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You’ll find all that you need to know including our latest news, media mentions, photos, and media assets available here to help you craft your story and amplify the voices of our diverse community.
For press inquiries, b-roll footage, and photography, email hello@livinghyphen.ca.
Living Hyphen is a community that explores the experiences of hyphenated Canadians. Through short stories, photography, poetry, spoken word, and illustrations, we uncover what it means to live in between cultures as individuals who call Canada home but with roots elsewhere.
We publish a magazine and host a podcast featuring the voices of artists and writers all across Canada, as well as deliver cultural programming to encourage courageous and tender storytelling within our communities.
OUR aim is to reshape the mainstream and to turn up the volume on voices that often go unheard.
JUSTINE ABIGAIL YU
Founder & Editor
TRISHA GREGORIO
Podcast Producer
JOSH LAYTON
Creative Director
MARÍA PIÑEROS MURILLO
Design Associate
JOCELYN YU
Publisher
KATHLEEN UBIAS
Design Associate
““In an age when stories bombard us and can often make us feel more isolated and confused, we absolutely need this. This collection of hyphenated voices is like Bukowski’s bluebird waiting to be heard amidst the noise. The stories in this magazine are playful, delicate, and our own.” ”
“In 2018 [Justine Abigail Yu] launched Living Hyphen — a literary community and multimedia platform that celebrates the diverse stories of hyphenated Canadians...
Since then, things have taken off, with a podcast, a stage play, an upcoming third issue as well as ongoing cross-country cultural programming and training for students and interested Canadians.
Through short stories, photography, poetry and illustrations, the journal shares intimate human experiences tied to migration, immigration, displacement and settlement exploring ideas around connection to a homeland, ties to past generations, and finding a sense of self somewhere new.”
The seed of this idea was born in the fall of 2015 at Toronto’s Feminist Art Conference when our founder, Justine Abigail Yu, attended a panel about (the lack of) diversity in Canadian literature. The panel was stacked with writers of colour with experience to share about the publishing industry. She listened to these panelists — all writers of color — talk about the difficulties they faced in getting their work published, simply because their stories did not conform to the “Canadian narrative”. Either that or their stories were not “ethnic” enough.
As a writer and as a woman of colour, this deeply unsettled Justine.
After that panel, she spent the next few weeks (years, really) ravenous for art and literature that complicated that “Canadian narrative”, and that better represented her life experiences. There were some gems out there, but they were few and far between. Her eyes were suddenly opened to just how White-dominated Canada’s arts and literature scene was (is).
From there, the seed of Living Hyphen had sprouted.
Need to grab our logo, sample pages from our magazine, or photos from our writing workshops and storytelling nights?
Click here to download all of our brand assets.
““I love this magazine. I keep it on my coffee table and pick it up whenever I need a dose of inspiration. Living Hyphen shares stories and perspectives that I wouldn’t know or understand without access to without it.””
Exploring the Pedagogical Power of a Writing Workshop with Living Hyphen. Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. July 11, 2024.
‘Isang Bagsak’ sparks action, advocacy. The Philippine Reporter. March 16-31, 2024.
Why thousands of Canadians are joining the ‘Free Palestine’ movement. The Breach Media. February 21, 2024.
There’s no topic too big for A&S alum Justine Abigail Yu and her Living Hyphen community. A&S Impact. December 14, 2023.
An Inclusive Vision for Magazine Publishing with Justine Abigail Yu of Living Hyphen. Talk Paper Scissors. June 22, 2023.
Living Hyphen as Living Lineage. Hamilton Arts & Letters. June 21, 2023.
Unusual Gifts for Book Lovers. Atlas Obscura. November 28, 2022.
New collection of stories helps adult newcomers learn English in a meaningful way. New Canadian Media. November 15, 2022.
Healing as an act of resistance: Reclaiming ourselves through art. CanCulture Magazine. November 13, 2022.
On the Spot (OTS) for Living Hyphen’s Launch Party – Healing Across Generations. FilipinoTV. November 1, 2022.
This Publication Empowers Newcomers to Learn English Through Their Own Stories. The Toast. October 8, 2022.
The Stories of Us: first-ever ESL library of stories written by newcomers, for newcomers. OMNI News Filipino. September 16, 2022.
Seven takeaways from University of Toronto Entrepreneurship Week 2022. Mirage News. March 15, 2022.
Immigrants Tell Their Own Stories In New Anthology. The Hoser. September 30, 2022.
How Living Hyphen is amplifying diverse voices. CityTV’s Breakfast Television. August 2021.
Justine Abigail Yu created a literary community to give voice to hyphenated Canadians. The Toronto Star. October 17, 2021.
Living Hyphen wants to be the publication for Canadians caught between 2 worlds. Broadview Magazine. August 16, 2021.
Stories from Living Hyphen magazine adapted for play at Toronto’s High Park. Capital Current. August 16, 2021.
In Conversation with Alison Wong on ‘nowhen’. Intermission Magazine. August 15, 2021.
How to Accidentally Create A Literary Empire. Globe & Mail, Arts & Pursuits section. August 14, 2021.
Anti-#GirlBoss Justine Yu is redefining the Canadian arts business model to be more inclusive. Globe & Mail. August 12, 2021.
OMNI Television feature on ‘nowhen’. August 10, 2021.
Audiences are being welcomed back to outdoor theatre all over Ontario — even the wildlife is invited. Toronto Star. August 4, 2021.
Living Hyphen provides a platform for multicultural Canadians to share their culture. The Peak. July 5, 2021.
New Living Hyphen Podcast Explores Hyphenated Identities. Toast. June 12, 2021.
Between Worlds, Right At Home. Liisbeth. June 1, 2021.
Living Hyphen podcast reflect on identity amid pandemic. CanadianFilipino.net. June 1, 2021.
How we 'love from afar' in pandemic echoes what immigrants have always done: podcaster. CTV. May 6, 2021.
Living the double hyphenated life: New podcast explores the push and pull of Living Hyphen. CBC Metro Morning May 2021.
'If you feel angry, name it': Experts offer help to those traumatized by anti-Asian hate. CTV. March 25, 2021.
Living Hyphen virtual workshops develop BIPOC storytelling outside mainstream expectations. CJRU.ca and canada-info.ca. February 1, 2021.
Filipina front-line workers are turning their pandemic struggles into art. CTV. January 25, 2021.
Fil-Can frontliners tell stories of caregiving. The Philippine Reporter. December 18, 2021.
Why Embodied Feminist Spaces Matter and Why We Need To Work To Bring Them Back. LiisBeth. September 15, 2020.
Living Hyphen Helps Multicultural Canadians Explore Their Identities. Youth Mind Magazine Fall 2020.
Episode 002 | Unlearning, Call Out Culture and Activism with Justine Abigail Yu. Curated Consciously Podcast. September 9, 2020.
Episode 066 | More Than A Hyphen. Dear Asian Americans Podcast. August 8, 2020.
Docuseries on Justine Abigail Yu, Founder of Living Hyphen. Dual Citizen Series. Fall 2019.
What does it mean to be a hyphenated Montrealer? CBC’s Let’s Go. September 2019.
BoniFest art, book festival draws proud, excited crowd. The Philippine Reporter. November 22, 2019.
Young authors, writers read own works. The Philippine Reporter. July 26, 2019.
On Living Hyphen magazine and on living in the in between. An interview with A Quarter Young. January 18, 2019.
Living Hyphen: the new magazine launched this year. Radio-Canada International. December 24, 2018.
Toronto book launch heralds young Fil-Canadian writers. The National Inquirer. December 13, 2018.
Interview with a Trailblazer: Talking Artistic Diversity – or the Lack Thereof – in Canada with Justine Abigail Yu. Cambio & Co. November 2018.
New journal spotlights challenges and triumphs of ‘hyphenated Canadians’. The Loop. October 12, 2018.
CBC’s Ontario Morning. October 12, 2018.
“This is a beautifully curated collection of powerful stories and art that really tug on my heart strings, especially being a hyphenated Canadian myself. There are many stories that hit close to home. Every time I open this magazine up, it feels like I’m immersed in an art gallery with really beautiful stories to experience. ”