Us, Now

edited by Lisa Moore, contributions by Ayse Sule Akinturk; Zay Nova; Xavier Michael Campbell; William Ping; Santiago Guzmán; Tzu-Hao Hsu; Sobia Shaheen Shaikh; Prajwala Dixit; Richard Elcock; Kyekue Mweemba & Nabila Qureshi

tagged: anthologies (multiple authors), cultural heritage

Description

Us, Now roves from Indonesia to the Middle East, Taiwan, Mexico, China, Africa, Jamaica, Barbados, India, Pakistan, and points in between, converging in Newfoundland. These stories by racialized Newfoundlanders are by turns joyous, tender, hilarious, and heart-wrenching. They confront racism and celebrate the act of enduring. They are about settling and getting unsettled, about parents and their children, about language, about facing down the horrors of homophobia, about the joy of love, about lifelong relationships or the glee of a magnificent crush. Here social and domestic violence are countered with tenderness and the penetrating power of narrative. This is a book about distance and coming together, about what it means to be seen and understood, or—devastatingly—to be seen and judged, or to be invisible and misunderstood. What it means to belong. These are new writers and new visions of an in-the-present-moment Newfoundland, stories shaped by powerful voices, stories urgent, radical, and sparking with beauty.

About the Authors

Lisa Moore

Ayse Sule Akinturk

AYSE SULE AKINTURK was born and raised in Istanbul. She holds a doctoral degree in political science and lives in St. John’s.

Zay Nova

ZAY NOVA is originally from Bangka, Indonesia, and currently lives in Paradise, NL.

Xavier Michael Campbell

XAIVER CAMPBELL is a writer, actor, statistician, political scientist, and baker. He is originally from Jamaica and now lives in St. John’s.

William Ping

WILLIAM PING is from St. John’s. His work has been previously featured on CBC Radio and in Riddle Fence.

Santiago Guzmán

SANTIAGO GUZMAN is a writer and performer originally from Mexico City and now based in St. John’s. He holds a BFA in Theatre from Memorial University.

Tzu-Hao Hsu

TZU-HAO HSU was born in Taiwan and raised in Newfoundland. A proud Taiwanese Townie living in St. John’s, she is a business manager who earned her Bachelor of Commerce and Masters of Business Administration from Memorial University.

Sobia Shaheen Shaikh is a creative writer, playwright, community organizer, and academic committed to using her work to challenge systemic injustice. Centring anti-racist, feminist, and social justice themes, her writing and artistic endeavours aim to illuminate marginalized voices, encourage dialogue, and inspire transformative action. Sobia lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and serves as a member of several local and national organizations.

PRAJWALA DIXIT, an Indian-Canadian engineer, journalist/columnist, playwright, author, is an award-winning community catalyst. Originally from Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, she lives in St. John's.

Kyekue Mweemba currently lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She grew up in Scotland (by way of Zambia) but suspiciously doesn’t have an accent.

Nabila Qureshi is an arts & humanities, and social justice enthusiast. Us, Now is her first publication in creative writing. She lives in St. John’s, Canada.

Editorial Reviews

“By presenting a diversity of stories and experiences from writers who have moved into, out of, and through […] Newfoundland, […] Us, Now capture[s] the plurality of [this place].”

— Quill & Quire

“[Something] these well-crafted pieces share is voice, not just the overarching-author-perspective but in the words spoken within, what they convey and how they chime off the page.”

— The Telegram

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