Living Hyphen

The final episode of our second season turns the question on distance: How do we close the gaps we’ve been exploring all season? How do we build a bridge to bring each other closer?

To help us consider the answers from different angles, we’ve gathered together some of our friends from the On Canada Project, the Department of Imaginary Affairs, and Filipinos United 4 Palestine. 

Featured in this episode: 

• Elvin John Malonzo Velasco (all pronouns) is a 1.5 generation Filipinx-Canadian migrated as a settler-guest in Scarborough, Tkaronto; spiritually rooted in Baguio (Bagiw = Ibaloi word for moss) & Tarlac City (Malatarlak = Alta word for wild cogon grass) of what we colonially know as the islands called The Philippines. 

They are a queer non-binary interdisciplinary creative artrepreneur, warrior-healer (ancestral lineage) & storytelling caretaker/co-creator of gumawa space; passionate in engaging their creative processes of drawing, drag (TITA), collaging, poetry & bridging community through active & participatory storytelling invitations with the focus on inner child healing & honouring; land stewardship & re-membering our queer ancestral lineage. 

• The On Canada Project (@oncanadaproject)

Gina Uppal is an entrepreneur and community organizer with 10 years experience leading initiatives across public and private sectors. Gina loves creating spaces for leaders to learn, build relationships, and steward systems initiatives. Trust, compassion, and community are central in her approach to this work.

• The Department of Imaginary Affairs (@dia_space)

Jennifer Chan (@jennzia) is a Mama, partner, friend, sister, aunt, daughter, designer, researcher, facilitator and recovering perfectionist. She craves things to make sense in her double Virgo brain and has a constant need to protect. She has created a job for herself where she gets to imagine equitable futures. 

• Filipinos United 4 Palestine (@filipinosunited4palestine)

Jovie Galit (@joviegalit @pinaycollection) is an artist, racial justice consultant, and community organizer living as a settler in Tkaronto. With years of experience organizing for and learning from migrant and racialized communities, she has been deeply involved in the newcomer and social justice sectors across Turtle Island. As a designer and hand lettering artist, Jovie founded Pinay Collection, a social enterprise and feminist merchandise line supporting liberation movements in the Philippines. She upholds strong abolitionist, anti-imperialist, and anti-colonial values.

Gelaine Santiago (@gelainesantiago) is an award-winning social entrepreneur and storyteller working at the intersections of entrepreneurship, social justice, and cultural identity. She's on a mission to build ecosystems (not empires) and helps marginalized founders scale businesses that grow collective, wealth, and joy. Gelaine is the co-founder and CEO of Cambio & Co and Sinta & Co. dedicated to sustainable livelihood for artisans in the Philippines.

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.

In this two-part exploration of distances between us, we look at how colonial powers have tried to destroy the histories and complexities of racialized communities by deeming them as subordinate. 

Featured in this episode:  

• Alyssa Sy de Jesus (@alyssabethandra) is a writer and cultural worker. "Twice removed" from the motherland, she is a fourth generation Chinese settler from the Philippines based today on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tlseil-Waututh territory.

• Sumaiya Matin (@sumaiya.matin) is a writer, social worker/psychotherapist, and public policy professional. She loves exploring the intersections of mental health and literature. She is the author of the literary memoir The Shaytan Bride, and is currently a Master of Fine Arts candidate at the University of British Columbia.

• Sarrah G. Malek (@sarrah3g) is a Palestinian writer and spoken word poet living in T'Karanto, Canada. She writes on colonization and resistance using creative performance and magical realism. She is co-editor of Min Fami: Arab feminist reflections on space, identity, and resistance published in 2014. 

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.

What happens when we try to do away with nuances and differences altogether — and in doing so erase the cultures made richer by them? 

Featured in this episode: 

• Amritpal Singh Arora is a writer of poetry. He is a family physician in Burnaby, British Columbia. His poetry is centered around themes of medicine, grief, domestic violence, and navigating the world as a racialized person. His creative work has previously appeared in This Magazine, Train: a poetry journal, The Canadian Medical Association Journal, Canadian Family Physician, and Living Hyphen.

• Christopher Tse (@tselikec @chris_tse) is a facilitator, writer, and poet based in Whitehorse, Yukon. He placed second at both the 2011 Poetry Slam World Cup and 2016 Rio International Poetry Slam, and continues to miss the top of the podium in most areas of his life. Christopher is passionate about interrogating the intersections of identity and power through storytelling and art, particularly the role of art in historical and contemporary resistance movements. He has a dog.

• Cobra Collins (@kingofthesnakes) is a Mohkínstsis based mixed Indigenous and settler poet of significant height. She has represented our city on a national level at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and was humbled to sit as Indigenous advocate on the Writers’ Union of Canada’s (TWUC) National Council in 2021 and 2022. Her debut short film “Hop Along Hang On” has been featured nationwide and internationally in numerous film festivals and has won several awards, including Best short film, Black Hills film festival. Cobra was also honoured to be shortlisted as a nominee for Calgary's 2016 & 2018 poet laureate.

• Thamer Linklater (@Rustic.lyricist) is Rocky Cree from Nothern Manitoba. They are an activist, poet, and researcher currently residing in Peterborough Ontario. They love exploring how stories and narratives shape people, places, movements, and countries. 

• Taha Tabish (@taabaii) is a Pakistani-Canadian immigrant settler. He currently lives and works in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang (Montreal) with his partner, toddler, and goldendoodle.

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.

Our identities are never neutral, unchanging facts. These different intersections of our identities are invariably linked to larger forces of power and oppression. How do we confront the ways that these intersections can run up against each other and create distance? 

Featured in this episode:  

• Dee Stoicescu

• Erica H Isomura (@ericahiroko) is an award-winning essayist, poet, and multi-disciplinary artist of Chinese and Japanese (yonsei/四世) descent. Erica is currently at work on a collection of poems and essays, and a graphic project exploring fragmented Japanese Canadian memory.

• Andi Vicente (@andivice) is an artist whose interdisciplinary practice is humbled and radicalized by their work with different communities. Through installation and image making they’ve explored intersectional identities, precarious livelihoods and the juxtaposition of movements. Andi aims to broaden an understanding of oppressed experiences and encourage collective empowerment through the answering of the questions “Who is not here with us and how can I be there for you?”

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.

Many of us might be familiar with the impact of displacement on our families and communities: the trauma, the disconnect, the divide that spans generations and cultures. 

How do we bridge these gaps? How do we have the difficult conversations and make the difficult choices that cut right into the heart of our belief systems? 

Featured in this episode:  

• jean allynn (@jnllynn) is a Kapampangan queer femme. When she isn’t providing peer support to 2SLGBTQ+ youth, you can find her at the local community garden, buying more books, and watching horror movies.

• Ginny (@ginnnychen) is a DEIB consultant, strategist and inclusive designer. As a former teacher and crisis call responder, Ginny is best known for creating intersectional safe spaces and coaching interpersonal relationships.

• Thanuja V. (@tj.thanuja) creates, curates, and collaborates to connect with others and build community. Wellness, authentic living, travel, supporting local, and connection are all big themes she explores in her life.

• May Lui (@mayluiconsulting) is a settler/ immigrant of Chinese and white/ European/Jewish ancestry who lives in T’karonto. She is a consultant and adult educator about anti-racism and anti-oppression. May has been published in Body Stories: In and Out and With and Through Fat (2020), Living Hyphen Volume 2.2 Healing Across Generations (2022), Hags on Fire Issue 6 (2022), Hungry Zine Volume 6 Hot and Spicy (2023). www.maylui.com

• André Pawan Vashist (@andrevash) is a son, cousin, parent who cares about living in a society where we work together to care for the Earth, each other and future generations.  He uses his gifts through poetry, through nonprofit sector and through facilitating personal growth. 

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.

What happens when we allow our entire lives to be dominated by a single “right” way to live, to sound, or to look like? Why do we allow it to happen? 

Featured in this episode:  

• Yasmeen Nematt Alla (@yasmeennematt) is an Egyptian immigrant and settler living in Tkaronto, Turtle Island. She has most recently exhibited at the Bronx River Art Centre in Bronx NY, Heaven Gallery in Chicago IL, and Xpace Cultural Centre in Toronto ON. 

• Harshbir Singh Kang (@thehungrysingh) is a physiotherapist based in Edmonton, Alberta. In his free time he enjoys travelling, cycling, skiing, cooking, and learning new musical instruments from around the world. 

• Andrea Thompson (@andreathompsonpoet / www.andreathompson.ca) is a writer, editor, educator and award-winning spoken word artist. Her recent book is the critically acclaimed poetry collection A Selected History of Soul Speak. Andrea currently teaches the first spoken word course at the University of Toronto’s English and Drama Department.

• Mikaela Lucido (@mikaela.lucido) was born in Manila, Philippines and raised in Mississauga, Canada. Her words have been featured in Ricepaper Magazine, Cambio & Co., Living Hyphen, and Augur Magazine. Her debut novel, Danica Dela Torre, Certified Sleuth, will be published by Annick Press in Autumn 2024. 

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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.

Distance reflects more than just a physical separation — it’s also the emotional chasm between loved ones, the cultural gaps that divide us, the philosophical distances we must traverse in search of understanding. 

For those of us from racialized communities, distance also marks the difference and division that white supremacy has sown within and between us. 

Join us as we explore all this and more in an all-new season of the Living Hyphen Podcast. 

Featured in this episode:  

Sambriddhi Nepal is a Nepali settler living on unceded Coast Salish Territories in Vancouver BC. She works at an environmental organization by day and writes creative non-fiction and children’s books when everyone in her household has gone to bed.

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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.

In this final episode, we’re talking about all the ways we send love from afar, both tangible and intangible, through both space and time, in whatever form we have available to us.

Thank you for being a part of this journey.

Signing off for now and sending our love from afar,

Trisha & Justine

Featured in this episode:

• Sam Castaneda is a high school student from Alberta who is passionate about exploring, equality, and seeing the best in the world. She believes her writing and (past) travel experiences have helped her not only understand where she has come from but also the beautiful backgrounds that have shaped the people of today's society. Follow her on Instagram at @samicastanedaa.

• 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.

The last year has been one of grieving for a lot of us. Whether we are grieving the loss of anticipated plans or the loss of income, our businesses, our jobs, the loss of touch and intimacy or, ultimately, the loss of our loved ones, the passing of millions of people all around the world with their own complex histories, joys, insecurities, hopes, and dreams, and flaws and everything in between — we dedicate this episode to all the ways and all the things we grieve.

Featured in this episode:

• 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.

Communication has shifted in such profound and subtle ways over the course of this pandemic. Language is meant to be a point of connection, but it has been a struggle to articulate the depth of the bad-ness happening around us on a daily basis. How do you foster emotional connection when communication “fails” you?

In this episode, we dive into just that question. And not just as it relates to the pandemic, but to our experiences as hyphenated Canadians. Whether it’s in the form of losing a language, or adapting one’s way of speaking in the face of assimilation, or losing touch with the culture attached to a language — for many of us who are a part of a diaspora or who have been displaced in some way, this gap in our language is not new.

Featured in this episode:

• 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.