Living Hyphen

• Sonia Nicholson (nee Resendes) is a first-generation Canadian; her family has lived on the island of Santa Maria, Azores (Portugal) for hundreds of years. Born and raised in the small town of Osoyoos, British Columbia, Sonia went on to study French and Spanish at the University of Victoria. She remained in Victoria and lives there with her husband, two children, and two rescue dogs. When she’s not writing, she works as an executive assistant and archivist. Read more of her writing at sonianicholson.com or follow her on Twitter at @nicholsonsonia_ or on Facebook.

• Anne Claire Baguio is a first-generation immigrant. She was born in Manila, but her family's roots are in Cebu. When she was two years old, they moved to what is colonially known as Vancouver, British Columbia. She co-founded Sliced Mango Collective, a Fil-Can youth organization focused on exploring identity and culture through the lens of decolonization, anti-racism, and intersectional feminism. She hopes to someday publish a poetry chapbook that includes poems reflecting on her identity as a Filipina. Follow her across socials at @baguioac.

• Vanessa Vigneswaramoorthy is a Tamil-Canadian writer, researcher and community organizer working out of the Greater Toronto Area. She is pursuing an MA in Adult Education and Community Development while working on projects that aim to provide support to youth in creative, impactful ways. Check out Habitation: A Topography, a book she collaborated on as part of a residency, or follow her on socials at @vandoesthings.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. You can purchase our magazine at livinghyphen.ca, support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch is a queer Arab poet living in Tio’tia:ke, unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory. Their work has appeared in The Best Canadian Poetry 2018 anthology, GUTS, Carte Blanche, the Shade Journal, The New Quarterly, Arc Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. They were longlisted for the CBC poetry prize in 2019. Their book, knot body, was published by Metatron Press in September 2020, and their upcoming book, The Good Arabs, will be published by Metonymy Press in 2021. You can find them on Instagram and Twitter at @theonlyelitareq and sign up for their newsletter at tinyletter.com/slowsyrup.

• Kasper Samantha Langford

• Linda Trinh is a writer of Vietnamese descent and she writes non-fiction and fiction. She explores the intersection of identity with cultural background and spirituality. Her work has appeared in Prairie Fire, Room Magazine’s website, This Magazine, and The Nasiona. She has been a finalist in the Malahat Review’s Constance Rooke CNF contest, been nominated for two National Magazine Awards, and a Pushcart Prize. Linda lives in Winnipeg / Treaty 1 Territory. Read more of her writing at lindatrinhblog.wordpress.com/my-writing/ and follow her on Twitter at @LindaYTrinh.

• Shohana Sharmin is a Bangladeshi-Canadian emerging comedian, writer, and theatre artist. Born and raised in Bangladesh, Shohana is a proud Muslim queer woman of colour and is fluent in three languages. She is a recipient of the 2020 Queer Emerging Artist Award at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, and is the creator and a cast member of the critically acclaimed award-winning dark sketch comedy revue "Dead Parents Society." Listen to her new podcast “Finder Grievers”, a happy-ish podcast about sad things, in which we unpack the universally felt - yet rarely discussed - experience of grieving.

She wishes she could be more like her mother. Follow Shohana at @soleahm, her comedy sketch show at @dpssketchshow, and her podcast at @findersgrievers.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. You can purchase our magazine at www.livinghyphen.ca, support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Zehra Naqvi is a Karachi-born writer and poet raised on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples. She is a winner of Room's annual poetry contest, and has written and edited for various publications internationally. Her writing has appeared in Tin House, Room, Jaggery, and The New Quarterly. She recently completed her graduate studies at Oxford University, where she studied migration and social anthropology as a Rhodes Scholar. She is currently working on her first book. Read her work or follow her at @hintsofgladness on Instagram.

• Mary Joy Pascua

• Alison Isaac is a Black, Caribbean-Canadian writer and teacher from Toronto, Canada. Besides Canada, Alison has lived in Mexico, Ecuador, and Colombia. Her story “Legacy” was long listed for the Brooklyn Caribbean Literary Festival’s Emergent Writers short story competition, and named winner of the Rewrite Reads inaugural issue. Her short story “Isa” was also published by Rewrite Reads. You can find more of her work at alisonisaac.com. Her first children’s book, Kookumbah, was published in December 2020.

• Thunderclaw Robinson is a poet, singer, and thunder bringer. He was born and raised in Toronto and has shared stages with the likes of Ari Lennox & Jessie Reyes and opened for the 44th US President Barack Obama. Thunderclaw has traveled to a variety of locations internationally to share light through poems and song on stages and radio stations. He aims to use his experiences to assist others in being a step closer to telling their truest story through art. Follow Thunderclaw on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and across all streaming platforms.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. Support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Linh S. Nguyễn is a Vietnamese-Canadian immigrant and writer who specializes in children’s literature and creative non-fiction. Her personal essays, short stories, and novels (to come) revolve around the idea of homecoming. Linh’s professional focus is the intersection between art, social justice, and community. She is passionate about fostering spaces for underrepresented artists to share and grow. Linh holds an H.B.A. in English from the University of Toronto and will be starting her Masters degree at the University of Cambridge this fall in the Arts, Creativity, and Education program. Follow her on Instagram at @linh.s.nguyen or on Twitter at @linhsnguyen.

• Christie Wong is a first-gen Hong Kong-Canadian immigrant and a multidisciplinary artist with primary explorations in photography, visual poetry, illustration, and facilitation. She is passionate about the journey of art making and its profound effect on living through many perspectives. Her art encircles themes of home, discovering of self in tiny forgotten moments and the depth of joy. Merging the process of entrepreneurship as a creative process, her ever-changing career landscape grows with each page turn and brush stroke; reflections of the power of creative thought in the everyday. Stay tuned for a new illustrated Chap book by Christie and Linh Nguyen coming out soon and other developments in chocolate making, song sharing and new words! You can find more of her frolickings at www.girlonsaturn.com or more frequently @chrwonstie on Instagram!

• Carmen Lee serves as executive director and co-founder to award-winning company, Theatre du Poulet. As Nova Scotia’s first Asian-owned theatre, the company is ready to share stories that uncover unheard voices to Canada’s diverse community. Learn more at www.theatredupoulet.com. After graduating with First Class Honours in Arts, Events and Stage Management from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Carmen has managed and produced over 30 shows in both Canada and Hong Kong. With over 8 years of experience in production and stage management, lighting, sound and set design, and arts administration, she has led her team to award wins at the Fringe Festival in Halifax and the Summerworks Festival in Toronto. Follow her at @theatredupoulet.

• Cassandra Lobo is currently a second-year undergraduate student. During this time of isolation, she created virtual music concerts for seniors, individuals with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia, and cancer patients. Learn more about Sounds in Isolation at www.soundsinisolation.org. Follow her across socials at @soundsinisolation.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians.

• Nimra Bandukwala is an artist, a community arts facilitator, and a Masters student in Occupational Therapy based in Mississauga and the UK. She’s interested in the intersections of making, storytelling, culture, and well-being. Nimra has led arts-based workshops with neurodiverse children and adults, and currently facilitates workshops for seniors living in the GTA. She also co-lead Reth Aur Reghistan with her sister Manahil, a multi-disciplinary project that engages with folklore from Pakistan through sculpture, poetry, and community. Learn more or follow Nimra on Instagram at @nimrabandukwala.art.

• Micaela Pereira Bajard has roots in what is now known as Bolivia and Canada. Life opportunities have allowed her to branch out and grow in both her home countries and other lands in different continents. She is passionate about social justice and writes creative non-fiction on her downtime to reconnect with different facets of her identity.

• Patricia South is an aspiring author and passionate storyteller. She particularly enjoys recounting stories from her childhood, growing up in Jamaica. She has had stories and poetry published in The Globe and Mail and Living Hyphen magazine.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. You can purchase our magazine at www.livinghyphen.ca, support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Grace Lau (she/her) is a Hong-Kong-born, Chinese-Canadian writer living in Toronto. Her debut collection of poetry, The Language We Were Never Taught to Speak, was released in May 2021 from Guernica Editions and is available for order here. Her work is published and forthcoming in Grain Magazine, Contemporary Verse 2, Frontier Poetry, Arc Poetry, and elsewhere. Follow Grace on on Instagram at @thrillandgrace.

• Brittany Scarfo, after completing a Bachelor of Education at the University of Toronto, began crossing borders, like the generations that came before her, to work as an educator abroad. As a daughter of immigrants, she struggled to embrace her hyphenated identity, but eventually grew to accept, love and become fiercely proud of it. As an educator, she does her best to step outside the established literary canon to ensure the texts studied celebrate the diversity that exists in her classroom. Follow her on Instagram at @bscarfo.

• Christine Vu

• Joelle Kidd is a fiction writer, award-winning journalist and editor living in a book-filled basement in Toronto. Her work has appeared in The Walrus, This Magazine, Feels Zine, Prairie Fire and Living Hyphen. She is a flash fiction/non-fiction editor for Cypress Literary Journal and is currently working on her first novel. Learn more about Joelle at joellekidd.com and follow her on Twitter at @joelle_kidd.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. You can purchase our magazine at www.livinghyphen.ca, support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning poet, arts educator, and photographer, based out of Toronto. Her poetry has also been featured as part of CBC’s Poetic License series, VIBE Arts NExT Exhibit, and Clearbanc Financial’s International Women’s Day Campaign. In 2020, she was awarded the JAYU iAM Arts for Human Rights Award recognizing creatives doing exceptional work where the arts and human rights intersect. In March 2021, she released her EP, Wet Hair, now available on streaming platforms. Find her EP of spoken word poetry at linktr.ee/WETHAIREP and learn more about her at www.desireemckenziepoetry.com. Follow Desiree on Instagram at @desireemckenzie.

• Natasha Ramoutar is an Indo-Guyanese writer living in Scarborough. She is the Social Media Assistant at the Festival of Literary Diversity, and her first collection of poetry, BITTERSWEET, was published in 2020 by Mawenzi House. Follow Natasha on socials at @spondeee.

• Micaela Comeau / Just Micci is a Canadian-Acadian-Métis singer-songwriter from the French shore of Nova Scotia who often finds inspiration from nature, the environment, and love. Micci has been writing and directing children's musicals for the past 8 years and this connection with their students serves as a huge opportunity for growth, inspiration, and joy. Micci has performed at festivals including Evolve, White Rabbit and the Mi’kmaq Acadian Festival and shares their work online and on patreon.com/justmicci. Micci will draw you in, dancing between poetry and music. Support her work on Patreon or follow her on TikTok, Facebook, Youtube, and Instagram.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. You can purchase our magazine at www.livinghyphen.ca, support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

• Kyle Jarencio is a digital storyteller based in Scarborough that likes playing with visuals, ideas, and his own feelings. He co-hosts the podcast @influxthepod with his friend Amreen about what it means to be queer and Asian and watching too much TV. Find him IRL on the Scarborough RT about to grab an iced coffee or online @fragilekyle.

• Kathleen Zaragoza is a Filipina-Canadian settler, born and based on Coast Salish lands, colonially known as Vancouver. Having recently graduated from UBC, she is endlessly curious about the spaces within and between language, culture, and music. She carries this passion for learning into everything she does, from her research on Fil-Can heritage languages, to being the co-founder of Sliced Mango Collective (a new Fil-Can youth organization in “Vancouver”), to creating music and writing in her free time. Learn more about the Sliced Mango Collective at @slicedmangoco or slicedmangocollective.ca. Follow Kathleen on Twitter at @kazaragosa or Instagram at @kzrgsa.

Living Hyphen is a community seeking to turn up the volume on the voices of hyphenated Canadians. You can purchase our magazine at www.livinghyphen.ca, support us on Patreon, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.