Transgender Day of Visibility 2024

This Sunday March 31st we celebrate the International Transgender Day of Visibility.  A day in which we celebrate the lives and stories of transgender people, their contributions to society and highlight the discrimination faced by trans people worldwide.  Here are a selection of books by and about transgender people from all over the world.

Black boy out of time : a memoir / Ziyad, Hari
“One of nineteen children in a blended family, Hari Ziyad was raised by a Hindu Hare Krishna mother and a Muslim father. Through reframing their own coming-of-age story, Ziyad takes readers on a powerful journey of growing up queer and Black in Cleveland, Ohio, and of navigating the equally complex path toward finding their true self in New York City. Exploring childhood, gender, race, and the trust that is built, broken, and repaired through generations, Ziyad investigates what it means to live beyond the limited narratives Black children are given and challenges the irreconcilable binaries that restrict them. Heartwarming and heart-wrenching, radical and reflective, Hari Ziyad’s vital memoir is for the outcast, the unheard, the unborn, and the dead. It offers us a new way to think about survival and the necessary disruption of social norms.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Detransition, baby : a novel / Peters, Torrey
“Reese had what previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Ames thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese, and losing her meant losing his only family. Then Ames’s boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she is pregnant with his baby– and is not sure whether she wants to keep it. Ames wonders: Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family, and raise the baby together?” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available in eBook format

Our work is everywhere : an illustrated oral history of queer & trans resistance / Rose, Syan
“Over the past ten years, we have witnessed the rise of queer and trans communities that have defied and challenged those who have historically opposed them. Through bold, symbolic imagery and surrealist, overlapping landscapes, queer illustrator and curator Syan Rose shines a light on the faces and voices of these diverse, amorphous, messy, real, and imagined queer and trans communities. The many themes include Black femme mental health, Pacific Islander authorship, fat queer performance art, disability and health care practice, sex worker activism, and much more.” (Adapted from Catalogue) Also available in eBook format

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Muslim Migrant Experiences – Event at Newtown!

Copies of NANSEN magazine

NANSEN magazine online

Haere mai, Salaam and Soo dhawoow! Join us at Te Puna Waiora Newtown Library on February 7th, 5pm for the launch of international migration magazine, NANSEN!

Hear from journalist Muzhgan Samarqandi and editor Ronia Ibrahim about their experiences as Muslim migrants in Aotearoa and what “home” means to them. If you can, please bring a dish to share that tastes like home.

Details:

Te Puna Waiora | Newtown Library
Wednesday 7 February
5pm-8pm
Musim Migrant Experiences Facebook event

NANSEN. Issue 03 | Muzhgan Samarqandi: The Reed Flute’s Friend

NANSEN Magazine aims to connect and celebrate migrants of all kinds. We do this by getting to know one migrant per issue, homing in on the minutiae of lives lived away from ‘home’ – moments that all migrants can relate to. Issue 03 focuses on New Zealand. In this issue we eat Qabuli Pulao from Muzhgan Samarqandi’s upcoming cookbook, meet Bangladeshi-born hip-hop artist ABRZY, explore an Indigenous approach to immigration policy and offer our suggestions for building the migrant utopia we all want, plus much more!”
(Adapted from NANSEN website)

About the speakers:

Muzhgan Samarqandi is a former broadcaster from Baghlan, northern Afghanistan. She now lives in Wellington with her Kiwi husband, son and baby daughter, working as a cross-culutral advisor and interpreter. She is Afghanistani by nationality, Tajik by ethnicity and Persian by native-tongue.

Ronia Ibrahim is a writer, artist and designer. Her work focuses on sharing stories of migrant experiences and transformation. She recently completed her studies in Communication Design, English Literature and Creative Writing at Victoria University of Wellington. Originally hailing from Wellington, she now resides in Melbourne, Australia.

Vanessa Ellingham (host) is the publisher and editor of NANSEN Magazine. She writes on migration, community and belonging. Born in Aotearoa New Zealand, her iwi affiliations are Te Ātiawa, Taranaki and Ngāruahine. She lives and works in Berlin.

The Reed Flute's Friend, by Muzhgan Samarqandi
The Reed Flute’s Friend, by Muzhgan Samarqandi
Migration route, starting with ancestors 800 years ago
Migration route, starting with ancestors 800 years ago