25 books about being Black in Canada

Check out these25books by Canadian authors that highlight what it means to be Black in Canada.

Land to Light On by Dionne Brand

Dionne Brand's1997 poetry collectionLand to Light Onwon theGovernor General's Literary Award for poetry. Land to Light Onlooks at the experience of being an outsider to a new land and the complicated feeling of being uncomfortable with others and with themselves in this climate. It explores living in Canada against the backdrop of Black suffering in the Americas and questions our past and possible future for answers.

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

Brand is an award-winningpoet and novelist. In 2017, she wasnamed to the Order of Canada. Her latest books include the novelTheoryand the poetry collectionThe Blue Clerk,which was a finalist for the2018 Governor General's Literary Award for poetry.

Magnetic Equatorby Kaie Kellough

Kaie Kellough plays with geography and self-determination inMagnetic Equator, his third poetry collection. Drifting between South and North America, Kellough digs into the ancestral belonging, exploring The Canadian Prairie, Georgetown, the Amazon rainforestand in the Atlantic Ocean. It looks at the nature of language and dialect in the works of Caribbean and Canadian writers, seeking origin, identity and understanding.

Magnetic Equatorwon the2020 Griffin Poetry Prize.

• Griffin Poetry Prize winner Kaie Kellough plays with words and sound to write vivid poetry and fiction

Kellough is a Montreal-based writer, poet and artist. He is also the author of the novelAccordonand the short story collectionDominoes at the Crossroads.

Blank by M.NourbeSe Philip

Blankis a collection of writer and author M. NourbeSePhilip's previously out-of-print essays and new works. The book explores questions of race, cultural appropriation, America under the Trump administration and how we define multiculturalismin Canada.

• Why fans of Toni Morrison'sThe Origin of Othersshould read M. NourbeSe Philip's essay collectionBlank

Philip is a Canadian poet, novelist, essayist and short story writer who was born in Tobago. She is the author of numerous works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Earlier in 2020,she won thePEN/Nabokov Award for International Literature.

The Hanging Of Angelique by Afua Cooper

The Hanging Of Angeliquetells the story of Marie-JosephAnglique, a slave woman convicted of starting a fire that destroyed a large part of Montral in the 1700s.The work challenges the idea of a slavery-free Canada by way of documenting cases oflegally and culturally endorsed slavery in the country.

• 8 must-read Canadian nonfiction works for Black History Month

Afua Cooper is a Jamaican-born Canadian historian, author and academic.

They Call Me Georgeby Cecil Foster

At the beginning of the 20th century, being a train porter in Canada was a job reserved for Black men only. Cecil Foster documents this underreported piece of Canadian history in the nonfiction bookThey Call Me George. The tiring, thankless and low-paying job that consisted of hauling luggage, folding down beds, shining shoes and serving passengers forced these men to be separated from their families as they travelled thecountry.

They Call Me Georgedocuments how one man, Stanley Grizzle, went from being a porter to leading a movement and eventually receiving the Order of Canada.

• The untold story of Canada's Black train porters

Foster is a Canadian novelist, essayist, journalist and scholar.

North of the Color Line by Sarah-Jane Mathieu

North of the Color Linehighlights the underreported history of life in Canada for the estimated 5,000 Black people, both African Americans and West Indians, who immigrated to Canada after the end of Reconstruction in the United States.Mathieu examines factors such as social, political, labour and immigration through the lens ofthe experiences of black railway workers and their union, the Order of Sleeping Car Porters.

• A century ago, Winnipeg railways became 'birthplace' of fight for Black Canadian workers' rights

Sarah-Jane Mathieu is assistant professor of history at the University of Minnesota anda Faculty Fellow at Harvard University's Warren Center for Studies in American History.

Queer Returns by Rinaldo Walcott

RinaldoWalcotttakes a look atcategories of "queer and Black" and "Black queer" through the lens of multiculturalism and Canadian identity in Queer Returns. The essay collection reflects on how capitalism, colonialism and sexual identity intersect and shape culture, politics and Black expression.

• Why wearing blackface or brownface is considered 'reprehensible'

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

Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard

Robyn Maynard'sPolicing Black Livestraces the underreported modern and historical realities of anti-Blackness within a Canadian context. Maynardexamines the fact that slavery occurred inCanada for more than 200 years andthat enslaved Indigenous and black individuals were responsible for developing infrastructure for white Canadian settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries and how that legacy has defined institutionalizedracism today.

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

Maynard is aMontreal-based author and activist.Policing Black Livesis her debut nonfiction book.

'Membering by Austin Clarke

In'Membering, Austin Clarke documents his life growing up in Barbados and his experience living in Canada to attend school and become a journalist. Clarke writes about living during a time when a new generation of Black writers were emerging and his experienceinterviewing Malcolm X and writers Chinua Achebe and LeRoi Jones.

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Clarkewas a Toronto-basednovelist, essayist and short story writer originally fromBarbados. He is the author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize-winningThe Polished Hoe. Hedied on June 26, 2016, at the age of 81.

Sonnet's Shakespeareby Sonnet L'Abb

InSonnet's Shakespeare,SonnetL'Abb takes the work of William Shakespeare and inserts herself a mixed race South Asian and Black Canadian poet. The end result is 154 sonnets that L'Abb has dismantled letter by letter and rearranged to analyze Shakespeare's influential voice and how we can make space for others.

• Vancouver Island professor challenges perception of Canadian identity

L'Abbis a poet and author based in British Columbia. Shewon thebpNichol Chapbook Award in 2017 forAnima Canadensis.

Angry Queer Somali BoybyMohamed Abdulkarim Ali

AngryQueer Somali Boyis a memoir byMohamed Abdulkarim Ali, a young man who left Somalia, 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.

• The best Canadian nonfiction of 2019

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.

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.

• 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.

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 Inlooks at one year, 2017, and chronicles Coles's personal journalism, activism and experiences alongside stories that made the 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.

• What's it like to be Black in Canada? Under policing, it's hell, says Desmond Cole

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.

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

This collection of writing and photographs explore 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.

Black Writers Matter,edited by Whitney French

Black Writers Matteris ananthology of BlackCanadian writing from new and established writers that aims to reflect the "everydayness" of living in Canada while being Black. The essays inBlack Writers Matter,from authors such as Rowan McCandless, Philip Dwight Morgan, Makeda Silvera andChelene Knight, tacklehistorical and contemporary issues around race, gender, sexuality, ancestryand Canadian identity.

• Want to be a successful Black writer in Canada? Whitney French has advice for you

Black Writers Matterwas curated by Whitney French.French is a writer, storyteller and educator. She wasnamed a Black Canadian writer to watch in 2019 by CBC Books.

BlackLifebyRinaldo Walcott&Idil Abdillahi

Writers and academics Rinaldo Walcott andIdil Abdillahiare the authors ofBlackLife, a nonfiction book that examines the modern reality of Black Canadians through the Western cultural lens of culture, history, literature, music and public policy.

BlackLifeposits that violence is at the core of the nation state and how the destruction of Black life and culture has been seen as acceptable collateral damage. The book maintains that a rethink by artists, activists and scholars alikeis needed to enable a new reality for black Canadians.

• Why wearing blackface or brownface is considered 'reprehensible'

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

Abdillahiis a professor of social work at Ryerson University.

I've Been Meaning to Tell You byDavid Chariandy

InI've Been Meaning to Tell You,David Chariandycontemplateshow to talk to his young daughter about the politics and history of race by sharing their family's story and his personal experience as the son of Black and South Asian immigrants from Trinidad.Chariandynavigates sensitive and complex issues,acknowledginga painful past while also describing a hopeful future.

• David Chariandy writes his truth for his 13-year-old in his latest book

Chariandyis an award-winning Vancouver-based author. His novelBrother,the story of two brothers growing up in a troubled housing complex in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, was a contender forCanada Reads2019.Brotherwon the2017 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prizeand the2018 Toronto Book Award.

Execution Poemsby George Elliott Clarke

George Elliott Clarke'scollection,Execution Poems, won the Governor General's Literary Award forpoetry in 2001.Clarke's book looks at the life of his late cousins who were executed for the murder of a taxi driver in Fredericton. The unflinching collection examines themes of redemption, violence, racism and poverty in Canadian society.

• George Elliott Clarke says poetry, 'the soul of the arts', can't die

Clarke is a Canadian poet and writer. He was Canada's parliamentary poet laureate and was the fourth poet laureate of Toronto (2012-2015).The author of more than 15 books, Clarkealso holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada.

How She ReadbyChantalGibson

Chantal Gibson'sHow She Readis a collection of genre-blurring poems about the representation of Black women in Canada.The Vancouver-based Gibson has East Coast roots and she brings a holistic, decolonized approach to challenging imperialist ideas by way of a close look at Canadian literature, history, art, media and pop culture.

How She Readwas a finalist for the 2020 Griffin Poetry Prize.

• Chantal Gibson on decolonizing minds through poetry

Gibson is an artist, poet and educator who currently teaches at Simon Fraser University.CBC Booksnamed Gibsona Black Canadian writerto watch in 2019.How She Readis her first poetry collection.

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.

• Six Canadian writers of Black heritage to watch in 2020

Martis is a Toronto-based journalist, author and senior editor atXtra.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.

Any Known Blood by Lawrence Hill

Written 10years before his celebrated novelThe Book of Negroes, Lawrence Hill'sAny Known Bloodfollows five generations of an African-Canadian-American family, from the slave trade of 19th-century Virginia to the predominantly white suburbs of Oakville, Ont.

• Lawrence Hill on that time The Book of Negroes was burned

Hill is the bestselling author ofThe Book of Negroes, which won CBC'sCanada Readsin 2009 and was adapted into a six-part miniseries for CBC-TV. His most recent novel,The Illegal,wonCanada Readsin 2016 and was defended by Olympian Clara Hughes.

Emancipation Day by Wayne Grady

Emancipation Dayis Wayne Grady's 2013 novelabout a young man from Windsor, Ont.,who is so light-skinned he can pass as white.He travels to St. John's during the Second World War to play trombone in the Navy Band and falls in love and marries. He and his young wife eventually return to Windsor and the secrets and lies of their relationship play out against a backdrop of race and identity.Emancipation Daywas on the longlist for the 2013 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

• Wayne Grady discusseshis award-winning novelEmancipation Day

Gradywas 47 when he discovered that his father was Black. He had been passing as white since beforeGradywas born. This experience inspired Gradyto write Emancipation Day, which went on to win the Amazon.ca First Novel Award in 2013.

Frying Plantainby Zalika Reid-Benta

Frying Plantainfollows Kara Davis through elementary school to her high school graduation, as she comes of age while being perennially caught between her Canadian nationality and Jamaican heritage. Over a series of 12 stories, Davis visits her great aunt in Jamaica, endures a cruel prank by close friends and deals with her stubborn grandparents.

• Why Zalika Reid-Benta wrote a short story collection that looks at growing up young and Black in Toronto

Frying Plantainwaslonglisted for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Zalika Reid-Benta is a graduate of Columbia's MFA program andwas named a writer to watch byGeorge Elliott Clarke.Frying Plantainis Reid-Benta's first book.CBC Booksnamed Reid-Bentaa writer to watch in 2019.

Things Are Good Now by Djamila Ibrahim

This 2018 debut collection of short stories by Ontario authorby Djamila Ibrahimlooks at the outsider experience from various angles. Set in East Africa, the Middle East, Canadaand the U.S.,Things Are Good Nowexaminesthemes of displacement, hardship and disillusionment.

• How short story writer Djamila Ibrahim's family and friends inspire her fiction

Ibrahim is an Ethiopian-born writer who moved to Canada in 1990.Things Are Good Nowis her debut short story collection.

Shut UpYou're Prettyby Ta Mutonji

Shut UpYou're Prettyis a short fiction collection that tells stories of young women coming of age in the 21st century. Mutonji's characters include a young woman who shaves her head in an abortion clinic waiting room, a mother and daughter who bond over fish and a teenager seeking happiness with her pack of cigarettes.

• Why Ta Mutonji wanted her first short story collection to challenge what diverse literature is supposed to be

CBC Booksnamed Mutonjia writer to watch in 2019.Shut UpYou're Prettyis her first book. She lives in Scarborough, Ont.Shut Up You're Prettywas onthe 2019 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize shortlist.