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The Survival of Arrival: A Review of Sharon Bala’s The Boat People

The Boat People
Sharon Bala
Penguin Random House
Review by Anjalika Samarasekera

In the second half of The Boat People, a Sri Lankan immigrant—and former Tamil Tiger—poses a question to his Canadian-born niece: “What do you think happens when you terrorize a people, force them to flee, take away their options then put them in a cage all together?” (230).

The question is the ravaged heart of Sharon Bala’s remarkable debut novel, which chronicles the arrival of around 400 Tamil refugees on the coast of British Columbia in 2010. The refugees have fled persecution in Sri Lanka following the end of the twenty-six-year civil war and have come to Canada hoping for a warm welcome. These hopes are dashed when the Canadian government detains the refugees on the suspicion that some of them belong to the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, a listed terrorist organization. Eventually, some refugees are released and deemed “admissible” to Canada while others are deported back to Sri Lanka.

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Get to Know: Anita Cheung

Interview by Kyla Jamieson

Anita Cheung is a Vancouver-based entrepreneur and creative who recently launched one of our new favourite websites, whereareyoureallyfrom.org (WAYRF), which features the portraits of twenty-one women of colour alongside interview clips and insights. The project evolved from Cheung’s personal investigation into what it means to be a woman of colour, particularly in our current political climate. “We are just as diverse and complex as our white counterparts,” Cheung says, and she wanted to hear “how others saw and experienced their own coloured-ness.”

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Shut Up Slow Down Let Go Breathe: An Interview with Marcus McCann

Interview by Matthew Walsh

Over last summer, during Toronto Pride season, I got to have a conversation over Twitter with poet and lawyer Marcus McCann about his new collection of poetry, Shut Up Slow Down Let Go Breathe published with Invisible Publishing. McCann’s collection focuses on gay relationships, dating, homophobia, but it doesn’t stop there, moving from very serious material to tender and funny anecdotes about dating and acceptance of one’s identity. We got to talk about the poetry scene in Toronto, the Naked Heart reading series, and Glad Day Bookstore and Café, where Marcus is part-owner.

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Courage and Imagination in Cli-Fi: Canadian Tales of Climate Change

Cli-Fi: Canadian Tales of Climate Change
Edited by Bruce Meyer
Exile Editions
Review by Emilie Moorhouse

A woman waits in line to get her water ration. She hasn’t had a sip of water in nearly three days. Her mouth is parched; she stumbles as she waits her turn for over an hour in the hot sun. When she he finally gets to the iTap and inserts her card into the machine that controls the water flow, the light turns red and her card is rejected. Her water credits have run out.

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Moments of Perfect Balance in Fun Home: A Coming of Age Musical

Fun Home: The Coming of Age Musical
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron
Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel
Review by Mikaela Asfour

“At times my father appeared to enjoy having children,” Alison narrates, “but the real object of his affection was his house.”

As a fan of Alison Bechdel’s comics, I was pleased to see Fun Home: The Coming of Age Musical onstage in its Canadian premiere at Arts Club Theater’s Granville Island Stage in Vancouver. Fun Home, based on Bechdel’s 2006 autobiographical family tragicomic of the same title, was adapted for the stage by Lisa Kron (book and lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music). In its 2015 Broadway run, the show won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. A heart-rending drama balanced with wonderful moments of levity, Arts Club Theater’s production of Fun Home met my high expectations for the show.
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Get to Know: Adebe DeRango-Adem

Interview by Jessica Johns

Hello, friends. Meet Adebe DeRango-Adem, a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Pennsylvania and author of two full-length poetry collections: Ex Nihilo, nominated for the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize and Terra Incognita, which was a finalist for the 2015 Pat Lowther award. Her newest poetry collection is forthcoming from Mansfield Press. After reading Selina Boan’s Get to Know with Liz Howard, Adebe reached out and introduced herself. After reading some of her work online (her WordPress site is astounding), I asked if she’d like to be a part of the series.

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