Biography

Vivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work includes several albums, films, and books. Vivek’s 2017 album with Queer Songbook Orchestra, Part-Time Woman, was included in CBC’s Best Canadian Albums of 2017. Her first book of poetry, even this page is white, won a 2017 Publisher Triangle Award and was longlisted for CBC’s Canada Reads. Her debut novel, She of the Mountains, was named one of The Globe and Mail’s Best Books, and her book I’m Afraid of Men will be out in Fall 2018 from Penguin Canada. Vivek has read and performed inter­nationally at shows, festivals and post-secondary institutions. She is one half of the music duo Too Attached and the founder of the publishing imprint VS. Books.

A four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, Vivek was a 2016 Pride Toronto Grand Marshal, and has received honours from the Toronto Arts Foundation and The Writers’ Trust of Canada. Vivek is currently a director on the board of the Tegan & Sara Foundation and an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Calgary.

Contact

• General inquiries:
  vivek@vivekshraya.com

• Bookings:
  Lynne Dubuc, National Speakers Bureau
  LDubuc@nsb.com

• Technical/accessibility issues:
  webmaster@vivekshraya.com

Awards & Honours

• Canada’s Best Dressed, The Globe & Mail (2018)
• Great Canadian Filmmaker of the Future, CBC Arts (2017)
• Highly Commended Book, South Asia Book Award – The Boy and the Bindi (2017)
• Winner, Publishing Triangle Award – even this page is white (2017)
• Finalist, Digital Publishing Award – “Have You Told Your Parents?” (2017)
• Finalist, Lambda Literary Award – even this page is white (2017)
• Finalist, J.S. Woodsworth Award (2017)
• 9 Trans Influencers You Should Follow, Out Magazine (2016)
• Finalist, Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts – Emerging Artist (2016)
• Grand Marshal, Pride Toronto (2016)
• Honour of Distinction, Writer’s Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize (2015)
• Honour Book, South Asia Book Awards – God Loves Hair (2015)
• Finalist, Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award (2015)
• Finalist, Bisexual Book Awards – She of the Mountains (2015)
• Winner, Anokhi Media Most Promising LGBTQ Crusader Award (2015)
• Finalist, Lambda Literary Award – She of the Mountains (2015)
• Winner, Steinert & Ferreiro Award for LGBTQ Leadership (2014)
• Winner, George Brown College Achievement Award for Leadership (2014)
• Finalist, Lambda Literary Award – What I LOVE about being QUEER (2014)
• Finalist, Lambda Literary Award – God Loves Hair (2011)
• Winner, We Are Listening International Singer/Songwriter Award (2005)
• Winner, Futures Fest (2001)