by Catherine Hernandez
Recommended by Ahmad Danny Ramadan
Scarborough is a vibrant, culturally and economically diverse neighborhood east of Toronto, the fourth largest city in North America, which, like many inner-city communities, is not a stranger to poverty, drugs, and crime. Scarborough the novel employs a multitude of voices to tell the story of a tight-knit neighborhood and its challenges.
Scarborough offers a raw yet empathetic glimpse into a community that locates its dignity in unexpected places. It is a neighborhood that refuses to be undone.
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About Ahmad Danny Ramadan
Danny Ramadan is a Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker, storyteller, and an LGBTI refugee rights activist. His English debut novel, The Clothesline Swing, continues to receive raving reviews.
He has been involved in coordinating efforts to support LGBTI-identifying refugees from Syria. Danny volunteers with Rainbow Refugee Society, supporting their work to create private sponsorship for LGBTI-identifying refugees from Syria to his new home in Canada. Danny also runs the annual An Evening in Damascus fundraiser to support these efforts. Since May 2015, he has raised over $100,000 to support eight LGBTI-identifying Syrian refugees.
In recognition of his contributions he was the Grand Marshal of Vancouver Pride in 2016. Danny is also a public speaker and a storyteller, featured in the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia Breakfast 2015, the 2016 National Liberal Convention,and TEDxSFU 2016. In 2017, Danny was awarded the StandOut Social Activist Award by the Vancouver Pride Society, and was named one of the 25 Top Immigrants to Canada by Canadian Immigrant magazine.
About the Author
Catherine Hernandez
Catherine Hernandez is the award winning author of Scarborough (Arsenal Pulp Press). Scarborough won the Jim Wong-Chu Award, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award, the Evergreen Forest of Reading Award, and the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction. It was longlisted for Canada Reads 2018. It made the “Best of 2017” list for the Globe and Mail, National Post, Quill and Quire, and CBC Books.
