Discover 10 fresh, fearless works from acclaimed BIPOC authors in Canada. Join bestselling Gutter Child author and editor of the Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging collection, Jael Richardson, alongside contributors Marty Chan (Izzy Wong’s Nose for News), Danny Ramadan (Crooked Teeth), and Brandon Wint. Ranging from short fiction to poetry and graphic fiction, these stories offer timely, thought-provoking, funny, and heartbreaking perspectives on home—from awkward family dinners, to life on the rez, to moving to a new town. Validating young people’s experiences while helping them open their hearts, it’s a must read and listen. Grades 4–7. Moderated by Jael Richardson.
Themes: Short stories, home, identity, multiculturalism
Curriculum Connections: English Language Arts 4-9, Physical and Health Education 4-7
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MARTY CHAN is an award-winning author of dozens of books for kids, including Cosplay Crime, Kung Fu Master, Haunted Hospital, Dragon on the Loose and the award-winning Marty Chan Mystery series. He tours schools and libraries across Canada, using storytelling, stage magic and improv to ignite a passion for reading in kids. He lives in Edmonton.
DANNY RAMADAN (he/him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees. His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was longlisted for Canada Reads. His second novel, The Foghorn Echoes, won a Lambda Literary Award. He currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.
JAEL RICHARDSON is the author of the memoir The Stone Thrower, a picture book by the same title and the picture books Because You Are and The Hockey Jersey. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD). She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario.
BRANDON WINT is an Ontario-born poet, spoken word artist, educator and multi-disciplinary storyteller based in western Canada. For more than a decade, Brandon has been a sought-after touring performance poet, having shared his work all over Canada, and internationally at festivals and showcases in the United States, Australia, Jamaica, Latvia and Lithuania. Brandon Wint's poems and essays have been published in The Ex Puritan, Event Magazine, Arc Poetry Magazine, and Black Writers Matter, among other places. Divine Animal (Write Bloody North, 2020) is his debut collection of poetry. His debut film, My Body Is A Poem/The World Makes With Me screened at DOXA documentary film festival and Reelworld Film Festival in 2023.
