What Would Ms. Hina Do? Themes and lessons from the novel Scarborough. Allyship, community, in the context of Black History Month

The Ottawa Public Library in partnership with the National Arts Centre is delighted to host Catherine Hernandez. Catherine will be presenting her speech “What would Ms Hina Do?” which explores the themes of community and allyship prominent in her novel Scarborough through this beloved character in the book, a Muslim social worker in the school at the centre of the novel.

Catherine Hernandez (she/her) is an award-winning author and screenwriter. She is a proud queer woman who is of Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and Indian descent and married into the Navajo Nation. Her first novel, Scarborough, won the Jim Wong-Chu Award for the unpublished manuscript; was a finalist for several awards including Canada Reads 2022. She wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Scarborough, which was nominated for 11 Canadian Screen Awards and won 8 including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Her second novel, Crosshairs, was shortlisted for the Toronto Book Award and made the CBC’s Best Canadian Fiction, NOW Magazine’s 10 Best Books, Indigo Best Book, and NBC 20 Best LGBTQ Books list of 2020. Her third novel, The Story of Us, will be published Feb 28 2023. She is currently working on a few television projects and her fourth novel.