creative writer and artist

Candie Tanaka is a trans artist, writer and librarian challenging the binaries continually reconstructed between self and other in literary fiction. Their art and literary work explores archive and memory in a futuristic context. They are a creative writing graduate of The Writer’s Studio program at Simon Fraser University, recently completed a MLIS (Master of Library and Information Studies) at the University of Alberta, earned a Certificate of Distinction from BCIT’s New Media Design and Web Development Program and have a BFA in Intermedia from Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design. In 2017, they were awarded a fully funded literary residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity that helped them further push the boundaries of their writing practice.

 Candie lives in Vancouver, BC and is in the final revision stages of a first novel, working on a second manuscript, as well as penning a suite of poems about working on the waterfront. They are also working on several artistic projects including talks about their creative practice. They have published work with Anvil Press, Guernica Editions and Orca Book Publishers. Their YA novel Baby Drag Queen was a finalist for the 2023 City of Vancouver Book Award.

They have forthcoming essays in Japanese Canadian Place and Memory: An Anthology of Writing with Véhicule Press and in Our Queer Histories with eavesdrop magazine. Previous essays have been published in Resonance: Essays on the Craft and Practice of Writing with Anvil Press, This Will Only Take a Minute with Guernica Editions, Queer Country Crossroads Anthology with Caitlin Press and This Will Only Take a Minute with Guernica Editions.