Vivek Shraya est une artiste multidisciplinaire dont le travail navigue avec fluidité entre la littérature, la musique, les arts visuels et la performance. Son écriture est reconnue pour son exploration perspicace de l'identité, de la race et du genre, défiant souvent les normes sociétales d'une voix puissante et directe. Le style littéraire de Shraya se caractérise par son honnêteté brute et sa profondeur introspective, invitant les lecteurs à confronter des thèmes complexes de l'individualité et de l'appartenance. Par ses diverses entreprises artistiques, elle suscite constamment la réflexion et favorise une compréhension plus profonde de l'expérience humaine.
A beautiful children’s picture book that showcases a young Indian boy’s fascination with his mother’s bindi, the red dot commonly worn by Hindu women. Rather than chastise her son, she teaches him about its cultural significance and doesn’t flinch when he asks for one himself. Wearing it allows him to joyfully explore and express his difference.
"A powerful meditation on the damaging effects of masculinity from a trans girl--a writer with celebrated indie roots and a knack for dismantling assumptions and challenging the status quo. Toxic masculinity takes many insidious forms, from misogyny and sexual harassment to homophobia, transphobia, and bullying. Vivek Shraya has firsthand experience with nearly all of them. As a boy, Vivek exhibited "feminine" qualities. The men in her life immediately and violently disapproved. They taught her to fear the word girl by turning it into a weapon used to hurt her. They taught her to hate her femininity, to destroy the best parts of herself. In order to survive, Vivek had to learn to convincingly perform masculinity. As a girl, she's still afraid. Having spent years undoing the damage and salvaging her lost girlhood, she is haunted by the violence of men, seldom dressing the way she wants in public. As a result she is often still perceived as male, stirring feelings of guilt and self-doubt: Am I not feminine enough? Is this my fault for striving to be the perfect man and excelling at it? I'm Afraid of Men is a culmination of the years Vivek spent observing men and creating her own version of manhood. Through deeply personal reflection, she offers a rare and multifaceted perspective on gender and a hopeful reimagining of masculinity at a time when it's needed more than ever."-- Provided by publisher
A poetry book by the author of God Loves Hair: a bold and timely interrogation of skin.
A tenth-anniversary edition of the poignant YA story collection that celebrates racial, gender, and religious diversity.
Finalist, Lambda Literary AwardIn the beginning, there is no he. There is no she.Two cells make up one cell. This is the mathematics behind creation. One plus one makes one. Life begets life. We are the period to a sentence, the effect to a cause, always belonging to someone. We are never our own.This is why we are so lonely.She of the Mountains is a beautifully rendered illustrated novel by Vivek Shraya, the author of the Lambda Literary Award finalist God Loves Hair. Shraya weaves a passionate, contemporary love story between a man and his body, with a re-imagining of Hindu mythology. Both narratives explore the complexities of embodiment and the damaging effects that policing gender and sexuality can have on the human heart.Illustrations are by Raymond Biesinger, whose work has appeared in such publications as The New Yorker and the New York Times.Vivek Shraya is a multimedia artist, working in the mediums of music, performance, literature, and film. Her most recent film, What I LOVE about Being QUEER, has been expanded to include an online project and book with contributions from around the world. She is also author of God Loves Hairand Even This Page Is White.
*FINALIST FOR THE CITY OF CALGARY W.O. MITCHELL BOOK PRIZE*“A deeply generous and honest gift to the world.”— Elliot PageThe author of I’m Afraid of Men lets readers in on the secrets to a life of reinvention.Vivek Shraya knows this to be people change. We change our haircuts and our outfits and our minds. We change names, titles, labels. We attempt to blend in or to stand out. We outgrow relationships, we abandon dreams for new ones, we start fresh. We seize control of our stories. We make resolutions.In fact, nobody knows this better than Vivek, who’s made a career of embracing many artist, performer, musician, writer, model, teacher. In People Change , she reflects on the origins of this impulse, tracing it to childhood influences from Hinduism to Madonna. What emerges is a meditation on change why we fear it, why we’re drawn to it, what motivates us to change, and what traps us in place.At a time when we’re especially contemplating who we want to be, this slim and stylish handbook is an essential companion—a guide to celebrating our many selves and the inspiration to discover who we’ll become next.
A story of female friendship, with a fast-paced plot and a nuanced examination of art, brown culture, social media, call-out culture, the music industry, and sexism. Following two women from the throes of first friend infatuation to a tweet that splits them apart and destroys one career, THE SUBTWEET is a book only artist Vivek Shraya could write.
A comic book that explores the real-life death threat against writer/musician Vivek Shraya after she came out as transgender.
"During my first post-lockdown massage we had the requisite chit chat about our lockdown experiences. He gushed: ‘Oh man. It was so great. Every day I woke up, drank coffee, read, rode my bike…’ This did sound pretty great. But it was nothing like my own, anxiety-ridden ordeal. Had I done the lockdown wrong?” In Next Time There’s a Pandemic, artist Vivek Shraya reflects on how she might have approached 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic differently, and how challenging and changing pervasive expressions, attitudes, and behaviours might transform our experiences of life in—and after—the pandemic. What might happen if, rather than urging one another to “stay safe,” we focused instead on being caring? What if, instead of striving to “make the best of it” by doing something, we sometimes chose to do nothing? With generosity, Shraya captures the dissonances of this moment, urging us to keep showing up for each other so we are better prepared for the next time...and for all times.
Rebellious raccoons take back the city in a hilarious urban romp by bestselling author and performer Vivek Shraya Raccoons are hitting the streets to finally tell their story. The bushy-tailed bandits take over the town, swinging from cranes, scampering through subway cars, and pestering the police. Amid the mischief, the raccoons describe themselves as humans see them: thieving "trash pandas" that steal doughnuts and cash, topple our green bins, and frighten our cats. But when asked why they're invading the city, the raccoons insist they aren't pests, but survivors of the real invaders: humans. Revenge of the Raccoons is both a riotous tale of underdog uprising and a clever commentary on humans' sense of ownership over the cities we live in. Playful rhyming text and vibrant illustrations inspired by classic horror movie posters bring the raccoons' antics to life. As the raccoons frolic into the night, readers will enjoy cheering on the creative and cunning antiheroes, and maybe even reconsider who rules the city.