A Canadian author with links to UFV is delivering this year’s six-part Massey lecture series, just in time for Black History Month.

Writer Esi Edugyan’s 2021 CBC Massey Lectures, Out of the Sun: On Race and Storytelling, is being broadcast on CBC Radio’s IDEAS beginning the week of Jan. 24. The lectures, also published as a book by House of Anansi Press, explore some of the themes that show up in her novels — identity, belonging, and the importance of stories in making us who we are.

You can listen to the lectures here on CBC Listen.

Sundeep Hans, UFV’s Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, says that taking in Edugyan’s lectures is a good way to focus one’s attention on the experience of being Black in Canada.

“To celebrate Black History Month, I ask that members of the UFV community be intentional and focused about celebrating the rich culture, heritage, history and contributions of Black Canadians, whilst recognizing that the strength and resilience of these communities is borne of the ongoing confrontations with oppressive systems of power here in Canada.

“Writer  Esi Edugyan, a two-time winner of the Giller Prize who received an honorary doctorate from UFV in 2019, is a powerful voice, and her lecture series on the importance of identity and belonging via storytelling is especially apropos given this year’s Black History Month theme. Please take some time out this week and have a listen.”

Edugyan, who lives in Victoria, received the Giller Prize twice: for her novels Washington Black and Half Blood Blues.

This year’s Black History Month theme is February and Forever: Celebrating Black History today and every day. The announcement came on Lincoln Alexander Day, a day that celebrates the man who was Canada’s first Black Member of Parliament, first Black Cabinet Minister, and the first Black Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

“This year’s theme asks us to understand how the over 400 years of history of Black Canadians is the history of Canada, and yet, has been given but a few pages in history textbooks about our country,” notes Sans. “Without this rich history we cannot fully understand our collective present. This history cannot be relegated to 28 days, but for these 28 days, we can be intentional in our celebration and reflection.”