City of Vancouver Book Award

2023 finalist biographies

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  Michele Assarasakorn and Nathan Fairbairn

  PAWS: Mindy Makes Some Space

  Razorbill

  Michele Assarasakorn (also known as MSASSYK) is a colourist who has worked on comic series such as Eisner-nominated Isola, Gotham Academy, and the Magnificent Ms. Marvel.

  Originally from Bangkok, Thailand, Michele now calls Vancouver home but also likes to travel the world working remotely as an artist. You can follow her on Twitter External website, opens in new tab and Instagram External website, opens in new tab and enjoy more of her work on her online gallery External website, opens in new tab.

  Nathan Fairbairn is a New York Times bestselling and Eisner-nominated creator who has worked as a colourist for such iconic characters as Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Scott Pilgrim. He’s also co-creator, writer, and colourist of the graphic novel Lake of Fire. He started writing PAWS, his middle-grade debut, as a way to share his passion for comics and storytelling with his daughter.

  Nathan lives with his family in Vancouver. You can follow him on Twitter External website, opens in new tab and Instagram External website, opens in new tab and review more of his work on his online gallery External website, opens in new tab.

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  Chelene Knight

  Junie

  Book*hug Press

  Chelene Knight is the author of 3 books. She is currently working on a commissioned book on Black self-love and joy. Let it Go is forthcoming with HarperCollins Canada in 2024. Chelene is the founder of Breathing Space Creative Literary Studio.

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  Evelyn Lau

  Cactus Gardens

  Anvil Press

   

  Evelyn Lau is a lifelong Vancouverite who has authored 14 books, including 9 volumes of poetry. Evelyn’s poetry has won multiple awards, and has been nominated for the Governor-General’s Award. From 2011 to 2014, Evelyn served as Poet Laureate for the City of Vancouver.

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  Tara McGuire

  Holden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose

  Arsenal Pulp Press

  Tara McGuire is a former broadcaster whose first book Holden After and Before: Love Letter for a Son Lost to Overdose (Arsenal Pulp Press) was recognized by The Walrus as one of the best Canadian books of 2022.

  She holds an MFA from the University of British Columbia’s School of Creative Writing and is a graduate of The Writers Studio at Simon Fraser University. Tara lives in North Vancouver.

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  Danny Ramadan

  The Foghorn Echoes

  Penguin Random House

  Danny Ramadan (he/him) is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, and advocate for LGBTQ+ refugees.

  His debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award, longlisted for Canada Reads, and named the Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star.

  He has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and currently lives in Vancouver with his husband.

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  Jan Wade, Deanna Bowen, Wayde Compton, Daina Augaitis, Siobhan McCracken Nixon Jan Wade

  Soul Power

  Information Office, Vancouver Art Gallery

  Jan Wade was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to a Black Canadian father with familial origins in the American South and a Canadian mother of European descent. After studying at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Wade moved to Vancouver in 1983 and became part of the underground art and music scene in the city. During this period Wade began her research into African diasporic spiritual practices and decided she wanted her art to reflect where she came from and who she is, commencing her unique artistic journey marked by self-sufficiency, empowerment, hope, and radical joy.

  Deanna Bowen is a descendant of two Black Prairie pioneer families from Amber Valley and Campsie, Alberta. Recently, her work has involved close examination of her family’s migration and their connections to Vancouver’s Hogan’s Alley and Black Strathcona, the “All-Black” towns of Oklahoma, the Kansas Exoduster migrations, and the Ku Klux Klan in Canada and the US. She is a recipient of numerous accolades including a 2020 Governor General Award for Visual and Media Arts and the 2021 Scotiabank Photography Award.

  Wayde Compton is the author of 49th Parallel Psalm, Performance Bond, After Canaan: Essays on Race Writing and Region, and The Outer Harbour: Stories. He also edited the anthology Bluesprint: Black British Columbian Literature and Orature. He is a co-founder of the Hogan’s Alley Memorial Project, and is the former director of the creative writing program at SFU Continuing Studies. He currently teaches Creative Writing at Douglas College.

  Daina Augaitis was Chief Curator/Associate Director at the Vancouver Art Gallery from 1996 to 2017 and was formerly Director of Visual Arts at the Banff Centre for the Arts. She has held curatorial positions at Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff; Western Front, Vancouver; Convertible Showroom, Vancouver; and Franklin Furnace, New York.

  Siobhan McCracken Nixon is currently Assistant Curator at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Recent exhibition projects include Where do we go from here?; Transits and Returns; Mowry Baden; and Dana Claxton: Fringing the Cube. Previously she worked as Assistant Curator at the Hayward Gallery (London, UK) and worked in Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Britain (London, UK).