Only Connect
Fareh Malik is a spoken word poet from Hamilton, Ontario and the winner of the 2022 RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award, as well as the 2023 Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. His new book Streams that Lead Somewhere is available from Mawenzi House Publishers.
Some people look at me like that is all that I am—a checklist of demographics. I think that I am more than these things though. I know it, actually.
If you attended McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario between the years of 2012 and 2019, chances are you didn’t see me, even though I was there. Remaining invisible has always been a skill of mine; it’s always felt safer. Cue my aunty saying, “No, you can’t wear that kufi to school because the world is crazy right now and they eat brown boys like you alive and we need you to get home safe”. Parts of me still live in those anxious moments. But—as Hanif Abdurraqib says—sometimes a place is something that happens to you. I think Hamilton happened to me. It is where I have met some of the best people I have ever known. People who see me within my messy, complicated, whirlwind life, and choose to love me anyway. This city was where I learned to put pen to paper—where I learned that I could make a difference through poetry. It is where I saved my own life. In light of this, I think writing my books has been the bravest thing I’ve ever done. It’s the most human I’ve ever made myself. It’s the only time I’ve ever allowed a piece of my heart to live outside of my body.
I don’t know if I’ve ever thought long and hard about what my mission in this writing community is. To be honest, writing this for PEN felt difficult because I just don’t know what to say. However, I think you can’t go wrong trying to show the world your humanity.
So, if I may try again: My name is Fareh Malik. I am an author who was born and raised in Canada. I am Muslim. I am a person of colour. I have been diagnosed with depression. I am a second-generation immigrant. My roots are Pakistani. I cried when Muhammad Ali died. I love dogs and sushi. I really hate the phrases “chai tea” and “naan bread”. I nervously dance when I am put on the spot. I have been a Toronto Raptors fan my entire life; they were founded one year after I was born, and I like to think that we both started walking forward around the same time. Also, Vince Carter and I have the same birthday. I don’t really like ginger or cardamom in things—in my Pakistani grandmother’s opinion, that is blasphemous. We both equally love ginger ale, though. It’s funny how that works. Now that I think of it, I think that that’s the point of this letter; I’m here to find the ways we connect even within the things that make us different. That’s a mission I can be happy with.
Sincerely,
Fareh Malik
The Tomorrow Club is a network of writers under 35. A collaboration between several PEN centres, including PEN Canada, and with young writers from across the world, the Tomorrow Club engages youth during deepening divisions, across borders and towards community and solidarity. It welcomes young and emerging writers to get involved in its network and other PEN activities. It also has historical roots, as it revives an idea first started in 1917 PEN’s founder, Catherine Amy Dawson Scott. This revival is led by Ege Dundar, a writer, activist, and PEN International’s youngest board member.
The Canadian members of the Tomorrow Club will meet with international members to exchange opportunities, establish partnerships and create a solidarity network. Kern Carter and Fareh Malik are the first two Canadian members of the Tomorrow Club.
