40 books by Black Canadian authors to read

Here are 40notablebooks by Black Canadian authors to read this month (and every month).

Invisible Boyby Harrison Mooney

Invisible Boyis a memoir by Harrison Mooney that details his adoption into an evangelical white family and navigating zealotry, paranoia and prejudice. Born to a West African mother, he was merely an infant when he was adopted. He grew up as a Black child in a fundamentalist revivalist church and was constantly abused for the colour of his skin. Twenty-five years later, his biological mom told her son the truth: she wanted to keep him. Invisible Boyexamines the controversial practice of transracial adoption.

Mooney is a writer and journalist who has worked for nearly a decade at the Vancouver Sun.He was born to a West African mother and adopted as an infant by a white family in British Columbia's Bible belt. He has also been published in the National Post, the Guardian, Yahoo and Macleans. Mooney lives in East Vancouver.

LISTEN |Harrison Mooney discussesInvisible Boy:

CBC Books6:29Michael Fraser talks to Gloria Macarenko about the CBC Poetry Prize

The CBC Poetry Prize is open for submissions until May 31, 2022. Toronto poet Michael Fraser talks about his newest poetry collection, The Day-Breakers and what makes for a captivating CBC Poetry Prize entry.

The Day-Breakersby Michael Fraser

The Day-Breakersis an homage to the sacrifice of the Black Canadian soldiers who fought for the Union during the American Civil War. These poems capture their voices and the era in which they lived, providing a new perspective on Black history.

• How Michael Fraserwrote the poem that won the 2016 CBC Poetry Prize

Michael Fraser is apoet and writer. He has been published in several anthologies and his books includeTo Greet Yourself ArrivingandThe Serenity of Stone.Fraserwon the 2016CBC Poetry Prizefor the poemAfrican Canadian in Union Blue.

LISTEN | Michael Fraser reflects on winning the CBC Poetry Prize:

The Next Chapter20:18Lorna Goodison on Mother Muse

Lorna Goodison on her book of poetry, Mother Muse.

Mother Museby Lorna Goodison

In her first poetry collection in over nine years, Lorna Goodison highlights two "mothers" in Jamaican music inMother Muse. Sister Mary Ignatius, who nurtured many of Jamaica's most gifted musicians, and dancer Anita "Margarita" Mahfood are the figures at the centre of this collection.

• Canadian poet Lorna Goodison shares the books that inspired her life and work

Goodison is one of Canada's most renowned writers. She wasJamaica's poet laureate from 2017 to 2020. Over the past 40 years, Goodison has written 14 books of poetry, includingCollected Poems, and an award-winning memoirFrom Harvey River, which won the 2008 B.C. National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction and was a finalist for both the Trillium Book Award and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.She was awarded the 2019 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry for her body of work.

LISTEN | Lorna Goodison discussesMother Muse:

Each One a Furnaceby Tolu Oloruntoba

In the poetry collection Each One a Furnace,Tolu Oloruntobaexploresthe behaviour of finches and findsthemes ofmigration, diasporaand restlessness in his poetry. The migrations of these diverse birds traversing urban and rural landscapes, historical and contemporarycontexts add layers to the experience of what it means to live within, outside andbetween cultures.

• Read:The longing machine,an original poem by Tolu Oloruntoba

Oloruntobais a writer from Nigeria who now lives in B.C. His first full-length poetry collection,The Junta of Happenstance,won the2021 Governor General's Literary Award for poetryand the2022 Griffin Poetry Prize. He is the founder of the literary magazine Klorofyl and author of the chapbookManubrium,whichwas shortlisted for the 2020 bpNichol Chapbook Award.Oloruntobawasnamed a "writer to watch" by CBC Books in 2022.

LISTEN | Tolu Oloruntoba on winning the Griffin Poetry Prize:

The Next Chapter12:55Columnist Ryan B Patrick on two outstanding poetry collections

Columnist Ryan B Patrick finds a Canadian match for Warsan Shire's Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head.

NomenclaturebyDionne Brand

NomenclaturebyDionne Brandcollectseight volumes of the celebrated poet and author's workthat were originally published between 1982 and 2010. With acritical introduction by the literary scholar and theorist Christina Sharpe, the book features a new long poem, the titularNomenclature for the Time Being,which is a thoughtful andwide-rangingreflection on location, consciousness,timeand the current state of the world.

• Dionne Brand on challenging power dynamics, racial stereotypes & gender norms

Brandis an award-winningpoet and novelist from Toronto. She won the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry and the Trillium Book Award for her 1997 collectionLand to Light On. Her collectionthirstywon the 2003 Pat LowtherAward. In 2009, she served as the poet laureate of Toronto. Her novelWhat We All Long Forwon the City of Toronto Book Award in 2006. She won the 2011 Griffin Poetry Prize forOssuariesand in 2017, she wasnamed to the Order of Canada.

LISTEN | The Next Chapter columnist Ryan B. Patrick shares why you should read Nomenclature:

The Next Chapter13:00Janice Lynn Mather on Uncertain Kin

Janice Lynn Mather talks to Shelagh Rogers about her collection of short stories, Uncertain Kin.

The Island of Forgettingby Jasmine Sealy

The Island of Forgettingis an intimate saga spanning four generations of one family who run a beachfront hotel. Starting in the 1960s and moving from Barbados to Canada, the story examines complex relationships, race, sexuality and the many ways a family's past can haunt its future.

• Vancouver writer Jasmine Sealy sees beyond stereotypes in debut novel The Island of Forgetting

Jasmine Sealy is a Barbadian-Canadian writer based in Vancouver. She won the 2020 UBC/HarperCollins Best New Fiction Prize and was longlisted for the 2017 CBC Short Story Prize.The Island of Forgettingis her debut novel.

LISTEN | Jasmine Sealy discussesThe Island of Forgetting:

The Next Chapter12:16Suzette Mayr on The Sleeping Car Porter

Ryan B. Patrick interviews Suzette Mayr on her 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize- winning novel, The Sleeping Car Porter.

Uncertain Kinby Janice Lynn Mather

In Uncertain Kin, acollection of linked stories, Janice Lynn Mather introduces us to the women and girls of The Bahamas. Searching for identity and belonging during moments of upheaval, these complex characters are intimately familiar. From the responsibilities of parenthood to grief, longing and betrayal, the stories ofUncertain Kingrapple with what it means to be a woman.

• Janice Lynn Mather's Uncertain Kin is a new short story collection about belonging

Mather is a novelist and short story writer born and raised in Nassau, Bahamas, who now lives in Vancouver. Her other books includeLearning to Breathe, which was a finalist for the2018 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature text.

LISTEN | Janice Lynn Mather talks to Shelagh Rogers about Uncertain Kin:

The Next Chapter13:08TNC columnist Shakura S'Aida finds a companion read to June by Chelene Knight

TNC columnist Shakura S'Aida reveals why she thinks fans of Chelene Knight's Junie will love Moments of Glad Grace by Alison Wearing.

The Sleeping Car Porterby Suzette Mayr

The Sleeping Car Portertells the story of Baxter, a Black man in 1929 who works as a sleeping car porter on a train that travels across the country. He smiles and tries to be invisible to the passengers, but what he really wants is to save up and go to dentistry school. On one particular trip out west, the train is stalled and Baxter finds a naughty postcard of two gay men. The postcard reawakens his memories and longings and puts his job in jeopardy.

The Sleeping Car Porterwonthe 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• Suzette Mayr's novel The Sleeping Car Porter uses magic realism to highlight Black Canadian history

Suzette Mayr is a poet and novelist based in Calgary. She is the author of the novelsDr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall,Monoceros,Moon Honey,The WidowsandVenous Hum.

LISTEN | Suzette Mayr reacts to winning the Giller Prize:

The Next Chapter15:59If you like Richard Wright's Black Boy... you'll love this Canadian book

TNC columnist Donna Bailey Nurse finds a Canadian companion to Black Boy by Richard Wright.

Junieby Chelene Knight

Junieis a novel about Junie, a creative and observant child, who moves to Hogan's Alley in the 1930s with her mother. Hogan's Alley is a thriving Black immigrant community in Vancouver's east end and Junie quickly makes meaningful relationships. As she moves into adulthood, Junie explores her artistic talents and sexuality, but her mother sinks further into alcoholism and the thriving neighbourhood once filled with potentialbegins to change.

• Chelene Knight on bringing a historic Black community in Vancouver back to life in her debut novelJunie

Chelene Knight is a writer and poet from Vancouver. She is the author ofBraided Skinand the memoirDear Current Occupant, which won the 2018 Vancouver Book Award.

LISTEN | Chelene Knight talks to Shelagh Rogers about Junie:

Finding Edwardby Sheila Murray

Finding Edwardis a novel about a man, Cyril Rowntree, who discovers letters from the 1920s that reveal the story of a white mother who gave up her mixed race son, Edward, for adoption. Cyril has recently moved to Toronto from Jamaica and was abandoned by his own white father, so Edward's story intrigues him, and he begins to search for Edward, and the truth about what happened to him. This journey of personal discovery is also one of Canada's Black history.

• Sheila Murray's novelFinding Edwardis a story of personal discovery and of Canada's Black history

Sheila Murray is a writer born and raised in England who now lives in Hamilton, Ont.Finding Edward,her first novel, was afinalist for the 2022 Governor General'sLiterary Award for fictionand was named one of thebest works of Canadian fiction in 2022 by CBC Bookandwas ontheCanada Reads2023 longlist.CBC Books named Murrayawriter to watch in 2023.

LISTEN | Why you should read Finding Edward:

The Next Chapter13:02Kai Thomas on Upper Country

TNC contributor Ryan B. Patrick interviews Kai Thomas about his historical fiction novel, Upper Country.

Blood Scionby Deborah Falaye

In the YA fantasy novelBlood Scion, a teen named Sloane discovers she is a superpowered Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods. But when she is forced to join the army under a brutal warlord, Sloane realizes she has an opportunity to use her magical powers to defeat the enemy from within.

Blood Scionwas named one of thebest Canadian YA books of 2022 by CBC Booksand was ontheCanada Reads2023 longlist.CBC Books named Falayeawriter to watch in 2023.

• Deborah Falaye's Blood Scion brings Yoruba mythology and Nigerian culture to the forefront

Deborah Falaye is a Nigerian Canadian YA author based in Toronto. She grew up in Lagos, where she spent her time devouring African literature, pestering her grandma for folktales and tricking her grandfather into watchingPassionsevery night.Blood Scionis her debut novel.

Boys and Girls Screamingby Kern Carter

In the YA novelBoys and Girls Screaming,a teen named Ever is coping with the sudden death of her father. Ever decides to form a support group called Boys and Girls Screaming for kids who have suffered trauma. But while the other students share their stories and find solace, Ever is driven deeper into depression and hits her breaking point. It's up to the group to set Ever onto a path of healing.

• Kern Carter's YA novelBoys and Girls Screamingis a thoughtful mix of empathy, entertainment and emotion

Kern Carter is a Toronto author and freelance writer. He has written and self-published two books the novellaThoughts of a Fractured Souland the novelBeauty Scars. Carteralso has writing credits in Forbes, the New York Times, Global Citizen, Elle Magazine and Fatherly.com.CBC Books named Carterawriter to watch in 2023.

Dream of No One But Myselfby David Bradford

Dream of No One but Myselfis a poetry collection that combines prose poems, verse and collages of family photos cut-upto showcase what it was like growing up in a troubled family. InDream of No One but Myself,David Bradford presents an unstable, frayed account of family inheritance, intergenerational traumas and domestic tenderness.

• David Bradford's Dream of No One But Myself explores family via words and images

Bradford is a poet, editor and organizer based in Montreal. His work has appeared in The Capilano Review, The Tiny, The Fiddlehead, Carte Blanche and elsewhere. He is a founding editor of House House Press. His poetry collectionDream of No One But Myselfwonthe 2022 A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry; it also wasa finalist forthe 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry, wasshortlisted for the2022 Griffin Poetry Prize, and waslonglistedfor the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award for best debut book.CBC Books named Bradfordawriter to watch in 2023.

LISTEN | David Bradford on Q:

The Next Chapter19:35Jael Richardson on Gutter Child

Jael Richardson on the inspiration behind her debut novel, Gutter Child.

Hold My Girlby Charlene Carr

Hold My Girlis a dual narrative novel about two women,Katherine and Tess,whose eggs are switched during IVF.Hold My Girl, which exploresthe complexities of love, motherhood and racial identity, wasoptioned in 2023 by production company Blink Studios for a series adaptation.

• Kai Thomas's novel In the Upper Country is a fresh take on Black Canadian history & the Underground Railroad

Charlene Carr is a Toronto-raised writer and author based in Nova Scotia whose work explores truth in fiction. She is the author of several independently published novels and novellas.Hold My Girlis her first novel with a major publisher.CBC Books named Carrawriter to watch in 2023.

In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas

Kai Thomas's debut novel,In the Upper Country, is a fictional portrayal of mid-19th century southern Ontario through the eyes of a youngBlack journalist.

When a woman escaping the U.S.through the Underground Railroad kills a slave hunter,Lensindais enlisted to interviewher from jail. Instead of providing her testimony, the old woman proposes an exchange: a story for a story. The deal seems mundaneenough, excepttheirback-and-forth soon reveals an extraordinary range of stories, secrets and untoldhistories, including those of Black refugee communities and Indigenous nations around the Great Lakes.

• 6 Black Canadian writers to watch in 2023

Thomas isa writer, carpenter and land steward. Born and raised in Ottawa, he is of Black and mixed heritage descended from Trinidad and the British Isles.In the Upper Countryis his first novel.CBC Books named ThomasaBlack writer to watch in 2023.

LISTEN | Kai Thomas on The Next Chapter:

The Next Chapter13:46Francesca Ekwuyasi on Butter Honey Pig Bread

Francesca Ekwuyasi on her Canada Reads 2021 book, Butter Honey Pig Bread

Gutter Childby Jael Richardson

Gutter Childis about a young girl growing up in a world divided: the Mainland,where people of privilege live, and the Gutter, a policestate where the most vulnerable reside. A social experiment results in 100 babies born in the Gutter being raised in the Mainland. One of those babies is Elimina Dubois. But when Elimina's Mainland mother dies, she is sent to an academy with rules and a way of life Elimina doesn't understand.

• Read an excerpt and see the trailer forGutter Childby Jael Richardson

Jael Richardson is the founder and the artistic director of the Festival for Literary Diversity (FOLD) and the former books columnist forQon CBC Radio. She is also the author of the nonfiction bookThe Stone Thrower, which was adapted intoa picture book of the same name.Gutter Childis her first work of fiction.

LISTEN | Jael Richardson on Gutter Child:

Butter Honey Pig Breadby Francesca Ekwuyasi

Butter Honey Pig Breadis a novel about twin sisters, Kehinde and Taiye, and their mother, Kambirinachi. Kambirinachi believes she was a spirit who was supposed to die as a small child. By staying alive, she is cursing her family a fear that appears to come true when Kehinde experiences something that tears the family apart, and divides the twins for years. But when the three women connect years later, they must confront their past and find forgiveness.

Butter Honey Pig Breadwason the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlistandwas a finalistfor the 2020 Governor General's Literary Prize for fiction.Roger MookingchampionedButter Honey Pig BreadonCanada Reads2021.

• Francesca Ekwuyasi explored food and forgiveness in her first book

Francesca Ekwuyasiis a writer, filmmaker and visual artist. Her writing has appeared in the Malahat Review, Guts and Brittle Paper, and she waslonglisted for the 2019 Journey Prize.Butter Honey Pig Breadis her first book.

LISTEN | Francesca Ekwuyasi on Butter HoneyPigBread:

Willie ORee, the NHLs first Black player, on racism in hockey

4 years ago

Duration 9:19

Willie ORee, the NHLs first Black player, reflects on his legacy and the fight against anti-Black racism in hockey.

The Night Pieceby Andr Alexis

The Night Pieceisa collection of career-spanning stories byScotiabank Giller PrizeandCanada ReadswinnerAndr Alexis.Alexisdraws from his previous publications, includingDespair and Other Stories of OttawaandBeauty & Sadness, as well as works that have not been published before.

• Staying focused on craft is why Andr Alexis completed quincunx exploring faith, place, love, power and hatred

Alexisis the author of numerous books, includingFifteen Dogs, which wonCanada Reads2017 and the 2015 ScotiabankGiller Prize, andDays by Moonlight, whichwon the2019 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

LISTEN |Andr Alexis takes the Proust Questionnaire:

The Next Chapter22:08Antonio Michael Downing on Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming

Antonio Michael Downing on his memoir, Saga Boy: My Life of Blackness and Becoming.

Willieby Willie O'Ree, with Michael McKinley

In 1958, Willie O'Ree stepped on the ice for the Boston Bruins, becoming the first Black player to play in the NHL. For the next 20 years, he would continue to play, facing racist taunts from fans and fellow players. After he retired from hockey, he would buildan even bigger legacy as an advocate for diversity in sport, helping more than 40,000 kids discover the game he loved.Willie,a memoir written with journalistMichael McKinley, looks back on O'Ree's life, legacy and career.

• Willie O'Ree, NHL's first Black player, on breaking barriers and challenging racism in hockey

O'Ree was the first Black player in the NHL. He is also the subject of the documentaryWillie.Willieis his first book.

Michael McKinley is a journalist, documentary filmmaker and screenwriter from Vancouver. He is also the author of the nonfiction bookHockey: APeople's Historyand the novelThe Penalty Killing.

WATCH | The legacy ofWillie O'Ree:

The Next Chapter12:48Cicely Belle Blain on Burning Sugar

Poet and activist Cicely Belle Blain on her debut collection of poetry, Burning Sugar.

Saga Boyby Antonio Michael Downing

Musician and writer Antonio Michael Downing shares his story in the memoirSaga Boy.Downing was born in Trinidad and raised there by his grandmother until he was 11 years old after she dies, he is sent to rural Ontario to live with a strict aunt. There, Downing and his brother are the only Black kids in town. Creative and inquisitive, Downing tries to find himself and escape his difficult home life by imagining different personas. But when he hits rock bottom, and finds himself in jail, he knows it is time to build a life for himselffor real, and to embrace his heritage instead of trying to escape it.

• Antonio Michael Downing shares his lifelong search for his Black identity in the memoir Saga Boy

Downingis a musician, writer and activist who now lives in Toronto. He published his first book, the novelMolasses, in 2010. In 2017, he was named one of five writers to participate in theRBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writers Mentorship Program.

LISTEN | Antonio Michael Downing discusses Saga Boy:

The Next Chapter13:08Bertrand Bickersteth on The Response of Weeds

Poet Bertrand Bickersteth talks about his new collection The Response of Weeds, which is inspired by his experiences as a Black man in Alberta.

eat salt | gaze at the oceanby Junie Dsil

eat salt | gaze at the oceanis a poetry collection that uses the motif of the Haitian zombie to explore Black sovereignty and Haitian sovereignty, while also sharingJunie Dsil's own story of growing up in Canada as the daughter of Haitian immigrants.

• Leanne Betasamosake Simpson on why she loveseat salt | gaze at the ocean

Dsilis a poet of Haitian descent who was born in Montreal, raised in Winnipeg and now lives in British Columbia. Her work has appeared inRoom and Prism.eat salt | gaze at the oceanis her first book.

Black Mattersby Afua Cooper & Wilfried Raussert

Poet Afua Cooper and photographerWilfried Raussertcollaborated onBlack Matters, which explores the everyday experience of what it's like to be Black in Canada. Each of Raussert's photographs has a companion poem written by Cooper.

• Afua Cooper talks about what it's like to be Black in Canada

Cooper is the poet laureate of Halifax. She's also a historian and teacher, and is the author of five books of poetry and two novels, includingThe Hanging of Angelique.

Raussert is a Canadian photographer, artist and academic who currently teaches in Germany. He has authored or edited more than 20 scholarly books.

Burning Sugarby Cicely Belle Blain

Burning Sugaris a poetry collection that explores Black identity, history and the impact of colonizationon Black bodies.Burning Sugarilluminates how systems, society and culture are all structured to reinforce racism. But it also explores and celebrates the nuance and joy in life.

• Cicely Belle Blain explores Black identity and history through their powerful poetry

Cicely Belle Blain is a poet and activist from British Columbia. They foundedBlack Lives Matter Vancouver. CBCRadio named them one of150 Black women and non-binary people making change across Canadain 2018.Burning Sugaris their first book.

LISTEN | Cicely Belle Blain discusses Burning Sugar:

The Next Chapter11:09Canisia Lubrin on The Dyzgraphxst

Rising Canadian literary star Canisia Lubrin talks about her new poetry collection The Dyzgraphxst.

Word Problemsby Ian Williams

Word Problemsis the latest poetry collection by Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning writer Ian Williams.The collection uses unusual tools, including math and grammar, totackleissues facing contemporary society, such as racial inequality, as well asuniversal themeslikehow people connect to and relate to each other.

• Ian Williams explores race, class and identity in his debut novel,Reproduction

Williams is a poet, novelist and professor from Brampton, Ont., who is currently teaching at the University of British Columbia. His debut novelReproductionwon the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize. He is also the author of the poetry collectionPersonals, which was a finalist for the 2013 Griffin Poetry Prize.

LISTEN | Ian Williams reflects on how we talk about race:

The Next Chapter19:17Valerie Mason-John on I Am Still Your Negro

Valerie Mason-John discusses her stirring and personal poetry collection I Am Still Your Negro: An Homage to James Baldwin.

Finish this Sentenceby Leslie Roach

Finish this Sentence,the first poetry collectionby Leslie Roach, is about her personal experiences with racism and the anger and anxiety it ignites within.

• Leslie Roach explains how poetry helped her heal from the anger and anxiety of the racist experiences inflicted upon her

Roach is a poet and lawyer from Montreal who currently lives in Ottawa, where she works for the Parliament of Canada.Finish this Sentenceis her first book.

The Response of Weedsby Bertrand Bickersteth

"Storied soil" is thephrase Bertrand Bickersteth uses to describe his home province of Alberta in his debut poetry collectionThe Response of Weeds. The collection brings to life the experience of early Black settlers in Western Canada. InThe Response of Weeds, Bickerstethrelatesstories rooted in the prairie landscape, including his own experience growing up as a Black Albertan. He spoke with Shelagh Rogers about writing the book.

• Bertrand Bickersteth'sThe Response of Weedspoetically explores the Black Canadian experience in full bloom

Bickersteth is a poet, author and educatorwho was born in Sierra Leone, raised in Alberta, and has lived in the U.K. and the U.S.

The Next Chapter14:06C.L. Polk on The Midnight Bargain

C.L. Polk on her Canada Reads 2021 contender, The Midnight Bargain.

The Gospel of Breakingby Jillian Christmas

The Gospel of Breakingdraws onJillian Christmas's politics, family history and queer lineage, telling stories of love lost, friendship and community.

• Why the poetry of Jillian Christmas examines the realities of Black queerness, femininity and community

Christmas is aneducator, activist and community organizer who focuses on increasinganti-oppression initiatives in spoken word.She is the former artistic director of Vancouver's Verses Festival of Words.CBC Books named Christmas a 2020 writer to watch.

The Dyzgraphxstby Canisia Lubrin

The Dyzgraphxstis set against the backdrop of contemporary capitalist fascism, nationalism and the climate disaster, where Jejune, the central figure,grapples with understandingtheir existence and identity.

• Why poet Canisia Lubrinembraces chaos

Canisia Lubrinis a writer, editor and teacher. Her debut poetry collectionVoodoo Hypothesiswas longlisted for the Gerald Lampert Award and the Pat Lowther Award, and was a finalist for the Raymond Souster Award.

LISTEN |Canisia Lubrin discussesThe Dyzgraphxst:

The Next Chapter19:15Desmond Cole on The Skin We're In

Toronto journalist Desmond Cole talks about his bestselling debut nonfiction book, The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power.

I Am Still Your Negroby Valerie Mason-John

In 2016, the documentaryI Am Not Your Negrowas released in theatres. The doc was based on an unfinished 1979 manuscript by James Baldwin calledRemember the House, which was to be the story of America through the lens of the lives of three murdered friends.Poet, authorand public speaker Valerie Mason-Johnwatched that documentary and it helped inspire her latest book,I Am Still Your Negro:An Homage to James Baldwin. Mason-John's writing speaks truth about the scars and trauma of slavery, sexism and colonization.

• Valerie Mason-John's I Am Still Your Negro uses social justice poetry to explore why society hasn't changed

Mason-John is a poet and public speaker from Vancouver.

LISTEN |Valerie Mason-John discussesI Am Still Your Negro:

The Next Chapter21:03Tessa McWatt on Shame on Me

The novelist Tessa McWatt on her award-winning memoir Shame on Me: An Anatomy of Race and Belonging

Dominoes at the Crossroadsby Kaie Kellough

In Dominoes at the Crossroads,Kaie Kelloughnavigates Canada's Caribbean diaspora, through a broad cast of characterswho seek music and a connection to their past. They includejazz musicians, hitchhikers, suburbanites, student radicals, secret agents, historiansand their fugitive slave ancestors, andtheir stories stretch from Montreal's Old Port to as far as the South American rainforests.

• How an album title inspired Kaie Kellough to become a writer

Kellough is a novelist, poet and sound performer. His short fiction collectionDominoes at the Crossroadswason the 2020 Scotiabank Giller Prize longlist,was arunner-up for aDanuta Gleed Literary Award in 2021and was on theCanada Reads2022 longlist.Kellough won the2020 Griffin Poetry Prizefor his third poetry collection,Magnetic Equator.His debut novelAccordonwas a finalist for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award in 2017.

The Midnight Bargainby C.L. Polk

InThe Midnight Bargain, Beatrice is makingher debut at "bargaining season" an annual event where wealthy young men and women gather from all over the world to make advantageous marriages. Butshe harbours secret plans that will upend society. Rather than get married, Beatrice plans to bind a greater spirit and become a full magician.

Olympian and broadcasterRosey EdehchampionedThe Midnight BargainonCanada Reads2021.

• C.L. Polk hopes The Midnight Bargain will 'shine a light on the power of science fiction and fantasy'

C.L. Polkis a fantasy writer from Calgary. They arethe author of the novelsWitchmark,StormsongandThe Midnight Bargain.Witchmark, their first book, won the 2019 World Fantasy Award for best novel.

LISTEN | C.L. Polk discusses The Midnight Bargain:

The Next Chapter19:09Dane Swan & Charles C. Smith on Changing the Face of Canadian Literature

Dane Swan is an editor and Charles C. Smith a contributor to the anthology Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, which celebrates writing by diverse voices.

The Skin We're Inby Desmond Cole

InThe Skin We're In, journalist and activist Desmond Cole looks at what it's like to live in Canada as a Black person.The Skin We're Inexaminesone year, 2017, and chronicles Cole'spersonal journalism, activism and experiences alongside stories that made headlines across the country, including refugees crossing the Canada-U.S. border in the middle of winter and the death of Somali-CanadianAbdirahman Abdiat the hands of the Ottawa police.

The Skin We're Inwon the 2020 Toronto Book Award.

• How Desmond Cole wrote a bestselling book about being Black in Canada

Cole is ajournalist, radio hostand activist based inToronto.His writing has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life, Now magazineandthe Walrus.The Skin We're Inis his first book.

LISTEN | Desmond Cole discusses The Skin We're In:

The Next Chapter12:57Njoki Wane on From My Mother's Back: A Journey from Kenya to Canada

The author and award-winning scholar Njoki Wane on her memoir From My Mother's Back: A Journey from Kenya to Canada.

They Said This Would Be Funby Eternity Martis

Eternity Martiswas smart, bookish and excited to go to university. But once she got to campus, life wasn't what she imagined. She was often the only student of colour in classes, at parties and in dorms, and had to face racial slurs, students in blackface at parties and more on a regular basis.They Said This Would Be Funis a memoir about the difficulty of navigating through white spaces as a student of colour and asks us to confront the systemic issues that define the college experience for racialized and marginalized students.

• Eternity Martis reflects on the challenges of being a Black university student in her first book

Martis is a Toronto-based journalist, author,editor and academic.Her work focuses onissues ofrace and gender andhas been featured in Vice, Salon, Hazlitt, TVO.org, the Walrus, Huffington Post and CBC.They Said This Would Be Funis her first book. Martis s a juror for the 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize.

Shame on Meby Tessa McWatt

Tessa McWatt was born in Guyana and came to Canada when she was three years old. She grew up in Torontoand spent years living in Montreal, Paris, Ottawa and London. Her heritage isScottish, English, French, Portuguese, Indian, Amerindian, African and Chinese.Shame on Meis a memoir about identity, race and belonging by someone who spent a lot of time trying to find an answer to the question, "Who are you?" and who has endured decades of racism and bigotry while trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs.

Shame on Mewas on the shortlist for the 2020Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

• How life in a Trumpian, post-Brexit world prompted Tessa McWatt to explore race and identity in her new memoir

McWatt is the author of several works of fiction. Her novels includeDragons Cry,Vital SignsandHigher Ed. She is also the co-editor of the anthologyLuminous Ink: Writers on Writing in Canada.Shame on Meis her first work of nonfiction.

LISTEN | Tessa McWatt discusses Shame on Me:

(not applicable)22:31Rodney Diverlus on Black Lives Matter and living as a black man today

Diverlus is the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Toronto. He spoke with CBC News about the Toronto Pride Parade protest and the state of racism in North America.

Changing the Face of Canadian Literature, edited by Dane Swan

Changing the Face of Canadian Literatureis an anthology compiled and edited by writer, spoken word poet and editor Dane Swan. It's a book that highlights and celebrates the work of BIPOC Canadian writers, includingDoretta Lau, Ayelet Tsabari, Jael Richardson,Kaie Kellough,Doyali IslamandCharles C. Smith.

• This anthology of diverse Canadian literary voices is an important read in 2020

Swanis a Bermuda-born, Toronto-based spoken word artist, former slam poet, musician, author and editor. Swan'ssecond poetry collection,A Mingus Lullaby, wasshortlisted for the Trillium Book Award for Poetry in 2017.

The Sunday Edition27:06Exile, addiction and racism: what it means to be a gay, Muslim immigrant

Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali has been through a lot since he was born almost 35 years ago in Mogadishu, Somalia. A ruinous civil war; migrating to the Netherlands and then to Canada, a Muslim in a strange land; a fractured family; discovering he was gay; homelessness, alcoholism and addiction. You might say that anyone who's lived through all that should write a memoir. That's what he did. It's called Angry Queer Somali Boy: A Complicated Memoir, and it was widely acclaimed as one of the best Canadian books of 2019.

From My Mother's Backby Njoki Wane

Njoki Wane'sFrom My Mother's Backreflects on her childhood living in Kenya where her parents owned a small coffee farm. It explores her African identity and how her upbringing and close relationship with her mother ensured her sense of self as a Black woman.

• Njoki Wane's memoir From My Mother's Back is a story of Black resilience and developing a strong sense of self

Wane is a professor at the University of Toronto and a recognized scholar in the areas of Black feminism and African spirituality.From My Mother's Backwason theCanada Reads2022 longlist.

LISTEN | Njoki Wane discusses From My Mother's Back:

On Property by Rinaldo Walcott

InOn Property, author and academic Rinaldo Walcott examinesthe legacy ofindenturedservitudeandracial slavery and castsan analytical eye on the complex concept of property.The pamphletbook calls for systemic changes and sets forththeargumentthatowning property should beabolished.

• Biblioasis launching Field Notes, a new series of 'short take' books that will respond to current events

Walcott is a professor at the University of Toronto, where he is the director of women and gender studies, and also teaches at theOntario Institute for Studies in Education.

Until We Are Free,edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Syrus Marcus Ware

This collection of writing and photographs explores issues facing the Black community in Canada. In light of the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in this country,Until We Are Freeaddresses how developments in Canadian Black activism, alliances with Indigenous groups and the savvy use of social media have served to challenge systemic racism, state violence and question myths of "Canadian politeness and niceness."

• Why Robyn Maynard wrote a book exposing the underreported history of racial injustice in Canada

Until We Are Freewasedited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson and Syrus Marcus Ware.

LISTEN |Rodney Diverlus on Black Lives Matter and living as a black man today:

Angry Queer Somali BoybyMohamed Abdulkarim Ali

AngryQueer Somali Boyis a memoir byMohamed Abdulkarim Ali, who left Somalia as a young man, spent time in the Netherlandsand ended up homeless in Canada. Canada was the promised land, but when he didn't fit in and lifewas more difficult than he expected, Ali turned to drugs and partying before finding his way.

• Exile, addiction and racism: what it means to be a gay, Muslim immigrant

AngryQueer Somali Boycombines Ali's personal story with the historyof and commentary on the places he's called home:Somalia, Europeand Canada. It's his first book.

LISTEN |Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali discusses Angry Queer Somali Boy:

Ties That Tetherby Jane Igharo

Ties That Tetheris about a young woman who must decide between a promise she made her dying father and following her heart.Azere was 12 years old when she told her father she would marry a Nigerian man and honourher family's culture, even after moving to Canada. But then Azerehas a one-night stand with a white man she meets in a bar andthings surprisingly get serious. Can Azere make it work without betraying her family, or herself?

• Being Black in Canada: Highlights the stories and experiences of Black Canadians

Jane Igharocame to Canada from Nigeria when she was 12 years old. She currently lives in Toronto.Ties That Tetheris her first book.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of.You can read more stories here.