Vivek Shraya Quotes

I couldn't write about love without writing about hate - specifically, how the experience of hatred embeds itself in the body and prevents love from entering or leaving.

I always work with text orally in the writing process, saying passages aloud to measure flow.

I especially worry about the ways Canadians can be glib about our supposed difference from the US in our "acceptance" of "diversity."

If anything, I have witnessed the ways my art travels, or is rendered more accessible, when sanctioned by or connected to white artists.

As a general rule, I tend to collaborate with artists whose work I admire.

My interest in language is steadfast, but I think each project and its accompanying intentions dictate how language must be used.

Writing about racism requires a directness that writing a love story does not.

Art can sometimes be separate from the artist.

I continue to explore poetry.

I didn't want to give the white reader an opportunity to think of racism as imaginary - a sentiment that is already a central barrier in addressing the problem.

I worry about what Trump will inspire in Canada, especially given incidents that have already occurred here since the election.

Children are receptive to talking about gender creativity, confirming the importance of the book as a means to instigate this dialogue at an early age.

As a brown artist, I have mixed feelings about my relationship to art and my "responsibilities" post-Trump.

I think white artists have a responsibility to be not only naming white supremacy, but to be using their power and privilege to support artists of color.

I have always considered the aesthetic of a project, including press photos, as a means to further the message of the art itself.

Music is my first love, where my artistic journey began.

When I do book readings, I always incorporate music or singing.

Despite the fact that I'm not highly skilled in any visual art, aesthetics have always played a strong role in my art, including my first albums.

My art career often feels less like an art career and more like a career in educating, usually by using my body.

I don't yet know what style will be required for my next novel, but my sense is that each book will involve a new relationship to language.

I tend to focus less on genre as a starting point and more on idea or intention and let the idea dictate genre.

My intention was never to write a "trans novel" - which is perhaps an effective strategy for writing a trans novel.

When I was writing, I wanted every word to be not only deliberate, but musical. Precious.

It's exciting to consider how art, in its ability to reveal, can be ahead of the artist.

I feel like I have had to catch up to the art I've made, and learn from the protagonists I have written, especially in relation to gender.

I do use art as a site of protest, particularly in relation to dominant narratives.

I have dedicated a significant portion of my time and artistry to making art that addresses various forms of oppression, including white supremacy, misogyny, and biphobia.

As a person of color, I know race can't be stripped from admiration or preference.

In poetry, I didn't have to provide resolution. I could ask hard questions without feeling responsible for the answers.

Children's books have great potential to reveal new possibilities to readers, because the intended audience is at an age of genuine learning.

Now is not the time for Canadians to be sanctimonious. It is time for us to be prudent and active.

I have been and continue to be committed to art as a tool to ignite, comfort, and discomfort.

brown life is an unbroken bearing of the weight and hollow of the active absence of brown life.