Alisha Zaidi is a 2023 graduate from the University of Guelph-Humber with an Honours Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Justice Studies and a Diploma in Community Justice Services. She plans to attend law school and is focused on shedding light on the culture and history of the South Asian and Muslim communities. This is her first publication.
Emma Smith is currently attending Humber College and will complete her second year in the Visual and Digital Arts program as of 2024. Though she is pursuing a future in the visual arts, she frequently delves into the world of creative writing when given the time and opportunity to do so. After hearing about the writing competition through her required Workplace Writing class in the Winter 2023 Semester, she hopped on the chance to submit her work, which for her, would be the first time she’s ever done so. Emma was thrilled to hear that her poem was selected as the winner. Not too long after, she got to witness her first ever winning work be published.
Rivyr Faubert is a current student at the University of Guelph-Humber who began her second year of Media and Communication Studies in Fall 2023. Her Creative Writing elective offered her the chance to discover her true love for words, and she hopes to turn this new passion into an ongoing hobby moving forward. Rivyr hopes that this first publication is only just the beginning and is excited to see what the future has in store.
John Davies was Humber’s third President (2007-2012). Described by his colleagues as a 'transformational leader', John Davies brought to Humber vast experience in education: “Davies trained as a geography teacher in his native Britain and came to Toronto with his wife (also a teacher) to attend graduate school. Here he began a long career in the public school sector, serving as a teacher, vice principal, principal, superintendent and director of the Toronto Board of Education. What began as a job that would afford him ‘flexibility and a decent salary’ became a career driven by a passion for student achievement.” (Grzetic, 2012).
July 1, 2007, was the day when John Davies became Humber College’s third President, succeeding Robert “Squee” Gordon and after being vice president of finance and administration for five years. President Davies plan at the time was to continue the growth that his predecessor had started. He also had plans to expand the applied degrees and reach out to the community. In his own words, “Humber will continue to push ahead on that polytechnic vision. We need to get more applied degrees and push ahead with development of buildings, particularly at Lakeshore and Orangeville.” (quoted in Dillon, 2007)
John Davies retired from a long and accomplished career in 2012 leaving behind a legacy of new buildings (including an expanded Learning Commons, and a new Media Studio at the Lakeshore Campus, a new Centre for Urban Ecology at the North Campus), along with increased student enrollment and greater connections and partnerships to the local community. As was noted at the time of his retirement: “Davies finishes his five-year role as president at the end of June after 10 years with the college (the first five as vice president of finance and administration) marked by significant contributions to the surrounding north Etobicoke community” (Grzetic, 2012).
Wayson Choy, a Chinese Canadian author and teacher was born Choy Way Sun in Vancouver, British Columbia on 20 April, 1939 and raised in the city’s Chinatown neighbourhood. He was educated at the University of British Columbia, where he studied creative writing. He relocated to Toronto in 1962 and began teaching, first at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate (1966-67), before working as one of the original members of the Humber College teaching faculty in 1967, where he remained until 2004. After his retirement, Choy continued as an instructor at the Humber School for Writers.
Choy’s first novel, The Jade Peony was published in 1995. It won the Trillium Book Award and the Vancouver City Book Award. In 1999, this was followed by his first memoir, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood, which received numerous accolades, including being shortlisted for a Governor General award. His 2004 novel, All that Matters received a Trillium Book Award and was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 2005, Choy was named a member of the Order of Canada.
In 2009, Choy’s final memoir, Not Dead Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying was published. In 2010, The Jade Peony was included in the CBC’s Canada Reads competition. In 2015, he was presented with the George Woodcock Award, a lifetime achievement award for writers from British Columbia. He passed away in Toronto on 28 April, 2019 at 80 years old.
A lifelong advocate for his community, Choy is remembered as a trailblazing figure in Chinese Canadian literature, and LGBTQ literature, as one of the first openly gay writers of colour to achieve widespread success in Canada’s mainstream.