Day Two

Wish you were here

In Person Fiction Non-Fict

Admission

Free

Friday

May , 2020

5:00pm

Eastern

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Anita Kushwaha Jillian Christmas Sonia Saikaley Vivek Shraya

As we practice physical distancing, let us stay close to each other in our thoughts, prayers and acts of kindness. The only thing more contagious than COVID-19 is a smile.

Today’s guest authors would have been:

Sonia Saikaley and Anita Kushwaha

Vivek Shraya, Amber Dawn and Jillian Christmas

Please consider supporting the amazing authors that were set to be with us this Spring. Spring author bios now include a link to their work via Perfect Books on Elgin Street.

The Authors

Anita Kushwaha

Anita Kushwaha grew up in Aylmer, Quebec. Her road to publication included a fulfilling career in academia, where she studied human geography at Carleton University and earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. She is also a graduate of the Humber School for Writers creative writing program. Her first novel, Side by Side, won the silver medal for multicultural fiction from the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2019. She is also the author of the novella The Escape Artist. Anita Kushwaha lives in Ottawa. Shop locally if you can: Books by Anita Kushwaha are available from Perfect Books.

Jillian Christmas

Jillian Christmas is a queer, afro-Caribbean artist, creative facilitator, curator, and consultant. Utilizing an anti-oppressive lens, Jillian has performed and facilitated workshops across North America. She is the author of The Gospel of Breaking (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020), and the forthcoming children’s book, The Magic Shell (Flamingo Rampant Press, 2021). She lives on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam people.

Sonia Saikaley

Sonia Saikaley was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada to a large Lebanese family. The daughter of a shopkeeper, she had access to all the treats she wanted. Her first book, The Lebanese Dishwasher, co-won the 2012 Ken Klonsky Novella Contest. Her first collection of poetry, Turkish Delight, Montreal Winter, was published in 2012 and a second collection, A Samurai’s Pink House, was published in 2017 by Inanna Publications. She is currently working on a novel called Jasmine Season on Hamra Street. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers, she lives in her hometown of Ottawa. In the past, she worked as an English teacher in Japan. https://www.soniasaikaley.com/ Shop locally if you can: Books by Sonia Saikaley are available from Perfect Books.

Vivek Shraya

Vivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. Her best-selling new book, I’m Afraid of Men, was heralded by Vanity Fair as “cultural rocket fuel,” and her album with Queer Songbook Orchestra, Part?Time Woman, was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. She is one half of the music duo Too Attached and the founder of the publishing imprint VS. Books. A five-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, Vivek was a 2016 Pride Toronto Grand Marshal, was featured on The Globe and Mail’s Best Dressed list, and has received honours from The Writers’ Trust of Canada and The Publishing Triangle. She is a director on the board of the Tegan and Sara Foundation and an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Calgary. Shop locally if you can: Books by Vivek Shraya are available from Perfect Books.