BOOK SYNOPSIS
In this timely, thought-provoking, funny and heartbreaking collection, ten acclaimed BIPOC authors explore the theme and concept of home. From awkward family dinners to moving to a new town, each of these stories provides a unique perspective on the theme of belonging through characters tasked with navigating and finding their place in this world.
Brought together by curator and contributor Jael Richardson, Today I Am will make readers laugh and cry while opening their hearts and minds to the world around them, validating how it feels to be young today. Today I Am includes stories by acclaimed authors Marty Chan, Rosena Fung, Michael Hutchinson, Chad Lucas, Angela Misri, Mahtab Narsimhan, Danny Ramadan, Liselle Sambury and Brandon Wint.
JAEL RICHARDSON
JAEL RICHARDSON is the author of the memoir The Stone Thrower, a picture book by the same title and the picture books Because You Are and The Hockey Jersey. Her debut novel, Gutter Child, was shortlisted for the Amazon First Novel Award. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) in Brampton, Ontario. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph and lives in Brampton, Ontario.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: www.jaelrichardson.com/
Instagram: @JaelRichardson
Twitter / X: @JaelRichardson
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Children’s Books
Because You Are (HarperCollins Canada, 2022)
The Stone Thrower (illustrated by Matt James, Groundbook Books, 2016)
Adult Books
Gutter Child; HarperCollins, 2021
Contributor in Good Mom on Paper: Writers on Creativity and Motherhood, Edited by Stacey May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee, Editors, Book*Hug Press, 2022
ANGELA MISRI
Angela Misri is an award-winning journalist, author and educator. Her detective series, called The Portia Adams Adventures, is set in the 1930s, and her first middle-grade series is called Tales from the Apocalypse. Pickles vs the Zombies, the first book in that series, won the 2021 Hackmatack award for fiction and the was nominated for the 2022-23 Red Cedar Book Award.
Misri has an MA in journalism from the University of Western Ontario and has worked as a digital journalist for almost 20 years, including at the CBC and The Walrus. She is also a professor in the journalism department at Toronto Metropolitan University.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: www.angelamisri.com
Instagram: @karmicangel
Twitter / X: @karmicangel
TikTok: @angelamisri
YouTube: @onefictitiousmoment
Email: angela.misri@gmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Today I Am (anthology) (Scholastic, 2024)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Dumplings (anthology, Coach House Press, 2022)
ValHamster (DCB, 2022)
Trip of the Dead (DCB, 2021)
The Detective and the Spy (Cormorant, 2020)
Pickles vs the Zombies (DCB, 2019)
No Matter How Improbable (Fierce Ink Press, 2016)
Thrice Burned (Fierce Ink Press, 2015)
Jewel of the Thames (Fierce Ink Press, 2014)
BRANDON WINT
Brandon Wint is an Ontario-born poet, spoken word artist, educator and multi-disciplinary storyteller based in western Canada. For more than a decade, Brandon has been a sought-after touring performance poet, having shared his work all over Canada, and internationally at festivals and showcases in the United States, Australia, Jamaica, Latvia and Lithuania. Brandon is ever-grateful for the power of poetry as a spiritual technology and social force. He is devoted to using poetry as a tool for refining his sense of justice, love, and intimacy. Brandon Wint’s poems and essays have been published in The Ex Puritan, Event Magazine, Arc Poetry Magazine, and Black Writers Matter, among other places. Divine Animal (Write Bloody North, 2020) is his debut collection of poetry. His debut film, My Body Is A Poem/The World Makes With Me screened at DOXA documentary film festival and Reelworld Film Festival in 2023.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: https://brandonwint.com/
Instagram: @Brandonwintpoet
Facebook: Brandon Wint Poetry
Twitter / X: @Brandonwintpoet
Email: brandontwint@gmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Divine Animal (Write Bloody North, 2020)
CHAD LUCAS
CHAD LUCAS is a Nova Scotia writer and winner of the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Atlantic Canadian Children’s Literature for his debut novel THANKS A LOT, UNIVERSE, which was also named a best middle grade book of 2021 by the School Library Journal, New York Public Library, and Canadian Children’s Book Centre. His second book, LET THE MONSTER OUT, was shortlisted for a Red Maple Award and the Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Awards. His newest release, YOU OWE ME ONE, UNIVERSE, is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. His newest novel, THE VANISHED ONES, releases in January 2025.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: www.chadlucaswrites.com
Social Media: @chadgalucas
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Thanks A Lot, Universe (Amulet Books/Abrams Kids, 2021)
Let The Monster Out (Amulet Books/Abrams Kids, 2022)
You Owe Me One, Universe (Amulet Books/Abrams Kids, 2023)
“”The Secret Cousin”” in Today I Am: 10 Stories of Belonging (Scholastic Canada, 2024)
The Vanished Ones (Amulet Books/Abrams Kids, 2025)
DANNY RAMADAN
Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author and LGBTQ-refugees advocate. His memoir, Crooked Teeth, came out in May 2024 to raving reviews. His latest novel, The Foghorn Echoes won the Lambda Award for Gay Fiction, and was nominated for the BC & Yukon Book awards, and the city of Vancouver Book Award. The Clothesline Swing won the Independent Publisher Book Award, longlisted for Canada Reads, and is translated to multiple languages. His award-winning children’s books The Salma Series received the Nautilus Book Award, The Publishing Triangle Award, the Middle East Book Award, amongst dozens of other nominations and honours. Since his arrival to Canada, Ramadan has raised over $300,000 for LGBTQ+ identifying refugees ensuring safe passage to more than two dozen queer and trans refugees. Ramadan graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC, and received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Adler University. He lives in Vancouver with his husband and two dogs. When he is not writing, he is probably playing video games.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: www.dannyramadan.com
Instagram: @TheDannyRamadan
Email: hello@dannyramadan.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Clothesline Swing (2017)
Salma the Syrian Chef (2020)
The Foghorn Echoes (2022)
Salma Makes a Home (2022)
Salma Writes a Book (2023)
Salma Joins the Team (2024)
Crooked Teeth: A Queer Syrian Refugee Memoir (2024)
Today I am (2024)
LISELLE SAMBURY
Liselle Sambury is a Trinidadian-Canadian author and Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist. She has a love for stories with dark themes, complicated families, and edges of hope. In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to demystifying the sometimes complicated business of being an author.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: www.lisellesambury.ca
Social Media: @lisellesambury
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“Where the Mulberries Grow.” In Today I Am, edited by Jael Richardson, 59-82. Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2024
Tender Beasts. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2024
“All My Best Friends Are Dead.” In All These Sunken Souls, edited by Circe Moskowitz, 33-56. Chicago: Amberjack Publishing, 2023
He-Man and The Masters of The Universe, Tales from Eternia: Lost in the Void. New York: Amulet Books, 2023
Delicious Monsters. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2023
Blood Like Fate. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2022
Blood Like Magic. New York: Margaret K. McElderry, 2021
MAHTAB NARSIMHAN
Mahtab Narsimhan is an internationally published, award-winning author of over twenty critically acclaimed books. Mahtab writes for all age groups—from picture books to young adult novels—many of which have been shortlisted for the Silver Birch, Red Maple, SYRCA, MYRCA and CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens children’s awards. She is deeply committed to representation and inclusivity in her work.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: https://www.mahtabnarsimhan.com/
Instagram: @mahtab_narsimhan
Facebook: @MahtabNarsimhanWriter
LinkedIn: @mahtab-narsimhan
YouTube: @MahtabN1
BookBub: mahtab-narsimhan
Contact: https://www.mahtabnarsimhan.com/contact
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Project Bollywood (2022)
Eerie Series From the East (2022)
Honesty is a Superpower (2023)
Fairness is a Superpower (2023)
The Boy and the Banyan Tree (2023)
Toque Troubles (2023)
Today I Am (2024)
Ghost Queen (2025)
Trading Places (2026)
Disappearing (2026)
MARTY CHAN
Marty Chan writes kids books, stage plays, humour articles, and radio plays. His bestselling novel, Haunted Hospital (Orca Book) was recently adapted to French. With his virtual visits, Marty has travelled the world without ever leaving his house. He’s performed online sessions for schools in London, Mexico City, New York, Tokyo, and communities across Canada. When he’s not writing scary or funny books, Marty enjoys editing videos, reading books, and solving crossword puzzles. But his favourite activity is taking care of his two cats, Minnie and Hugo.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: https://martychan.com
Instagram: @Martychanwriter
Facebook: @MartyChanAuthor
Twitter / X: @Marty_Chan
YouTube: @Marty_Chan
BlueSky: @martychan.bsky.social
Email: martychanauthor@gmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
“In a Flash,” Today I Am Anthology, Scholastic, 2024.
Dragon on the Loose, Orca Book, 2024.
Izzy Wong’s Nose for News, Orca Book, 2024.
Cosplay Crime, Orca Book, 2024.
Antiracist Kitchen Book, Orca Book, 2023
Willpower, Orca Book, 2022.
Final Cut, Orca Book, 2022.
Kylie the Magnificent, Orca Book, 2021.
Haunted Hospital, Orca Book, 2020.
Kung Fu Master, Orca Book, 2019.
MICHAEL HUTCHINSON
Michael Hutchison is a member of the Misipawistik Cree Nation in Treaty 5 territory. He has worked in both media and communications. Currently, he works with the Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Center. Prior to that he was a co-host for CTV Morning Live Winnipeg. Michael has also worked for the Assembly of First Nations as press secretary for the National Chief. He was also a host of APTN National News for seven years and produced APTN’s sit-down interview show, Face to Face, and APTN’s version of Politically Incorrect, The Laughing Drum. Michael is the author of the #MightyMuskrats Mystery Series.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Social Media: @MHutchinson_WPG
Email: UrsaMinor6@hotmail.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Case of Windy Lake
The Case of the Missing Auntie
The Case of the Burgled Bundle
The Case of the Rigged Race
The Case of the Pilfered Pin
ROSENA FUNG
Rosena Fung is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Toronto, Canada. She is the creator of the graphic novel Living With Viola and Age 16, and a contributor to the middle grade anthology Today I Am.
Her illustration clients include Chickadee Magazine, The Bentway, The Globe and Mail, The Boston Globe, Chronicle Review of Higher Education, CBC Arts, PLANSPONSOR, Maisonneuve, Bust Magazine, Swerve Magazine, Tridel Corporation, and the Toronto Transit Commission. She has created work for magazines, newspapers, and public art murals.
When she is not drawing, Rosena can be found teaching illustration, vending at zine fairs, and going to the library. Her favourite activities also include petting cats, eating snacks, and learning to swim and play both acoustic and electric guitar. She lives with her partner and the literal best cat in the entire universe.
Her name is pronounced “Rosanna”.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Website: https://www.rosenafung.com/
Instagram: @rosenafung
Email: rosena@rosenafung.com
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Living With Viola. 2024, Annick Press.
Age 16. 2021, Annick Press.
Today I Am. 2024, Scholastic Canada. (ed. Jael Richardson)
