We’re so thrilled to introduce some of the fantastic mentees in the inaugural cohort of Transatlantic’s BIPOC Mentorship Program!
Noelle Marie Falcis (she/her) is a creative and academic that has centered her work around the intersection of narrative and performative praxis. Most interested in visionary re-memory and re-imagination of histories and, therefore, futures, she purses storytelling through fictive writing and movement artistry. She uses these dual forms to better understand the diasporic, decolonizing life, and how these factors inform her identity as a Filipina-American. Her fiction holds mythologic and folkloric elements of her heritage and tends to be grounded in both the desert and city landscapes in which she grew up. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and literary magazines such as Seventh Wave Literary, Kartika Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, amongst others. She is an alumna of the Los Angeles Review of Book’s Publishing Workshop, VONA Voices, and Tin House Workshop. She is the founder of Gunita Collective, a multidisciplinary artists’ group centered upon personal and communal memory. The collective has performed in various venues throughout Los Angeles.
As a lawyer and daughter of Guatemalan and Cuban bakers, Jessica C. Parra never objects to an extra slice of cake. She’s a Los Angeles native who loves to write about Latinas with big hair (and even bigger dreams), complicated families, cats living their best lives (all nine of them), and the healing magic of acceptance. When she isn’t drafting her own books you can find her cheerleading other people’s stories, sipping kombucha, or co-piloting the Millennium Falcon at Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge.
Nour Sallam (she/her) lives and works in the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. She works as a bookseller at a local Vancouver bookstore and is currently working on her publishing certificate. When she isn’t recommending books to people (or reading them), Nour likes to write, go for walks/ hikes, practice yoga, and spend quality time with her pals. She loves books of any genre that feature complicated characters or touch on social and political issues. Other loves include (but are not limited to): the serial comma, coffee (but not drip coffee), the smell of the ocean, a good thrift find, and cats.
Nicole Baptiste (she/her) is a queer Caribbean-Canadian that lives and works on the ‘Dish With One Spoon Territory’ in Toronto. She works in the tech industry in content development/customer success and is currently working towards her publishing certificate. When she is not working, she keeps busy with morning runs by the lake, watching the WNBA, fretting over her 3-year old rescue pup, Wilbur, and travelling any chance she can get. Her interest in book publishing stems from a love for books and learning through the art of storytelling. She is drawn to books from any genre that tackle complex issues, events, and situations. Ideally, Nicole enjoys pairing such books with a cup of black coffee and a cozy reading nook.
Taeyin ChoGlueck (they/them) is a Korean-American writer and an emerging publishing professional. They are an assistant to a middle-grade author and hope to support more QT/BIPOC writers on their publishing journeys. For a decade, they worked as a racial justice educator and co-founded InterAction Initiative, focused on training young BIPOC in counter-narrative storytelling. Their writing has appeared in The Margins, Juked, Kelsey Street, Entropy, and others, and they are currently writing YA contemporary manuscripts. Their recent favorite authors include Kacen Callender, Kosoko Jackson, Sassafras Lowry, Jacqueline Woodson, F. C. Yee, and David Yoon.
Rocio Sanchez-Nolasco (she/her) is a first generation Mexican-American educator, public programs coordinator, and visual artist from the central coast of California. Her love of books originated from a young age and she believes that captivating storytelling can take on many genres and formats. When it comes to books, she is particularly interested in stories about Latinx families and identity along with anything in the horror genre, but she also has a soft spot for picture books about animals learning valuable life lessons. When she’s not reading, drawing, painting, or watching horror movies you can find her at the beach.
Bre’Anna Girdy (she/her) is a reader, writer, and academic pursuing a Master’s in English at the University of Chicago. Previously, she worked at a Seattle literary non-profit where she gained experience ranging from book agenting for the Seattle Youth Poet Laureate, to producing classroom anthologies by and for local Seattle Public School students. She loved the work and the experience, and she left with a solid love of creative facilitation and advocacy. Outside of work and school, Bre’Anna loves giving her support to BIPOC authors both in the form of reading and recommending books to anyone who is looking for a new enjoyable read. She is excited to read anything and everything, but if she had to choose a genre (or two) she would choose speculative fiction and romance. If you’re ever looking to find her, you’re sure to find her preserving her peace over a cup of chai tea, watching a movie under an abundance of blankets, or roaming the aisles of the local bookstore or library with one too many books in her hands.
Arjun Singh (He/Him) is a LGBTQ+ Indian-Canadian aspiring writer, voracious reader and emerging publishing professional. Arjun came to Canada from India with his family in 2007 and maintains ties to his heritage through Indian cinema and music. He currently works in research services at a think tank in Toronto. Arjun is also working on his political drama novel through Humber College’s Creative Writing program as well as brushing up his editorial skills through the George Brown College Continuing Studies Editorial Skills program. Arjun has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and English Language and Literature along with a Certificate in Writing. When he is not working or writing or bingeing series on one of the streaming services, he is aggressively working towards his ambitious goal of reading 65 books in 2021. Other loves include coffee, snacks, cheese boards, pizza and hikes/walking. Arjun’s journey to publishing came about after trying almost every conventional career. He began considering becoming a lawyer because of his love for crime shows, then a FBI agent (despite not being an American citizen or any ability to pass the physical tests), diplomat, accountant, professor, government public servant and eventually an English professor showed him the light and told him to consider publishing due to his love for books and literature. Arjun recently completed a sales and operations internship at Penguin Random House and thoroughly enjoyed his time there and looks forward to trying out other avenues in the publishing industry. His love for storytelling began at the age of three when he began reading before he could speak or walk and that love has continued, grown and flourished over the years.