Challenge Accepted: Augur Reads Diversly

When Augur heard that the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) had an annual reading challenge, we knew we had to join. Each book prompt is designed with diversity in mind and we’re all for that.

Each month, the FOLD blog will feature a selection of recommended Canadian picks based on the prompt. (If you’re looking for ideas, January and February are already up.) We couldn’t wait, so we made our own!

Here are the thirteen books we’re challenging ourselves to read in 2019.

1. Translated book by a francophone Canadian

Suzanne by Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette

I’ll be reading both the translated version of this novel and the original French version, in anticipation of Canada Reads 2019. I’ve never done this before with a book in French; I prefer to read in my langue maternelle, but I’m very interested in what I might find in the space between translation and original. I still haven’t decided which to read first. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

— Mado

2. Nonfiction by a woman of colour

Dear Current Occupant by Chelene Knight

In Dear Current Occupant, Chelene Knight uses poems, essays, and letters to revisit her childhood in the 80s and 90s in Vancouver’s east side—by writing to the strangers who now live in her many former homes.

Honestly, I rarely read nonfiction, my poetry reading is often limited to magazines, and I stay away from epistolary works on my best days (weird personal preferences, all of them). But something about the description of Chelene’s memoir sounded so utterly wonderful that I bought it the moment I saw her post about it on Twitter. Likely because I also moved a great deal while growing up myself—just under 20 different places. So, despite the fact that we have very different stories, the conceit gripped me in a personal way that I’m not used to.

Since receiving the book, I’ve been waiting for the right moment to dig in—I feel like it’s a text I want to give a good amount of space to, and pay attention to, and so I’ve done that thing where you set it aside to find that Right Time to read it. So, for my The FOLD reading challenge this year, I’ll be creating that Right Time and making sure that I dig in ASAP!

— Kerrie

3. Book of science fiction

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

I chose Ninefox Gambit because the premise of the novel speaks of sieges and armies, and I am very interested in understanding military strategies and tactics (for the sake of it). I’m excited to explore the trials that the protagonist, Captain Kel Cheris, must endure and see how the Lee approaches the age-old question of how we choose who we can trust, and how far one must go to redeem themselves.

— Vivian

4. Book of poetry by an Indigenous writer

Full-Metal Indigiqueer by Joshua Whitehead

My pick for this challenge is Joshua Whitehead’s Full-Metal Indigiqueer. It follows the story of Zoa, a Two-Spirit Trickster who is also a hybridized embodiment of the organic and technologic. My curiosity to read it comes from a fascination with the insight that Tricksters can reveal for us as they use their destructive and creative powers in turn, to bring about new opportunities. Zoa’s journey is one of decolonization and futurism that shapes a world where Two-Spirit lives have a place at the center.

— Sonia

5. FOLD 2019 author

The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai

I’ve selected is The Tiger Flu by FOLD 2019 author, Larissa Lai. After incorporating her novel Salt Fish Girl into the final essay of my undergraduate degree, I’ve been very interested in reading more of her work, but I’ve had trouble transitioning out of reading through an academic mindset. This little push gives me the perfect opportunity to rekindle my passion for enjoying spec fic without a sense of obligation or dread.

— Victoria

6. Book featuring a queer love storying a queer love story

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan

I’ve always wanted to read the books Caitlin R. Kiernan writes. I’m using this challenge to start boosting her work to the top of my to-read pile. Why The Drowning Girl? Well, judging from the blurb, it has: a queer love triangle, an unreliable narrator, a siren, a werewolf, mental trauma, and cosmic horror. Seems to suit my aesthetic.  

— Lawrence

7. Play by a Canadian playwright from a marginalized community

The Femme Playlist by Catherine Hernandez

For #7 of the FOLD challenge, I will read The Femme Playlist and I Cannot Lie to the Stars That Made Me by Catherine Hernandez. These two plays explore the reality of living as a woman of colour. The Femme Playlist is a one-person show set to the formative songs of Hernandez’s life, and I Cannot Lie to the Stars That Made Me is an around-the-campfire guide to mourning and healing from trauma. Though I have not yet read Hernandez’s acclaimed novel Scarborough, having lived my entire life in Scarborough, I’m eager to read her work and I’m excited to start with her plays.

— Alex

8. Book by an East Coast Canadian

NewfoundSpecFic: A Collection of Short Stories

I moved to St. John’s around a year and a half ago, and I could feel the magic and weirdness pretty much as soon as I landed on the island. I’m excited to read these stories from authors who have lived with that weirdness for a lot longer than I have.

— Mado

9. Young adult novel by a writer of colour

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

As I’ve grown up, I found myself subconsciously shifting away from YA. When I really think about it though, the books that I go back to again and again are the YA books that I grew up with. I’ve said before that one of my goals with Augur is to take up more space with stories from diverse creators, and I’m excited to highlight a book that is doing just that for young readers today. The book I’ve chosen is The Marrow Thieves by Canadian Indigenous writer Cherie Dimaline which comes highly recommended! I’m hardcore channeling my teen self for this challenge, and I hope to feel feelings as vigorously as I did back then in my now shrivelled adult heart.

— Amy

10. Book by an African author

Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett

When a Nigerian man wakes up and discovers he’s become white—everything else about him remaining – he not only learns a sharp lesson about colorism, but finds different ways to establish his identity and sense of self beyond complexion. This book struck me as satirical and potentially funny, and I think it’ll give me a good look into some aspects of Nigerian culture and how they deal with issues of race. I haven’t read Kafka’s, The Metamorphosis, but I’m very excited to read this book!

— Terese

11. Book featuring a character addressing their mental health

Freshwater by Akwaeki Emezi

Mental health is a tricky topic in speculative fiction. Some authors are great at writing mental health responsibly, some are not. I also admit I had trouble finding speculative fiction that addresses mental health head-on. I’m hoping Akwaeki Emezi’s Freshwater is one of the good ones. Freshwater begins with the story of Ada, a Nigerian girl who develops alternate selves after a traumatic assault. As Ada struggles with increasingly dark spirals of her mind, the narrative also engages in a conversation with Nigerian culture and myth. Emezi’s stunning prose promises a compelling story of a woman’s internal and social struggles in the face of trauma.

— Anna

12. Author published after age 50

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.

James Tiptree Jr. is part of the traditional SFF cannon. A writer writing in a time when SFF equated to maleness and straightness (and whiteness). Behind the cloak of pseudonym is Alice B. Sheldon—a queer, trailblazing woman whose identity remained secret until the 1970s. Besides being widely popular, Tiptree/Sheldon’s work challenged perceptions of gender and sexuality. I will be reading Her Smoke Rose Up Forever—a short story collection of Tiptree/Sheldon’s most prominent stories. Sheldon had numerous careers and then published their first story in 1968 at the age of 53.

— Anna

13. Canadian comic book or graphic novel

SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

Written and illustrated by Canadian author Jillian Tamaki (co-creator of award-winning novels Skim and This One Summer), SuperMutant Magic Academy is a paranormal take on the high school experience. Smart, experimental, and diverse, both the artwork and story of SuperMutant Magic Academy reminds us how we can always find comfort in the unconventional even during humorous and dark times.

A Girl Called Echo, Volume 1: Pemmican Wars by Katherena Vermette

Echo is a 13-year-old Métis girl who is just trying to find her place in a new school, new foster home, and new…time? During a seemingly ordinary day in history class, Echo finds herself transported back into a bison hunt on the Saskatchewan prairie during the pemmican wars. As she switches back and forth in time, Echo must reconcile her present and future with what she can learn of her past.

— Lorna

Don’t forget to check out our post on magical book design!