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Join us for the launch of As The Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories (House of Anansi)! With editor Terese Mason Pierre, Zalika Reid-Benta, Chinelo Onwualu, Trynne Delaney, and DJ Myles.

A ground-breaking anthology of haunting speculative stories by contemporary Black Canadian writers that explore growth, futurity, and joy.

Edited by esteemed poet Terese Mason Pierre, this bold and innovative anthology of speculative short fiction reveals and uplifts the spectacular imaginings, reveries, reflections, experiments, and hopes of Black writers in Canada. A masseuse attends her mother’s fourth funeral, only to encounter family she’s never met. A postdoc instructor navigates an almost-life in an Elsewhere realm of safety and comfort. After societal collapse, an immigrant leaves her precarious station, and her memories, behind. A woman isolating from a new virus starts hallucinating. A young nanny accepts a job with a peculiar employer in search of immortality. A medium is tasked with summoning a spirit that hits too close to home. And two teenagers test a friendship over magic carpet flying practice.

These ten breathtaking stories explore natural and urban landscapes, living and dead relationships, economic catastrophe, love, and desire-all while celebrating the persistent and ever-changing self, and envisioning beautiful Black futures.

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Toronto Lit Up is a multi-year initiative, started in 2016 by the Toronto International Festival of Authors and the Toronto Arts Council, to spotlight Toronto writers and empower local artists with career-building opportunities. Between April 2016 and March 2025, Toronto Lit Up has presented over 200 events featuring over 250 Toronto authors and illustrators. Toronto Lit Up book launches take place throughout the year at venues across the city. They are open to the public and free to attend. Click here for more information.

This event will be followed by a book signing.

As the Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories

A ground-breaking anthology of haunting speculative stories by contemporary Black Canadian writers that explore growth, futurity, and joy. This bold and innovative anthology of speculative short fiction reveals and uplifts the spectacular imaginings, reveries, reflections, experiments, and hopes of Black writers in Canada. A woman attends her mother’s latest resurrection, only ... Read more

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Terese Mason Pierre

Terese Mason Pierre is a Toronto-based writer and editor whose work has appeared in The Walrus, ROOM, Brick, Quill & Quire, Uncanny Magazine, and Fantasy Magazine, among others. One of ten winners of the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, she was named a Writers’ Trust Rising Star.

Read more about Terese Mason Pierre

Credit Josh Gooden