Fiction and Poetry by Black Canadian WritersLike this list

24 items

• The Journey Prize Stories

  the Best of Canada's New Black Writers. 33

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  For over thirty years, The Journey Prize Stories has consistently introduced readers to the next generation of great Canadian writers. The 33rd edition of Canada's most prestigious annual fiction anthology proudly continues this tradition by…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Hold My Girl

  a Novel

  Carr, Charlene

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  After IVF, two women’s lives collide when a clinic error reveals their eggs were switched. Katherine, a perfectionist who finally has her miracle baby, and Tess, a grieving mother who lost hers, are forced into a brutal custody battle over the same…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Junie

  a Novel

  Knight, Chelene, 1981-

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  Set in 1930s Vancouver’s Hogan’s Alley, this novel follows Junie, a perceptive young Black girl growing up amid a vibrant, yet threatened, community. As she comes of age—discovering her art, sexuality, and independence—her mother’s alcoholism…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Book of Negroes

  a Novel

  Hill, Lawrence, 1957-

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  Kidnapped from her West African village and enslaved in South Carolina, Aminata Diallo survives unimaginable hardship and fights her way to freedom. Her journey spans continents—from Africa to America, Nova Scotia, and England—as she claims her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Sleeping Car Porter

  Mayr, Suzette

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  In 1929, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, is stranded on a train after a mudslide and forced to endure racist passengers while hiding his identity and desires. As exhaustion blurs reality with memory and ghosts, his dreams of a better…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Finding Edward

  a Novel

  Murray, Sheila (Documentary filmmaker),

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  After migrating from Jamaica to Toronto, Cyril Rowntree struggles to build a new life while confronting racism and belonging in Canada. A mysterious suitcase of letters draws him into the hidden story of a mixed-race child from the 1920s, mirroring…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Gutter Child

  Richardson, Jael

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  In a divided dystopian world where the poor must work off their freedom, Elimina Dubois is taken from the Gutter and raised in the privileged Mainland. After her adoptive mother’s death, she’s forced back into a system of control and servitude,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• And the Walls Came Down

  Da Costa, Denise (Author of And the walls came down),

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  Returning to her childhood housing complex in east Toronto, Delia Ellis revisits her teenage diary just before her family home is demolished. Through her younger self’s writings, she confronts life in the 1990s—poverty, family fracture, and a…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Island of Forgetting

  A Novel

  Sealy, Jasmine,

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  Spanning four generations of a Barbadian family, The Island of Forgetting explores how trauma, secrecy, and myth shape identity. From a violent family rupture in 1962 to a young man’s exile to Canada in 2019, each generation grapples with love,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• In the Upper Country

  a Novel

  Thomas, Kai

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  At the end of the Underground Railroad, a young Black journalist’s assistant and an elderly woman accused of killing a slave hunter form an uneasy bond. As they trade stories, their lives—and the intertwined histories of Black and Indigenous…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Blood Scion

  Falaye, Deborah,

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  Fifteen-year-old Sloane is a Scion, born with deadly magic descended from the Orisha gods. Forced into the army of a regime that would kill her for her powers, she plots revenge from within—rising in strength while risking the loss of her humanity.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Boys and Girls Screaming

  Carter, Kern,

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  After her father dies and her mother suffers a stroke, Ever is overwhelmed by grief and starts a support group, Boys and Girls Screaming, for teens who have experienced trauma. While helping others, she struggles with her own depression, prompting…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Butter Honey Pig Bread

  a Novel

  Ekwuyasi, Francesca, 1990-

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  Butter Honey Pig Bread follows three Nigerian women—a mother, Kambirinachi, who fears her spirit brings misfortune; and her estranged twin daughters, Kehinde and Taiye—as they navigate trauma, love, and identity across three continents. When the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Burning Sugar :

  Poems /

  Blain, Cicely Belle, 1993-

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  In Burning Sugar, poet and activist Cicely Belle Blain explores the impact of colonization, anti-Blackness, and systemic oppression through intimate, powerful verse. Blending personal history, activism, and art, the collection captures resilience,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Word Problems

  Poems

  Williams, Ian, 1979-

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  Ian Williams tackles racial injustice, grief, and human connection through inventive, playful poetry. Using math, grammar, and lyric experimentation, he transforms microaggressions and societal questions into sharp, humorous, and thought-provoking…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Response of Weeds :

  a Misplacement of Black Poetry on the Prairies /

  Bickersteth, Bertrand, 1969-

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  The Response of Weeds by Bertrand Bickersteth explores Black identity in Alberta through history, biography, and landscape. His evocative poetry illuminates overlooked contributions to the province and reflects on how the land shapes—and sometimes…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Dyzgraphxst

  a Poem

  Lubrin, Canisia, 1984-

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  The Dyzgraphxst uses the figure Jejune to explore selfhood, kinship, and diasporic identity across generations and geographies. Against a backdrop of capitalism, nationalism, and climate crisis, the collection interrogates how identity is shaped by…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Midnight Bargain

  Polk, C. L., (Chelsea L.),

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  Beatrice Clayborn, a secret sorceress, must navigate love, family duty, and magic in a city where marriages are negotiated like currency. When a grimoire offers her the power to become a Magus, she must weigh ambition against her heart—and the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Washington Black

  Edugyan, Esi

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  Washington Black follows an eleven-year-old slave from Barbados who escapes a life of chains with the help of the abolitionist and inventor Christopher Wilde. From the Caribbean to the Arctic, Wash discovers friendship, betrayal, love, and the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Fifteen Dogs

  An Apologue

  Alexis, Andre, 1957-

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  In Fifteen Dogs, a wager between the gods Hermes and Apollo gives human intelligence to a group of dogs at a Toronto veterinary clinic. As they navigate consciousness, language, and morality, the pack grapples with new joys and sorrows, revealing…Read moreRead more of this annotation