In an effort to stand in solidarity with the people all across North America opposing racism against black people, the Book Publishers Association of Alberta (BPAA) and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta (WGA) have assembled a reading list of relevant books, articles, and essays.

We are committed to working towards greater inclusivity within our industries through fair representation of Black, Indigenous, and other racialized people, and to amplifying and listening to voices that have too often been silenced.

If you are a teacher who would like to incorporate titles that highlight figures and experiences from BIPOC communities, you can find Alberta-published books that have been mapped to the provincial curriculum at ABBooksForSchools.ca. Many of the titles on the list below are featured there.

Books

• Alberta’s Camelot – Fil Fraser (Lone Pine Publishing)
• An Autobiography of the Autobiography of Reading – Dionne Brand (University of Alberta Press)
• A Quality of Light – Richard Wagamese (Anchor Canada)
• A Short History of the Blockade – Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (University of Alberta Press)
• As Long As This Land Shall Last – René Fumoleau (University of Calgary Press)
• Beyond the Food Court – ed. Luciana Erregue-Sacchi (Laberinto Press)
• Beyond the Gallery – ed. Ana Ruiz Aguirre and Liuba Gonzalez de Armas (Laberinto Press)
• Blackfoot Ways of Knowing – Betty Bastien (University of Calgary Press)
• Blue Sunflower Startle – Yasmin Ladha (Freehand Books)
• Canadian Samurai – Russ Crawford (Agrinomics Publishing)
• Chorus of Mushrooms – Hiromi Goto (NeWest Press)
• Dreaming of Elsewhere – Esi Edugyan (University of Alberta Press)
• Elements of Indigenous Style – Gregory Younging (Brush Education)
• Encountering Riel – David D. Orr (Stonehouse Publishing)
• Ghost Detective – Zachary Muswagon (Eschia Books)
• Great Chiefs: Volume I – Tony Hollihan (Folklore Publishing)
• Great Chiefs: Volume II – Tony Hollihan (Folklore Publishing)
• Homes: A Refugee Story – Abu Bakr al Rabeeah and Winnie Yeung (Freehand Books)
• Honouring High Places – Junko Tabei (Rocky Mountain Books)
• How the Blacks Created Canada – Fil Fraser (Dragon Hill Publishing)
• How the Chinese Created Canada – Adrian Ma (Dragon Hill Publishing)
• Howdy, I’m Flores LaDue – Ayesha Clough, illus. Hugh Rookwood and Keegan Starlight (Red Barn Books)
• Howdy, I’m John Ware – Ayesha Clough, illus. Hugh Rookwood (Red Barn Books)
• Humane – Anna Marie Sewell (Stonehouse Publishing)
• I Am Still Your Negro – Valerie Mason John (University of Alberta Press)
• Imagining Head-Smashed-In – Jack W. Brink (Athabasca University Press)
• KALYNA – Pam Clark (Stonehouse Publishing)
• kiyâm – Naomi McIlwraith (Athabasca University Press)
• La Confédération, 1864-1999 – Sous la direction de Daniel Heidt, avec la collaboration de Colin M. Coates (University of Calgary Press)
• Letters to Singapore – Kelly Kaur (Stonehouse Publishing)
• Lillian & Kokomis – Lynda Partridge, illus. Dave Nicholson
• Little Women’s Lodge Kit – Darlene Pearl Auger, illus. Chloe “Bluebird” Mustooch (Eschia Books)
• Medicine River – Thomas King (Penguin Canada)
• Memoirs of a Muhindi – Mansoor Ladha (University of Regina Press)
• Mother Earth Plants for Health & Beauty – Carrie Armstrong (Eschia Books)
• Mothertalk: Life Stories of Mary Kiyoshi Kiyooka – Roy Kiyooka (NeWest Press)
• My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell – Arthur Bear Chief (Athabasca University Press)
• My Heroes Have Always Been Indians – Cora J. Voyageur (Brush Education)
• Nouveau Griot – Tanya Evanson (Frontenac House)
• Obasan – Joy Kogawa (Penguin Books)
• Paper Teeth – Lauralyn Chow (NeWest Press)
• Pourin’ Down Rain – Cheryl Foggo (Brush Education)
• Reconsidering Confederation – ed. Daniel Heidt (University of Calgary Press)
• Rescue at Fort Edmonton – Rita Feutl (NeWest Press)
• Rescue in the Rockies – Rita Feutl (NeWest Press)
• The Response Of Weeds – Bertrand Bickersteth (NeWest Press)
• Running Uphill – Fil Fraser (Dragon Hill Publishing)
• Seldom Seen Road – Jenna Butler (NeWest Press)
• Siksikaitsitapi – Payne Many Guns, Crystal Many Fingers, Sheena Potts, Latasha Calf Robe, Tim Fox, Marlene Yellow Horn, DerRic Starlight (Durvile & Uproute Books)
• Spirit Animals – Wayne Arthurson (Eschia Books)
• The Black Prairie Archives (Wilfrid Laurier University Press)
• The Great Black North (Frontenac House)
• The Kappa Child – Hiromi Goto (Red Deer Press)
• The Response of Weeds – Bertrand Bickersteth (NeWest Press)
• The Sasquatch at Home – Eden Robinson (University of Alberta Press)
• The Second Life of Samuel Tyne – Esi Edugyan (Vintage Canada)
• The Tree by the Woodpile And Other Dene Spirit of Nature Tales – Raymond Yakeleya (Durvile & Uproute Books)
• The Two Brothers – Diane Brown, illus. Gwaai Edenshaw and Jaalen Edenshaw (Summerthought Publishing)
• This Wound is a World – Billy-Ray Belcourt (Frontenac House)
• Venous Hum – Suzette Mayr (Arsenal Pulp Press)
• Watishka Warriors – Daniel Auger (Eschia Books)
• Wild Daisies in the Sand – Tom Sando (NeWest Press)

Essays, Poems and Articles

• 20 Black Poets You Should Know (and Love) – Hope Wabuke (Article)
• Black Lives Matter – Eileen Schuh (Essay)
• East Calgary Is Not A Culture – Hadeel Abdel-Nabi (Article)
• Normal Isn’t Working – Cheryl Foggo (Essay)
• Poem – Alison Clarke
• Racism – Mansoor Ladha (Essay)
• The cameras on your phones make Black people invisible – Ian Williams (Article)

Additional Materials and Reading Lists

• @blackowned.ab – Instagram page highlighting Black Owned businesses in Alberta
• Book Women Podcast – A podcast where three Métis aunties figure out how to publish, edit, and write Indigenous stories.
• Calgary Public Library – List of books by Black Canadian Authors.
• Dionne Brand – Writing Against Tyranny and Toward Liberation (Video)
• Edmonton Anti-Black Racism Toolkit – Bashir Mohamed
• Glass Bookshop – Featured selections include “Anti-Racism Books” and “Books by Black Writers”.
• Historians on the 2020 protests – This is an in-progress bibliography of work by historians and other social scientists that contextualizes and historicizes the multi-city protests and extralegal and state violence of late May and early June 2020.