For Adults
The story, even a fictionalised one, is a historical record of identity and presence. From Anansi stories, to the writings of pioneering Black writers such as Louise Bennett, Octavia Butler and Nalo Hopkinson, Black storytellers preserve memory and ritual alongside writing and protecting Black futures.
Join award wining transdisciplinary artist Myrtle Sodhi and chronicler of human stories, Carol B. Duncan for an evening of sharing their fiction and folktales that span the distance and memory of the African Diaspora. Sodhi's debut book titled We've Been Here Before will be featured and available for sale by Words Worth Books. Myrtle and Carol will join Teneile Warren, Textile Collective’s Editorial Director in conversation on the meaning of Black stories to the making of Black life in Canada.
This is a Black Talk Pre-Event. Textile Collective’s second annual Black Talk features Nalo Hopkinson in conversation with Donna Nurse Bailey on September 25, 2026 at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo. Textile is a hyper-local arts collective supporting writers and artists through mentorship, publishing, and curation.
Presented in partnership with Textile Collective and Words Worth Books.
A stirring intergenerational saga stretching from the Caribbean to Canada where womanhood and mothering demands what the body wants to forget.
Woven together with folklore and memory, We've Been Here Before begins with the childhood stories of Lise-Rose, who struggles with speech and coming of age in a community anchored in both West African spirituality and the Catholic Church. Lise-Rose must choose either to follow the ancestral ways of her father, who is spiritually bound to the sea, or her mother, who has rooted herself in Catholicism. The path of her life changes, however, after an encounter with a shape-shifting figure from the village. Like Lise-Rose's ancestors, her descendants struggle to honour ancestral knowledge while living on foreign lands. Margaux, Lise-Rose's great-granddaughter, embarks on a new life with her mother in Canada. Facing racism and isolation, they attempt to establish roots in a country that seems both limitless and oppressive. Across generations, Sodhi explores how a woman reclaims a connection to her stories and ancestors while forging her own voice.
Myrtle Sodhi is an award-winning transdisciplinary artist-scholar whose work examines the racialized and gendered dimensions of labour, wellbeing, and care in educational and workplace contexts. Her research centers on Black women’s equity leadership and explores how arts-based methods such as rememory, portraiture, and storytelling support activism and resistance within a framework of care. She is the founder of the Black Women Educators (BWE) collective, a national network advancing equity work across Canadian school systems through a Black feminist framework. Her novel, We’ve Been Here Before (Dundurn, 2026), extends her scholarly interest in storytelling, voice reclamation, and the labour experiences of Afro-Caribbean women.
Carol B. Duncan is a chronicler of human stories of migration, community, and identity. Her publications include scholarly books and articles, creative non-fiction, and short stories. She is a tenured full professor in the Department of Religion and Culture at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research focuses on Caribbean migration, gender, religion, and popular culture, as well as on Caribbean religions in diasporic and transnational contexts. She won the Region of Waterloo’s Literary Award in 2002. Carol’s short stories have been published in Augur Magazine, Tales and Feathers, FIYAH Magazine, PREE Magazine of Caribbean Writing, and Apparition Magazine. Her next short story will appear in an upcoming issue of the Caribbean Review of Gender Studies.
Teneile Warren is a queer and nonbinary Jamaican playwright, writer, and community advocate. Their work has been published in Briarpatch Magazine, Barren Magazine, ByBlacks.com, CBC Parents and insidewaterloo. There experimental story Black Womg: Genderless was a 2025 One of A Kind Storytelling nominee for the National Magazine Awards. They are alumni of the Obsidian Playwrights' Unit (2013), and they were the Artist-In-Residence at Buddies in Bad Times (2016). Their work has been staged independently and as part of various festivals across the country. They are also the Editorial Director of Textile, an arts collective that supports emerging writers and artists in Waterloo Region, particularly those from historically excluded and marginalized groups. Teneile’s art is a vehicle for social commentary and activism. Teneile holds an MFA in Creative Writing from University of Guelph. For their community work, Teneile has received the 2023 Black Excellence in Leadership Award, the 2024 Waterloo Region Community Foundation Community Catalyst Award, Black Excellence Award for Arts and Culture 2026, and a King Charles Coronation Medal for their commitment to fighting anti-Black racism. Teneile is a steering committee member of the African, Caribbean and Black Network of Waterloo Region and the Editorial Director of the Textile Art Collective. They are the Equity and Inclusion Officer for the Waterloo Region District School Board. They are an accomplished playwright, chef, and published writer. Teneile lives with their family and believes in the magic of superheroes.
Photography Notice: Please note that photographs and videos may be taken at this event and may be broadcast, reproduced, and/or made available in print or online. For individual or small group photos, staff will make attendees aware of their presence and will ask permission before taking photos.
For larger public events, please note that by attending, you are consenting to the use of your appearance, image, and voice in print or digital productions created by the Waterloo Public Library for promotional use only. Please speak to library staff at the event if you’d like to be excluded from any photo/video.
Staff: Nancy & Vrinda
AGE GROUP: | Adults 19+ |
EVENT TYPE: | Special Events | History and Genealogy | Guest Speakers | Cultures and Communities | Author Events |
TAGS: | Culture Days, poetry and short story readings, art shows |
Located at the RIM Park Manulife Sportsplex, the Eastside Branch boasts specialized creative spaces, quiet study areas, a nature education space and lots of natural light.
