Celebrating the depth and diversity of BC publishing
On Thursday, November 30th at 6pm, join Massy Arts, Massy Books and Dundurn Press in celebrating The Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World with author Annahid Dashtgard, in conversation with equity leader Suzanne Hawkes.
“Annahid is a stunning writer, daring to speak truths that are often hidden or marginalized, and in the process opening people’s hearts and minds.” —Judy Rebick, journalist and author
This project has been made possible by the Government of Canada. Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce au gouvernement du Canada.
Venue & Accessibility
The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery, at 23 East Pender Street in Chinatown, Vancouver.
Registration is free and required for entrance.
The gallery is wheelchair accessible and a gender-neutral washroom is on-site.
Please refrain from wearing scents or heavy perfumes.
For more on accessibility including parking, seating, venue measurements and floor plan, and how to request ASL interpretation please visit: massyarts.com/accessibility
Covid Protocols: Masks keep our community safe and are mandatory (N95 masks are recommended as they offer the best protection). We ask if you are showing symptoms, that you stay home. Thank you kindly.
About the book:
Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (Dundurn Press, 2023)
Sharp, funny, and poignant stories of what it’s like to be a Brown woman working for change in a white world.
I take a deep breath, check my lipstick one last time on my phone camera, and turn on my mic. It’s about ten steps, two metres, and one lifetime to the front of the room. “Hello,” I repeat. “My name is Annahid — pronounced Ah-nah-heed — and shit’s about to get real!”
In a series of deft interlocking stories Annahid Dashtgard shares her experiences searching for, and teaching about, belonging in our deeply divided world. A critically acclaimed, racialized immigrant writer and recognized inclusion leader, Dashtgard writes with wisdom, honesty, and a wry humour as she considers what it means to belong — to a country, in a marriage, in our own skin — and what it means when belonging is absent. Like the bones of the human body, these stories knit together a remarkable vision of what wholeness looks like as a racial outsider in a culture still dominated by whiteness.
About the author:
Annahid Dashtgard is an author and CEO/ Co-founder of leading racial justice company Anima Leadership. Her books Bones of Belonging: Finding Wholeness in a White World (Dundurn, 2023) and Breaking the Ocean: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion and Reconciliation (Anansi, 2019) have both been bestsellers, marking her a voice to listen to. She is also host of the podcast Soundwaves of Belonging, creator of the BIPOC Leader Lab program and spends what’s left of her free time trying to keep up with her two kids. Her personal mantra: Be excellent, love fiercely, no bullshit.
About the guest:
Suzanne Hawkes is an equity-centered management consultant, leadership trainer, and facilitator. She has supported stakeholder engagement and dialogue, organizational planning and change initiatives across the US, Canada and overseas for 25 years, for a range of corporate, governmental and not-for-profit clients. Her vision: a multi-racial, cross-sectoral network of collaborative, service-oriented leaders working across difference to achieve transformational change.