher for First Nation’s House. Her latest book is My Conversations with Canadians. ROBYN MAYNARD is the author of Policing Black Lives: State violence in Canada from slavery to the present. The book, which has received glowing reviews in Maclean’s and the Toronto Star, is the first of its kind to trace the subjugation of Canada’s Black population from over two centuries of slavery into present day issues like racial profiling and policing killings. KAYLA PERRIN is the USA Today and Essence ® bestselling author of over fifty books. Her publishers include Harlequin, St. Martin’s Press, HarperCollins and Kensington. She’s published romance, suspense and mainstream fiction. She’s been featured on shows such as Entertainment Tonight Canada, Who’s Afraid of Happy Endings (Bravo), CTV News and in Ebony and Romantic Times magazines, The Toronto Star and also in the Italian version of Vanity Fair. MARIA QAMAR, otherwise known as @Hatecopy, is an artist living in Toronto. She was raised a first generation Canadian in a traditional South Asian home where a job in the arts was typically looked down upon as an “unstable career path.” She fought to pursue the arts anyway and started her Instagram account Hatecopy in 2015, illustrating the hilarious insights of diaspora culture and the significance of aunties in Indian culture. DAVID A. ROBERTSON is an award-winning writer. His books include When We Were Alone (Governor General’s Literary Award, McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People), Will I See? (Manuela Dias Book Design and Illustration Award Graphic Novel Category), and the YA novel Strangers. David educates as well as entertains through his writings about Canada’s Indigenous People. Selected as one of Canada’s Top 20 Under 20 in 2014, WALI SHAH, is a spoken word poet and public speaker. He’s given TED talks, worked on various nonprofit and corporate projects and currently serves as the Poet Laureate of his home-town, Mississauga, Ontario. DANE SWAN is the author of 4 books. His second, the poetry collection A Mingus Lullaby was a finalist for the Trillium Book
Award for Poetry. Currently Dane is promoting He Doesn’t Hurt People Anymore, his first short story collection and the just launched Tuesday—his first novella. TANYA TALAGA has been a journalist at the Toronto Star for twenty years, covering everything from general city news to education, national health care, foreign news, and Indigenous affairs. Talaga is of Polish and Indigenous descent. Her great-grandmother, Liz Gauthier, was a residential school survivor. Her great-grandfather, Russell Bowen, was an Ojibwe trapper and labourer. Her grandmother is a member of Fort William First Nation. JILLIAN TAMAKI is an illustrator and comics artist living in Toronto, Ontario. She is the co-creator, with her cousin Mariko Tamaki, of Skim and This One Summer, the latter of which won a Caldecott Honor and Printz Award in 2015. Her own graphic novels include SuperMutant Magic Academy and Boundless. Her first picture book, They Say Blue, which explores our perception and experience of the natural world, will be released in 2018. Born in Saigon in 1968, KIM THÚY left Vietman with the boat people at the age of ten and settled with her family in Quebec. A graduate in translation and law, she has worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer, restaurant owner and food commentator on radio and television. She lives in Montreal and devotes herself to writing. MICHELLE WAN is the author of a series of botanical murder mysteries set in the Dordogne, France, and short Rapid Reads fiction. In addition to Canada, her works have been published in the US, Germany, Italy, Holland and Japan. She lives in Guelph, ON, with her husband Tim. Travel, good food, good company, good books and good dogs are among her loves. JOSHUA WHITEHEAD is an Oji-Cree/nehiyaw Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer otâcimow from Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1). He is the author of full-metal indigiqueer and the forthcoming Jonny Appleseed.
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PUBLISHING PROFESSIONALS AMANDA BETTS is an editor at Knopf Random Canada. She acquires literary fiction, upmarket commercial fiction and narrative non-fiction. CHRIS BUCCI is a Literary Agent and Proprietor at CookeMcDermid. He represents bestselling authors such as Bob Rae, Timothy Caulfield, Susan Delacourt, James Grainger, Amy Stuart, Amy Jones and Kerri Sakamoto. Most recently senior editor at McClelland & Stewart, he worked primarily with non-fiction, bringing to the M&S catalogue the likes of Alain de Botton, Christopher Hitchens, Paul Watson, and Sir Martin Gilbert. ANITA CHONG is a Senior Editor at McClelland & Stewart, where she edits literary fiction and narrative non-fiction. Highlights include Sharon Bala’s #1 national bestseller, The Boat People, Rebecca Rosenblum’s So Much Love, and JJ Lee’s The Measure of a Man. Forthcoming titles include new fiction by Richard Wagamese, Saleema Nawaz, Amy Jones, Michael Christie, and debut novelist Reema Patel. She also manages the Journey Prize and its associated anthology, The Journey Prize Stories. DANA GRIMALDI is an associate editor for Harlequin Dare and Harlequin Heartwarming. She also manages the Worldwide Mystery and Suspense program. Her bookshelves have a special place for the works of Isaac Asimov, Nnedi Okorafor, Frances Hardinge and N. K. Jemisin. When she’s reading submissions, Dana is looking for sexy contemporary romance and wholesome contemporary romances that celebrate strong communities, family connections and true love.
BRITTANY LAVERY started her publishing career in 2009 with an internship at a literary agency and never looked back, moving on to positions at the University of Toronto Press and Penguin Canada, joining Harlequin/HarperCollins in 2015. In her career, Brittany has worked in foreign rights and editorial; she’s worked with children’s and adult fiction, prize winners and New York Times bestsellers. ZOE MASLOW is an Editor at Doubleday Canada and Appetite. Some recent highlights include Court of Lions by Jane Johnson and the national bestseller Feast: Recipes & Stories from a Canadian Road Trip by Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller. She is looking forward to the publication of Our Animal Hearts by Dania Tomlinson; Up From Freedom by Wayne Grady; and For the Love of Cheese, a cookbook by Afrim Pristine of Toronto’s Cheese Boutique. PATRICIA OCAMPO is Managing Editor and Children’s Book Editor at Simon and Schuster Canada. She is a past president of the Canadian division of the International Board on Books for Young People and a former literary agent. She acquires early readers, middle-grade fiction, young adult fiction, and parenting books. STEPHANIE SINCLAIR is a Senior Agent with Transatlantic Agency representing writers of award-winning fiction and nonfiction including Journey Prize winner Sharon Bala’s THE BOAT PEOPLE and the Indigenous writers Harold Johnson and Billy Ray Belcourt. She is actively curating her list and is looking for literary/upmarket fiction and narrative nonfiction.
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DEBORAH SUN DE LA CRUZ is an Assistant Editor at Penguin Canada. She works closely with Nicole Winstanley on the Hamish Hamilton list. Her focus is the next generation of writers and books for millennials—new voices in contemporary fiction, essays, and memoirs. She is excited to be publishing the chilling dystopia The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh and Robert Hillman’s tale of love and forgiveness, The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted. MEG WHEELER is a Rights Associate and Executive Assistant at Westwood Creative Artists in Toronto. She is actively building her client list. Formerly a freelance editorial consultant, she is accepting submissions of all sorts.
MODERATORS AND HOSTS ALI HASSAN is an actor and Chef who has performed on stages across Canada, in the U.S. and twice in the Middle East at the Amman Stand-Up Comedy Festival. Ali is the host of LAUGH OUT LOUD on CBC Radio & SiriusXM, a show with a base of over a million listeners. He is also the frequent guest-host of q—the premiere national arts & entertainment show that airs on CBC Radio One, NPR and PRI. MIRANDA HILL is the author of the short story collection Sleeping Funny (Doubleday 2012). She is at work on a novel, tentatively titled The Wiles (for Knopf Canada). In 2007, Hill founded Project Bookmark Canada. She was the organization’s executive director until 2017. Hill lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where she has been active in refugee resettlement and in Woody Point, Newfoundland and Labrador, where she serves on the board of Writers at Woody Point. CARRIANNE LEUNG is a fiction writer and educator. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Equity Studies from the University of Toronto. Her debut novel, The Wondrous Woo (Inanna Publications), was shortlisted for a Toronto Book Award. Her collection of linked stories, That Time I Loved You, was released in 2018 by Harper Collins Canada.
RICKY LIMA is a comic creator and a book maker. He is interested in building up communities because bodies are warm and his house is oh so cold. Award-winning journalist DUNCAN MCCUE is the host of CBC Radio One’s Cross Country Checkup. McCue was a reporter for CBC News in Vancouver for over 15 years. Now based in Toronto, his news and current affairs pieces continue to be featured on CBC’s flagship news show, The National. McCue is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation in southern Ontario, and proud father of two children. AMANDA PARRIS is the host of the weekly TV series, CBC Arts: Exhibitionists, and CBC Radio’s Marvin’s Room. She is also a weekly columnist for CBC Arts. Parris is also a critically acclaimed playwright and co-founder of the multi-award winning alternative education organization Lost Lyrics. She completed her M.A. degree in the Sociology of Education at the University of Toronto and her curriculum work was published in Rhymes to Re-Education, a Hip Hop education resource. KAI CHENG THOM is a writer, spoken word artist, therapist, wicked witch, and lasagna lover who divides her time between Montreal and Toronto, unceded Indigenous territories. Her poems and essays have been published widely on print and online, and she has performed in venues across the country including Verses International Poetry Festival and the Banff Centre for the Arts. Her first novel, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir was released by Metonymy Press in 2016, and her debut poetry collection, a place called No Homeland, from Arsenal Pulp Press in 2017. LÉONICKA VALCIUS is a Toronto-based publishing professional and an Assistant Agent at the Transatlantic Agency. She is the founder of DiverseCanLit and the Chair of The FOLD Foundation Board of Directors. For more information visitleonicka.com and follow her on Twitter @leonicka. Award-winning spoken word artist, published poet and arts educator LAMOI continues to be a change agent to art and culture in the GTA. An active spoken word artist since 2008, Lamoi has been recognized as one of 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada for 2015, winning the 2016 Brampton Citizen’s Award for Arts Acclaim, and was nominated for a CME in 2017. You can connect with Lamoi on Twitter at @LaLaArdor. MALLE VALLIK is the Ed Director Author Engagement for Harlequin. Her responsibilities have included: author social media training; launch of the first digital-first imprint by a large publisher (Carina Press); partnered with Cosmopolitan Magazine in developing Cosmo-Red Hot Reads by Harlequin; lead ebook revolution as first publisher to offer 100% frontlist in digital format in 2007; and developed original serial content in 1999. As an editor Malle acquired and edited for Harlequin Temptation, Blaze, Love & Laughter as well as digital content.
PROGRAM ESSAY CONTRIBUTORS * ORVILLE LLOYD DOUGLAS is the author of two poetry books published in Canada You Don’t Know Me published by TSAR in 2005 and Under My Skin published by Guernica Editions in 2014. ALICIA ELLIOTT is a Tuscarora writer living in Brantford, Ontario with her husband and child. Her essay collection A Mind Spread Out On The Ground is forthcoming from Doubleday Canada in Spring 2019.
JEN SOOKFONG LEE is the author of six books, including The Conjoined, nominated for the International Dublin Literary Award and a finalist for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, The Better Mother, a finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award, and Gentlemen of the Shade. DAVID NAZARIO is a writer, speaker, and educator. He contributes to Swaaymedia.com and the Lifestyle and Business sections of Reading Eagle newspaper. He released his first book, Make Love Your Religion (SDJ Press) in April of 2018. DOROTHY ELLEN PALMER is a disabled senior writer, mom, and retired high school teacher, improv coach, and union Branch President. When Fenelon Falls, (Coach House, 2010), is
her semi-autobiographical story of a disabled adoptee plotting to free a bear from a cage in the Moonwalk-Woodstock summer of 1969. Her disability memoir appears with Wolsak & Wynn in 2019: This Redhead and her Walker Walk Into a Bar. ERIN SOROS is a settler living in Toronto. She has published fiction and nonfiction in international journals and anthologies, including The Iowa Review, Short Fiction, Geist, PRISM International and enRoute. Her stories have appeared on the CBC and BBC as recipients of the CBC Literary Award and the Commonwealth Award for the Short Story. * contributor Jamil Jivani appears under “Authors and Performers”
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FESTIVAL SCHEDULE 7:00 pm
OPENING GALA CITY HALL ATRIUM
>> Local Author Trivia Night J. RED & CO. RESTAURANT
Local authors and aspiring writers will not want to miss this fun and fabulous event celebrating talented voices in the Peel Region. Engage in a casually competitive Canadian literary trivia extravaganza hosted by local author Ricky Lima.
9:30 am YOUTH EVENT
FRIDAY, MAY 4
>> The Lit Life
ST. MARY’S ELEMENTARY
Children’s literature and young adult fiction authors David A. Robertson, Michelle Kadarushman, Jillian Tamaki, and Johnnie Christmas share how they became writers, why they write what they write, and the journey that led them to create their latest projects with author Lisa Charleyboy.
12:00 pm
>> Spoken Word Showcase YOUTH EVENT
ST. MARY’S ELEMENTARY
Artists Bassam, Wali Shah, and Nasim Asgari perform powerful poetry with local poet and host Lamoi, followed by an interactive Q&A session.
12:30 pm
>> Lunch ‘n’ Lit with Kim Thúy FEATURE EVENT
CITY HALL CONSERVATORY
Award-winning author and restauranteur Kim Thúy sits down for a one-on-one chat with author Catherine Hernandez following the English-language release of the third book in a series that delves into the lives of Vietnam refugees.
>> From Boys to Men
In the wake of acts of domestic and international terrorism, and in light of important conversations surrounding the #MeToo movement, concerns about a systemic toxic masculinity are emerging. How do we raise boys? Are we getting it all wrong? CBC broadcaster Duncan McCue hosts journalist Rachel Giese and Yale professor Jamil Jivani, respective authors of Boys: What It Means to Become a Man and Why Young Men: Rage, Race, and the Crisis of Identity, opening the 2018 festival with one of our most powerful conversations yet. Includes preshow reception with appetizers. Sponsored by HarperCollins and the Downtown Brampton BIA.
THURSDAY, MAY 3
FEATURE EVENT
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7:00 pm
9:30 am PANEL
SATURDAY, MAY 5
>> Setting the Story
CITY HALL ATRIUM
Cityscapes, urban grit, dust-scorched landscapes—in any great novel, the setting breathes into a character itself, shaping the plot and driving the tension. Join authors Catherine Hernandez, Fartumo Kusow, SK Ali, and Joshua Whitehead as they discuss the places and spaces that inspired and influenced their latest novels in conversation with author Kai Cheng Thom.
WORKSHOP
>> Publishing 101
CITY HALL CLASSROOM
How to nail a query letter…and other wise words, from publishing professional and author Michelle Kadarusman. From her work on the Giller Prize to her own recent publication, Michelle unpacks how to nail everything from query letters to pitches. Sponsored by Humber School for Writers.
11:00 am PANEL
>> The Edge of Suspense
CITY HALL ATRIUM
Four novelists of fast-paced fiction share their razor-sharp strategies for building tension and creating edge-of-your seat suspense. Authors Amber Dawn, David A. Robertson, and Michelle Wan form an action-packed panel with moderator and award-winning author Cherie Dimaline.
WORKSHOP
>> Writing Kid Lit
CITY HALL CLASSROOM
The modern picture book has become one of the most versatile and popular literary formats. Explore the dynamic interplay of verbal and visual narrative with a look at traditional and innovative works, including celebrated picture book author Kyo Maclear’s own books and working methods.
1:30 pm
8:30 pm
PANEL
FEATURE EVENT
>> The Art of Storytelling
>> The Poet’s Gallery
CITY HALL ATRIUM
PAMA ART GALLERY
What happens when words and pictures collide? Four author-illustrators discuss how images combine with the power of the written word to tell powerful stories. With published work covering children’s literature, graphic novels, creative nonfiction, and comic books, Johnnie Christmas, Kyo Maclear, Maria Qamar, and Jillian Tamaki discuss the importance of visual storytelling with local author Ricky Lima. Sponsored by House of Anansi/Groundwood Books.
Witness powerful poets perform in an interactive showcase in the Peel Art Gallery. Discover the rich poetry of Wali Shah, Bassam, Nasim Asgari, and Joshua Whitehead, with host Lamoi, in this fabulous not-to-be-missed evening celebrating art and artists.
WORKSHOP
>> Research for Nonfiction Writing
FEATURE EVENT
CITY HALL CLASSROOM
PAMA COUNCIL CHAMBERS
Writing nonfiction is a complex balance—gathering information, organizing it, then conveying it clearly and concisely on the page. How do you research and retell difficult and important stories? How do you convey important truths? Join Robyn Maynard as she unpacks strategies for researching nonfiction and writing with an ethic of care. Sponsored by King’s College.
3:00 pm PANEL
>> Extraordinary Voices
CITY HALL ATRIUM
Three literary veterans weigh in on what it means, and what it takes, to be a successful writer in Canada. Join Kim Thúy, Lee Maracle, and Rabindranath Maharaj as they share their stories about the lessons they’ve learned (and the ones they’re still learning) about the craft of writing with author and FOLD alum Carrianne Leung.
3:30 pm FEATURE EVENT
>> The Writers Court
PAMA COURTROOM
Watch as industry professionals listen to emerging authors read the first pages of unpublished manuscripts. Find out how to give effective writing critiques and what it takes to catch the eye (and ear) of industry professionals in this live American-Idol-style event set in an old-fashioned courthouse. Find out just what it takes to make a big impression with writing in the must-see event of the festival. Sponsored by Humber School for Writers.
7:00 pm FEATURE EVENT
>> The Stories We See
PAMA COUNCIL CHAMBERS
In 2017, authors Robyn Maynard and Tanya Talaga penned nonfiction titles that explored critical social justice issues that were making headlines across Canada. Join the author of Policing Black Lives and Seven Fallen Feathers, respectively, in an important conversation with journalist Amanda Parris as they unravel hard truths about the stories that make headlines, the stories that don’t, and the truths that demand our attention.
9:30 am
SUNDAY, MAY 6
>> Breakfast with Tanya Talaga Miranda Hill chats with the RBC Taylor award-winning author Tanya Talaga over breakfast in the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives Upper Chambers, discussing her powerful nonfiction piece Seven Fallen Feathers and the young people whose lives inspired her work: Jordan Wabash, Kyle Morrisseau, Curran Strang, Robyn Harper, Paul Panache’s, Reggie Bushie, and Jethro Anderson.
10:00 am
>> Canada Council Info Session FEATURE EVENT
CITY HALL CLASSROOM
Join us for a workshop about the Canada Council’s Explore and Create program! These workshops are designed for individual artists working across artistic fields of practice. You will have the opportunity to learn about programs at the Canada Council, get advice on how to prepare an Explore and Create grant application, and understand how applications are assessed.
11:00 am FEATURE EVENT
>> The Writers’ Hub
CITY HALL ATRIUM
Talk one-on-one with publishing professionals at this fair-style event. Agents and editors with open-submissions answer questions and discuss the types of books they publish and ways to submit writing and query letters. Whether you are an emerging or established writer, this is an event you do not want to miss.
PANEL
>> Stitching Stories
CITY HALL CONSERVATORY
When many voices come together, they tell a powerful story. But how do you stitch together disparate and dynamic voices to build a cohesive and impactful collection—a singular book with many voices? Join Lisa Charleyboy, Dane Swan, and Amber Dawn as they weigh in on the benefits and challenges of creating a collective creation. Whether you’re interested in contributing to magazines, reading series, or anthologies—or whether you organize them yourself—this is a must-see conversation with game-changing authors and creators.
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FEATURE EVENT
3:30 pm
>> Pitch Perfect
>> One Book One Brampton: Shortlist FEATURE EVENT
CITY HALL CAFETERIA
What do you do with a manuscript when it’s done? You PITCH IT. Agents and editors from Canadian agencies and publishing companies provide emerging authors with detailed feedback in a one-on-one meeting live at the festival for the first time. Get feedback from experienced professionals in this unique, new festival event. Interested applicants must have applied by March 9, 2018, and received confirmation to register. Sponsored by Penguin Random House Canada.
CITY HALL ATRIUM
The Brampton Library closes out the 2018 festival with the much-anticipated reveal of the One Book One Brampton shortlist. What titles will Brampton be reading this summer? Who will you vote for? This is one close-out party you don’t want to: miss!
12:30 pm
>> From Heartwarming to Sizzling Hot PANEL
CITY HALL CONSERVATORY
Romance authors Vicki Essex and Kayla Perrin engage in a lively conversation with Harlequin editors Brittany Lavery and Dana Grimaldi, sharing insider secrets on what it takes to write romance. Join the discussion as they explore the wide range of publishing opportunities for romance writers, including their tricks and tips on how to get noticed by an acquiring editor. Sponsored by Harlequin.
2:00 pm PANEL
>> After Canada Reads
CITY HALL CONSERVATORY
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Authors Cherie Dimaline, Sharon Bala and Omar El Akkad weigh in on CBC’s annual book debate, with Canada Reads host Ali Hassan. From gender bias to race and representation, the authors will discuss their experience of diversity and inclusion through the Canada Reads journey.
FAMILY EVENTS
Saturday, 11:00 am & 3:00 pm FAMILY EVENT
>> Two Readings
PAMA STUDIO TWO
Enjoy a live reading at 11:00am with award-winning author Jillian Tamaki as she shares her debut picture book They Say Blue. Then join Winnipeg-based author David Alexander Robertson at 3:00pm as he reads from his Governor General’s Award-winning children’s book about the residential school system, When We Were Alone. Each reading will be followed by an interactive, family-friendly activity.
Sunday, 1:30 pm ALL-AGES WORKSHOP
>> Writing Comics
PAMA STUDIO TWO
Learn the basics of storytelling through comics and graphic novels with author-illustrator Johnnie Christmas. This workshop is designed for writers of all ages and stages.
VENUE LOCATIONS 1.
2.
3.
4. 4 3 1 2
Peel Art Gallery + Museum Archives (PAMA)
9 Wellington St E
St. Mary’s Elementary School
66 Main St
Brampton City Hall
2 Wellington St W
Brampton Library
Four Corners Branch, 65 Queen St E
J. Red & Co. Restaurant (341 Main St N), where the Local Author Trivia Night takes place, is located two blocks north of the top edge of the map.
Got a smart, sassy teen in your life?
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shameless www.shamelessmag.com
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HARLEQUIN
is Looking For Your
Happily-Ever-Afters! We are continuing to build an inclusive list and welcome unagented submissions for our 12 romance series. To learn more, visit www.harlequin.com/writingguidelines. Be part of our online writing community at www.soyouthinkyoucanwrite.com Sales Materials/192 Happily Ever After Ad/1—PT:mm—Feb. 28/18 192 Harlequin Happily Every After Ad.indd 1
2/28/18 4:02 PM
7 locations to
inspire you! • Free audio recording studio + equipment • 3D Printing in our Makerspaces • Free online learning, music, eBooks & more @ bramptonlibrary.ca Shortlist Announced! Sunday, May 6 3:30pm Brampton City Hall
905.793.4636 bramptonlibrary.ca
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905 · 454 · 4284 www.print3brampton.com
JUST. PRESS. PRINT.
Serving Brampton for over 30 years.
CELA opens books no matter how you read Diverse voices deserve to be heard. Diverse stories deserve to be read. The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) is pleased to partner with the FOLD to make accessible versions of the FOLD’s featured books available through public libraries to the estimated 3 million Canadians with print disabilities.
Celalibrary.ca
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DISCOVER DOWNTOWN BRAMPTON DOWNTOWN BRAMPTON
It’s Happening Here!
FREE PARKING evenings and weekends
in the Municipal Parking Garages
ANNICK PRESS
GROUNDWOOD BOOKS
PAJAMA PRESS
KIDS CAN PRESS
SECOND STORY PRESS
OWLKIDS BOOKS
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OMDC IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE FESTIVAL OF LITERARY DIVERSITY Ontario book publishers and their authors create books the whole world enjoys. Be part of it.
OMDC.on.ca
#ONcreates @OMDCtweets
OMDConline
OMDConline
PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE CANADA
PROUD SPONSOR OF THE FESTIVAL OF LITERARY DIVERSITY WELCOMES OUR AUTHORS
Sharon Bala Omar El Akkad 53
Kyo Maclear Kim Thúy Michelle Wan
Small Press. Important Books. In her debut English-language novel, FARTUMO KUSOW imagines a young Somali woman who defies convention and clan to pursue her heart, facing the consequences of her decision as her country and way of life disintegrate on the way to civil war. “Set against the backdrop of a looming civil war, Idil’s story implores readers to question what matters most in this short life: love, security, acceptance, equality, or peace.” –Booklist “At turns harrowing, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful” –Harvard Review
Meet author Fartumo Kusow at this year’s FOLD!
Black Women
Who Dared
Naomi M. Moyer
29 years of publishing feminist-inspired books for adults and young readers.
www.secondstorypress.ca