Vivek Shraya's Blog, page 10
July 20, 2017
CBC Arts: “The great Canadian filmmakers of the future”
In honour of her 36th birthday earlier this year, Shraya released perhaps her most personal and vulnerable piece of work yet in the fearlessly-entitled short “I want to kill myself.”
Honoured to be included on this list.
July 19, 2017
Part-Time Woman & Autostraddle
Part-Time Woman is a deep and tender dive into that place of internal struggle and slow metamorphosis – giving lie to the misconception that pop music, Shraya’s chosen genre, is necessarily shallow or superficial. Shraya’s crooning vocals, set to the backdrop of original compositions performed by Toronto’s Queer Songbook Orchestra, ponder the meaning of “woman” and the experiences of those whose right to the word is contested terrain. In its six brief tracks, the album covers an impressive amount of thematic and musical ground; tracing an emotional arc from the balladic disappointment of “SWEETIE” and “I’M AFRAID OF MEN” which excavate the hypocrisy of the male gaze, through the contemplative longing of the titular number “PART-TIME WOMAN,” to the triumph of “BROWN GIRLS” and the final track “GIRL IT’S YOUR TIME” (a 1960s send-up which Shraya jokingly refers to as “the selfie of the album”).
Full review and conversation about Part-Time Woman with Kai Cheng Thom here.
Part-Time Woman & Guts Magazine
I started thinking about 90s feminist albums or feminist artists who really impacted me, like Tori Amos, Sheryl Crow, and Fiona Apple. These are women who were, of course, singing about love and heartbreak and were also singing about abortion, miscarriage, and sexual violence, and I felt I owed a debt to them. Even though I wasn’t identifying as a girl back then, I learned so much. I was wondering how I could contribute to this legacy of feminist music, but from a trans, racialized lens, as a gesture of repayment and owning the distinction of my own experiences.
Full review/interview about Part-Time Woman here.
July 13, 2017
Dominionated Review of Part-Time Woman
…The real masterstroke to Part-Time Woman is that Shraya sheds light on the journey to self-acceptance and the toll it takes on the psyche.
July 8, 2017
July 4, 2017
VS. Books imprint featured in Open Book
As a multidisciplinary artist who has experienced barriers in various arts industries in Canada because of my race, gender and sexuality, and I am committed to helping break these barriers for emerging racialized, queer and trans artists. VS. Books is an opportunity for an Indigenous or Black writer or writer of colour, to submit a manuscript that will be read by a racialized writer, as opposed to acquisition editors who are mostly white.
Most importantly, I am especially passionate about creating more opportunities for intergenerational conversations and support. In the past year alone, CanLit has felt demoralizing, isolating and even unsafe, and my hope is that this imprint and mentorship is a reminder that CanLit is also full of writers who are working to make it better.
July 3, 2017
Heather O’Neill recommends “even this page is white” by Vivek Shraya
…This book is necessary because it changes you as you’re reading it. Language controls the way we see the world. Structural racism causes us to hold false arrogant definitions of words, using words to hide meaning instead of revealing truths. When Vivek Shraya examines racial and gender terms, confronting and exposing their histories and biases, we begin to see the world in a bigger more meaningful way. Those who have been erased are suddenly visible. Instead of feeling in any way confronted or humiliated by the words in this book, I felt illuminated and more large and free. And that is what poetry is supposed to do. That is why the best poetry is explosive and transforms the world. I guarantee you will immediately give this book away to someone else as soon as you are done. Because its words demand to be shared and spread.
-Author of Lullabies for Little Criminals & The Lonely Hearts Hotel recommends even this page is white for 49th Shelf.
June 28, 2017
VS. Books imprint featured in rabble
“Those early years of my career were tough,” she said. “I didn’t know about the obstacles I faced. I didn’t have the language of being racialized and about white resilience…
That’s why she’s launched an imprint — VS. Books with Arsenal — to offer a deep mentorship and publication to a writer of Indigenous background or a person of colour who is living in Canada and between the ages of 18 and 24. Shraya will provide monthly feedback as well as advice on writing grants, promotion, touring and the publishing business. The deadline is September 15, with one writer chosen at the end of October. Publication is slated for spring 2019.
Read the full article here.
