Announcing One Book One SFU: The Story of Us

Photos of Jillian and Catherine and the cover of the book The Story of Us

Simon Fraser University Library is pleased to announce this year's pick for One Book One SFU: Catherine Hernandez's The Story of Us.

Achingly beautiful. … The friendship between this Filipina caregiver and a woman with Alzheimer’s is an extraordinary portrayal of the powers of chosen families, told with profound pathos, wonderful humour.

Heather O'Neill

A deeply moving homage to the resilience and brilliance of migrant women and the transformative power of human connection. … At once hilarious, harrowing and unflinchingly honest, The Story of Us is a testament to the enduring strength and courage of the women who battle injustice every day to find hope, joy and community. This book broke my heart into a thousand pieces and put it together again.

Kai Cheng Thom

  Borrow the book

The Story of Us is available for borrowing at all three branches of SFU Library.

The book may also be available through your local public library, or from local booksellers such as Pulpfiction Books, Massy Books, or Iron Dog Books.

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 Her first novel, Scarborough, won the Jim Wong-Chu Award for the unpublished manuscript and was a finalist for several awards including Canada Reads 2022.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.

Speaker(s)
Catherine Hernandez & Jillian Christmas
Date(s)
February 15
Time
7pm
Location
Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema, 149 West Hastings St, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
Registration information

Registration options

To register for this event, visit Eventbrite

  • Use of Eventbrite is voluntary. Eventbrite data is stored on U.S. servers.
  • If you prefer not to use Eventbrite to register for this event for privacy reasons, please register by emailing Chloe Riley at car11@sfu.ca

Ticket holders: Doors open at 6:30PM. As this SFU Library event is free, it is our policy to overbook. In case of a full program, your ticket reservation may not guarantee admission. We recommend you arrive early. 

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