OUR GUEST FACILITATORS

At Living Hyphen, we’ve been very fortunate to have talented artists, writers, storytellers, and other creatives share their craft with our community to facilitate our workshops. Take a look at some of our wonderful guest facilitators and support their work!

 

Andrea Thompson

Headshot of Andrea Thompson who has brown curly hair.

Andrea Thompson is an Afro-Canadian writer, spoken word artist, educator, and editor, who has been teaching creative writing to students of all ages for over 25 years. Andrea has taught through the University of Toronto, OCAD University, and Brock University, as well as through community groups and agencies across the country. Andrea’s spoken word album One was nominated for a Canadian Urban Music Award, her album Soulorations helped earn her a League of Canadian Poets’ Golden Beret Award, and she is the recipient of the 2021 Pavlick Poetry Prize. Learn more about Andrea at www.andreathompson.ca.

Janice Liu

Headshot of Janice Liu who has short wavy hair. She is wearing a blue cardigan.

Janice Liu is a kids' comic artist based near Vancouver, BC. Her graphic novel with Naomi Cui, Chicken Soup & Goji Berries 中药鸡汤, was a 2020 Excellence in Graphic Literature Award finalist, and a Gene Day Award nominee. Janice teaches children's art classes full-time, and runs quarterly art workshops for teens at her local library. This is one of her first comic workshops for adults!

Learn more about Janice at www.janiceliu.com

Jason Li

Jason Li (he/him) is an independent designer, artist and educator. His practice revolves around promulgating bottom-up narratives, exploring networked technology and helping people live safely on the internet. He is a co-author of the Hanmoji Handbook, an editor at Paradise Systems, and a member of Zine Coop.

Find out more about him at byjasonli.com and about his book at hanmoji.org.

Linh S. NguyEn

Headshot of Linh S. Nguyen who has long black hair. She is wearing a no sleeve black blouse.

Linh S. Nguyễn is a children’s author and arts-based workshop facilitator. Her debut novel, NO PLACE LIKE HOME (HarperCollins ‘23) is now available! Linh recently graduated with her MPhil in Arts, Creativity and Education at the University of Cambridge, studying decolonial methodologies, feminist pedagogies, and new materialist theories to foreground non-western ways of knowing and being. She completed her HBA at the University of Toronto in English, Writing & Rhetoric, and Creative Expression & Society and works part-time with Indigenous Services Canada as a policy analyst in the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch. Learn more at www.linhsnguyen.com.

MASH VASS

Mash Vass is standing in front of numerous paintings in the background. She has wavy brown hair, wears glasses, and is wearing a beautiful red dress with a black belt on her waist. Her arms are adorned with bracelets and she has her hands in her pock

Mash was born and raised in Toronto and began her artistic collage journey nearly a decade ago. Her preferred medium of choice is collage, particularly when she combines her own photography and ink work into the piece.

Losing her mother at a young age was a formative experience. This motivated her to cherish and perceive life in a way unlike that of her peers – knowing that every moment is fleeting. As a child living in an immigrant family, she works to honour her Greek roots, her ancestors, and her loved ones, for all that they sacrificed for her to flourish through her art. Her rich culture and history can be seen in her various pieces. Learn more about Mash at www.mashvass.com.

Meegan Lim

Black and white headshot of Meegan Lim who has curly black hair.

Meegan Lim is a Brampton-based illustrator and arts facilitator striving to nurture community growth and healing through visual arts. Her work has been featured in Chatelaine, Eater, Broken Pencil Magazine, and in the book, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Dumplings.” Meegan’s multi-disciplinary practice primarily focuses on the intersections of food and cultural identity manifesting through detailed gouache illustrations, digital paintings and risograph zines. By exploring her Malaysian-Chinese, first-generation experience, her zines MSG: The Craving for Cultural Embrace, Red Pocket Recipes, and award-winning Harvest Garden have been a launching pad for her practice. Learn more about Meegan at www.meeganlim.com.

Nastasha Alli

Headshot of Nastasha Alli who has short wavy hair and bangs. She is wearing a black, white, and pink floral blouse.

Nastasha Alli is a Research & Engagement Coordinator at the Culinary Tourism Alliance and a part-time instructor at George Brown College, teaching a course on food writing for their Food Tourism Entrepreneurship program.

Nastasha’s interest in the history, traditions, and culture surrounding the foods we eat led her to host an award-winning podcast, where she interviews chefs, farmers, authors, and home cooks about their culinary experiences, from high-end kitchens across North America to cocoa farms in the Philippines, where she was born and raised. Nastasha won a Food Sustainability Media Award from the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2018. Her recipes have appeared in various outlets, including an anthology named a "top cookbook of 2018" by the San Francisco Chronicle.

Ryookyung Kim

Headshot of Ryookyung Kim who has shoulder-length brown hair. She is smiling with her eyes clothes. She is wearing glasses and a super colourful outfit with a giant necklace. Her arms are around her stomach.

Ryookyung (they/them) is an alkemist and co-creator of divine ceremonies, rituals, and celebrations. You can often find them in a transition of sorts, liminal spaces of (un)learning, and supporting other humans whose very existence disrupts the status quo.

Ryookyung journeys with folks in coming home to their Selves by way of remembrance and play—with ease, wonder, and delight being some of the flavours they bring to their sessions with clients.

Sheniz Janmohamed

Headshot of Sheniz Janmohamed who has shoulder-length straight black hair. She is wearing a metallic green dress and is in the middle of a forested area.

Sheniz Janmohamed is a poet, nature artist and arts educator whose work has been featured across Turtle Island, including the National Arts Centre and the Art Gallery of Mississauga. She has performed her work in venues across the world and has three poetry collections Bleeding Light (2010), Firesmoke (2014) and Reminders on the Path (2021). 

A recipient of the Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming Creative Teaching Scholarship, Sheniz holds an Artist Educator Mentor certificate from the Royal Conservatory. In 2022, she served as the Writer-in-Residence at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus and the Artist-in-Residence at the Stone & Sky Festival (Pelee Island). Learn more at www.shenizjanmohamed.com.