Creative Non-Fiction Archives - Page 2 of 13

BIPOC Art Ecosystem

Dec 23, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction, Feature, What's New

The BIPOC Art ecosystem is a creative environment that is inspired by the structures, functions, processes, and symbiotic relationships found on the land where we live. As well, the ecosystem honours the wisdom and teachings of the host nations on unceded territories to which we (Karmella + Lexi) are uninvited guests. We are a part of centuries of microscopic transformations and changes, and we carry on the work of our ancestors as we centre art and community-building in the continuous fight for liberation, sovereignty, and environmental justice.

I Can Feel Him Breathing

Sep 24, 2021 | Contest, Contest Winners, Creative Non-Fiction

I Can Feel Him Breathing is the honourable mention for the 2021 Creative Non-Fiction Contest, as selected by Judge Dr. Njoki Wane. _____________ In the morning I stand in front of the bedroom closet, half-dressed, wrestling with the sliding door. The door won’t...

Texture, Illness, and Metaphor

Apr 22, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction

My introverted grandfather used a code to let my extraverted grandmother know when he was running out of steam at parties: fists by his side meant he had some energy; one fist in the air, spotted across the room, meant he was running on steam; both raised above his head meant he was finished and had no energy left for socialization.

Brown Girl in the Ring

Apr 8, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction, What's New

Amidst all the swirling anxieties of the pandemic, I had almost forgotten I was brown. I had forgotten that the eyes looking out from above my mask were deep inky pools which so often failed to reflect familiarity and belonging.I had forgotten that, while my hands were gloved and hidden, my sepia arms betrayed my origins in a sun-washed and sun-dried land.

Notes on Abundance

Mar 25, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction, Feature, What's New

from LooseLeaf Magazine In 2015 I had a wild dream to start a publication for pan-Asian writers and artists, and that winter, in partnership with a bunch of equally naive and down-for-anything Asian creatives, LooseLeaf Magazine emerged. Like a lot of other grassroots...

Lessons for Future Ancestors: Reflections on mentorship with Hiromi Goto

Jan 28, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction

“Queer relationships can save lives, not just romantic ones, but platonic friendships, too. Especially because for so many queer people, our families may not know how to affirm or see us.”

(Un)masking a Poet as Plural and Porous

Jan 21, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction

Who “I” am is entangled with a host of others, not just other humans and their stories, transnational production processes, institutions of power, but also clusters of other-than-humans, including other animals, bodies of water, lands, and even inorganic elements such as viruses. “I” am vulnerable and plural because the border of my skin is porous and because in my psyche are lodged the thoughts and ideas of others.

Where Longing Lives

Jan 7, 2021 | Creative Non-Fiction

I am not homeless in the literal sense and I don’t have the language to describe the home for which I feel intense longing. Terrene, waves, raindrops, bark, foundation, walls, roof, pen strokes on a page, flick of the tongue, tightening of lips, closure of the vocal chords, intimacy, trust, embrace, connection.

Thoughts on Community

Dec 26, 2020 | Creative Non-Fiction

I think of all the times as a child my mother has sent me over to the neighbour’s with a bag of garlic, when they asked for just a clove. These acts of care, mercy, and consideration have been happening under society’s collective radar.

Sense of Touch

Dec 8, 2020 | Creative Non-Fiction, Reading Room

Chia buồn is how one expresses condolences in Vietnamese. Instead of my thoughts are with you or sorry for your loss, the term literally means to divide (chia) sadness (buồn). If only I could have invited others to hold pieces of my shattered heart when Ông Nội died...