Please note that this event has been CANCELLED. We hope for another opportunity to bring you fanny kearse, Kwiis Hamilton and  Ana Santos in the future. Thank you for understanding. 

On Sunday, April 2nd at 3pm, join Massy Arts Society, Massy Books and poet fanny kearse for the launch of their debut book Umi’s Prayer, Poetry & Prose from a Year Living & Loving Queer. This interactive collection of queerosities offers writing prompts and reflective questions to readers to engage in reciprocal vulnerability.

Joined by guests Kwiis Hamilton & Ana Santos —the three will offer love letters to the awakened dreamer and whole-hearted, authentic community.

Venue & Accessibility

The event will be hosted at the Massy Arts Gallery, at 23 East Pender Street in Chinatown, Vancouver.

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, 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 Author

fanny kearse walked away from nearly a decade as a social worker, in an act of courageous rebellion, and headed west to pursue lifelong dreams of being a poet and disrupting the system to be more diverse, inclusive and equitable. fanny fuses her experience as a social worker and lived experiences as a marginalized human to express her activism through means of poetry and storytelling. in 2021 fanny won the Harold Green theatre monologue competition for her poem, ‘Black & Jewish’. since january 2022 fanny has been part of the ‘wordplay’ program roster, facilitating poetry workshops for youth across the lower mainland of british columbia. she is participating in Sum Theatre’s ‘first monday’ program for emerging playwrights in may 2023. Umi’s Prayer is fanny’s first book.

With Guests

Kwiis Hamilton is Nuuchahnulth (Opechesaht) and Sto:lo (Lequamel). He practices jewelry making, painting, printmaking, spoken word poetry, singing, dancing, clothing design, storytelling and carving. Through the creation of well-made objects Kwiis expresses his values and tells modern and traditional stories. His work sheds light on the obsolete systems of domination and exploitation upon which the foundation of the colonial project of canada is built. He hopes to inspire critical thinking and radical expressions of a healthy, educated, safe, and joy filled community, as well as a shared sense of belonging rooted in self location and a strong spiritual identity.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Ana Santos brings a fierce sound that forces her audiences to stand and listen. Her roots began with country and rock, but as her style developed she created a mashup of her Caribbean roots blended with soulful vocals. Ana wows audiences in any arena that she walks into; whether that is a local performance in British Columbia or competing in and placing third at the Coast to Coast Live Music Showcase (Miami, 2022). A cannabis enthusiast, visionary, and believer, she aims to share her message of peace and love one city at a time.

About The Book

Umi’s Prayer is about love in all its forms. it is a love letter to the land and to its people. it is a love letter to self, to those who are pondering ‘queerosities’, to those who wake to the building of their dreams. it is both the journey and destination to how whole-hearted authentic living cultivates community and champions creativity.