Transforming Grief Into Art
Event Details
“Insofar as I can tell you what it is to suffer, perhaps I can help you to suffer less.” –James Baldwin, 1962. In this discussion
Event Details
“Insofar as I can tell you what it is to suffer, perhaps I can help you to suffer less.” –James Baldwin, 1962. In this discussion about grief and loss, we explore the ways that art can help us find healing and solidarity.
Burr by Brooke Lockyer
Harbour Publishing
In the small town of Burr, Ontario, thirteen-year-old Jane yearns to reunite with her recently deceased father and fantasizes about tunnelling through the earth to his coffin. This leads her to bond with local eccentric Ernest, who is still reeling from the long-ago drowning of his little sister. Jane’s mother, Meredith, escapes into wildness, enacting the past on the abandoned bed that she finds in the middle of the forest, until her daughter’s disappearance spurs her into action.
A History of Burning by Janika Oza
Penguin Random House Canada
Pirbhai’s children go on to thrive in Uganda during the waning days of British colonial rule. As the country moves towards independence and military dictatorship, Pirbhai’s granddaughters—sisters Latika, Mayuri, and Kiya—come of age in a divided nation, each forging her own path for the future. Latika is an aspiring journalist with a fierce determination to fight for what she believes in. Mayuri’s ambitions will take her farther away from her family than she ever imagined. And fearless Kiya will have to bear the weight of their secrets.
A Safe Girl To Love by Casey Plett
Arsenal Pulp Press
By the author of Little Fish and A Dream of a Woman:eleven unique short stories featuring young trans women stumbling through loss, sex, harassment, and love in settings ranging from a rural Mennonite town to a hipster gay bar in Brooklyn. These stories, shiny with whiskey and prairie sunsets, rattling subways and neglected cats, show growing up as a trans girl can be charming, funny, frustrating, or sad, but never will it be predictable.
Speakers for this event
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Brooke Lockyer
Brooke Lockyer
Author
Brooke Lockyer holds an MA in English in the Field of Creative Writing from the University of Toronto. Her work has been published in Toronto Life, carte blanche, the Hart House Review, White Wall Review and Geist. Born in Southwestern Ontario, Lockyer currently resides with her family in Toronto.
Author
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Casey Plett
Moderator
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Janika Oza
Janika Oza
Author
JANIKA OZA is the author of the novel A History of Burning, out in May 2023 from McClelland & Stewart. She is the winner of a 2022 O. Henry Award and the 2020 Kenyon Review Short Fiction Award. She lives in Toronto.
Author