17 for 2017: Morgan M. Page recommends Small Beauty
By Chase Joynt
6. Small Beauty by jia qing wilson-yang recommended by Morgan M. Page
Throughout my tenure as the December Writer-In-Residence, I will be assembling a list of 17 must-read-books for 2017. To accomplish this numerically satisfying task, I have asked 17 people whose work I adore to suggest one title for the list. Consult the end of each post for the growing list of recommendations!
Morgan M. Page is my favourite person on the Internet. I originally encountered Morgan’s activist and artistic work in Toronto, where she led various trans health initiatives through the 519 Community Center. Her new podcast One From The Vaults “brings you all the dirt, gossip and glamour from trans history” through audio vignette-style portraits of trans subjects predominantly in North America and Europe. Morgan’s fusion of humour, community engagement and cultural critique is unparalleled; you can follow her @morganmpage on Twitter.
From Morgan:
Small Beauty is a novel about race, transness, and buried histories set in rural Ontario. This book continues to knock the wind out of me. Wilson-yang points us towards the future of Can Lit - a future that is about more than just the stories and concerns of white, straight, cis people.
Read Morgan's review of Small Beauty for Lambda Literary
Stay tuned as we build the ultimate 2017 reading list! A new suggestion from an inspired thinker emerges every-other-day for the month of December on open-book.ca.
17 for 2017:
1. Mariko Tamaki recommends The Land of Forgotten Girls
2. Sheila Heti recommends The Normal Personality: A New Way of Thinking about People
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3. Vivek Shraya recommends The Mothers
4. Kate Bornstein recommends Siddhartha
5. Casey Mecija recommends Tropical Renditions: Making Musical Scenes in Filipino America
December Writer-In-Residence
Chase Joynt is a filmmaker and writer. His latest two films Genderize and Between You and Me are now streaming live online with CBC Digital Docs. His first book, You Only Live Twice (co-authored with Mike Hoolboom) was published by Coach House Books and just named one of The Globe and Mail's Best Books of 2016. His second book The Case of Agnes (co-authored with Kristen Schilt) is forthcoming from Duke University Press.
The views expressed in the Writer-in-Residence blogs are those held by the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Open Book.
Chase Joynt is a Toronto-based moving-image artist and writer who has exhibited his work internationally. He recently received a Mellon Fellowship in Arts Practice and Scholarship at the University of Chicago.
You can write to Chase throughout the month of December at writer@open-book.ca.