Simon Fraser University Library is pleased to announce this year's pick for One Book One SFU: Catherine Hernandez's The Story of Us.
About the speakers
Catherine Hernandez
Catherine Hernandez (she/her) is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She is a proud queer woman who is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent and married into the Navajo Nation. Her first novel, Scarborough, won the Jim Wong-Chu Award for the unpublished manuscript and was a finalist for several awards including Canada Reads 2022. She wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Scarborough, which was nominated for 11 Canadian Screen Awards and won 8 including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Her second novel, Crosshairs, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and made the CBC's Best Canadian Fiction, NOW Magazine's 10 Best Books, Indigo Best Book, and NBC 20 Best LGBTQ Books list of 2020. Her third novel, The Story of Us, was published this year by HarperCollins Canada and was an instant bestseller. She is currently working on a few television projects and her fourth novel.
Jillian Christmas
Jillian Christmas is a queer, afro-caribbean writer living on the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam people (Vancouver, BC). Jillian works as an artist, educator, curator and consultant, she is the long-time spoken word curator of the Vancouver Writers Fest, and former artistic director of Verses Festival of Words. Jillian is the recipient of the 2021 Sheri-D Golden Beret Award for Spoken Word Poetry and the 2021 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ emerging writers. She has won numerous Grand Poetry Slam Championship titles and represented both Toronto and Vancouver at eleven national poetry events, notably breaking ground as the first Canadian to perform on the final stage of the Women of the World Poetry Slam. Christmas has presented poetry and theory in a multitude of venues including the BC Civil Liberties gala, the SFU 2018 grad conference closing keynote, and numerous panels focussed on the intersections of critical race theory and contemporary art. Her debut collection, The Gospel of Breaking (Arsenal Pulp Press 2020), was shortlisted for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award, and the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, and her new children’s book, The Magic Shell (Flamingo Rampant Press 2022) is currently available for order.
Reception
Join us after the event for a reception and book signing with Catherine and Jillian. All are welcome! Light refreshments will be available.
Safety and accessibility
COVID-19 Safety protocols: Masks are strongly recommended
- All in-person attendees are strongly encouraged to wear masks at this event. Please stay home if you are feeling sick, and watch the recording at a later date!
- We ask that you please be respectful and patient with staff, volunteers and fellow attendees and be mindful of others’ comfort levels.
Accessibility
The Djavad Mowafaghian cinema is located at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, a brief walk from Waterfront station and numerous bus stops. Bike stalls are available outside. Nearby parking is available at 500 & 400 W. Cordova St.
The building is accessible at street level on the Hastings side or via a ramp on the Cordova Street Courtyard side (across from JJ Bean Coffee). There are two ramp entry points, one is located against the building, near the entrance to the Woodward’s Westbank Atrium (which houses London Drugs and Nesters) and one is located against the building, beside the alley. Both the Hastings doors and the Cordova Courtyard doors can be operated by accessibility buttons located beside the doorways.
The venue has a gender-neutral washroom. All floors within the building are wheelchair accessible and serviced by elevators.
If you have any accessibility needs, including ASL interpretation, please contact us at library@sfu.ca.
Sponsors
We're grateful to our event partners SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement and Pulpfiction Books.
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for sponsoring the reception.
Contact for further information
Please contact Chloe Riley at car11@sfu.ca