Kai Cheng Thom

{{short description|Canadian writer and social worker|bot=PearBOT 5}}

Kai Cheng Thom (born March 12, 1991) is a Chinese-Canadian writer,{{Cite web |date=2023-08-14 |title=Kai Cheng Thom Gives Us a Reason for 'Falling Back in Love With Being Human' |url=https://www.shondaland.com/inspire/books/a44663164/kai-cheng-thom-gives-us-a-reason-for-falling-back-in-love-with-being-human/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Shondaland |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Cretaz |first=Frankie de la |date=2017-04-05 |title=This Author Wanted to See a Trans Woman at the Center of a Novel – So She Wrote Her Own |url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/author-kai-cheng-thom-on-writing-a-new-kind-of-transgender-memoir |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=Teen Vogue |language=en-US}} performance artist,{{Cite web |title=Kai Cheng Thom {{!}} Penguin Random House |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2271482/kai-cheng-thom/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=PenguinRandomhouse.com |language=en-US}} mental health community worker,{{Cite web |title=Kai Cheng Thom – Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies |url=https://sds.utoronto.ca/kai-cheng-thom/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=sds.utoronto.ca}} youth counsellor,{{Cite web |title=Writer Kai Cheng Thom on learning to love monsters – Apartment613 |url=https://apt613.ca/writer-kai-cheng-thom-on-learning-to-love-monsters/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=apt613.ca}} and former social worker.Harron Walker, [https://www.vice.com/en/article/kai-cheng-thom-i-hope-we-choose-love/ "How to Choose Love at the End of the World"]. Vice, February 14, 2020. Thom, a transgender woman,{{cite web |last1=Cheng Thom |first1=Kai |title=@razorfemme |url=https://twitter.com/razorfemme |access-date=28 May 2022 |website=Twitter}} has published five books, including the novel Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir (2016),[http://plenitudemagazine.ca/a-creation-story-for-transgirls-a-review-of-kai-chengs-fierce-femmes-and-notorious-liars-a-dangerous-trans-girls-confabulous-memoir/ "A Creation Story for Trans Girls, a Review of Kai Cheng's Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir"]. Plenitude, December 7, 2016. the poetry collection a place called No Homeland (2017),[http://plenitudemagazine.ca/between-the-world-and-poetry-a-review-of-kai-cheng-thoms-a-place-called-no-homeland/ "Between the World and Poetry: A Review of Kai Cheng Thom's a place called No Homeland"]. Plenitude, April 18, 2017. a children's book, From the Stars in The Sky to the Fish in the Sea (2017),[https://quillandquire.com/review/from-the-stars-in-the-sky-to-the-fish-in-the-sea/ "From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea"]. Quill & Quire, November 2017. I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World (2019), a book of essays centered on transformative justice, and Falling Back in Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls (2023).{{Cite web |title=Falling Back in Love with Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom {{!}} Penguin Random House Canada |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/713624/falling-back-in-love-with-being-human-by-kai-cheng-thom/9780735245938 |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.penguinrandomhouse.ca |language=English}}

Career

= Writing =

Thom's first book, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars, was published by Metonymy Press in 2016.Britni de la Cretaz, [https://www.teenvogue.com/story/author-kai-cheng-thom-on-writing-a-new-kind-of-transgender-memoir "Author Kai Cheng Thom on Writing a New Kind of Transgender Memoir"]. Teen Vogue, April 15, 2017. It was shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction at the 29th Lambda Literary Awards,[http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2017/03/14/m-e-girard-vivek-shraya-among-13-canadians-nominated-for-2017-lambda-literary-awards/ "M.E. Girard, Vivek Shraya among 13 Canadians nominated for 2017 Lambda Literary Awards"]. Quill & Quire, March 14, 2017. and the year after it was published Thom won the 2017 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging writers.[http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/torontos-kai-cheng-thom-wins-ogilvie-prize-for-lgbtq-emerging-writers "Toronto's Kai Cheng Thom wins Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ Emerging Writers"]. National Post, June 5, 2017. The Dayne Ogilvie jury, consisting of writers Jane Eaton Hamilton, Elio Iannacci and Trish Salah, cited Thom's work as "sheer joyful exuberance, creativity, and talent", calling Fierce Femmes "a delicious and fabulist refashioning of a trans memoir as fiction" and "a genre-breaking refusal of the idea that the only stories trans people have to tell are their autobiographies." In 2019, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars was chosen by Emma Watson for her online feminist book club Our Shared Shelf.{{Cite web|url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/kai-cheng-thoms-fierce-femmes-named-next-title-of-emma-watsons-feminist-bookclub-metonymy-press-prepares-for-the-demand/|title=Kai Cheng Thom's Fierce Femmes named next title of Emma Watson's feminist bookclub; Metonymy Press prepares for the demand|date=March 7, 2019|website=Quill & Quire|access-date=March 6, 2020}}

Thom's debut children's picture book, From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea was published in 2017 by Arsenal Pulp Press.Charis Cotter, [https://quillandquire.com/review/from-the-stars-in-the-sky-to-the-fish-in-the-sea/ "From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea"]. Quill & Quire, November 2017. In 2020, From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea was selected by Julie Andrews for inclusion in her Julie's Library podcast.Ryan Porter, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/julie-andrews-chooses-canadian-author-kai-cheng-thoms-book-for-storytelling-podcast/ "Julie Andrews chooses Canadian author Kai Cheng Thom's book for storytelling podcast"]. Quill & Quire, May 14, 2020.

In 2018, Arsenal Pulp Press published Thom's debut poetry collection a place called No Homeland. The book was an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book in 2018,{{Cite web|url=https://quillandquire.com/awards/2018/02/15/canadians-casey-plett-kai-cheng-thom-honoured-by-stonewall-literature-awards/|title=Canadians Casey Plett, Kai Cheng Thom honoured by Stonewall Literature Awards|author=Dory Cerny|website=Quill & Quire|date=February 15, 2018|access-date=May 22, 2020}} and was a shortlisted finalist for the Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature.[https://quillandquire.com/omni/catherine-hernandez-kai-cheng-thom-up-for-triangle-awards/ "Catherine Hernandez, Kai Cheng Thom up for Triangle Awards"]. Quill & Quire, March 12, 2018. Room Magazine called the book a "vulnerable, shimmering debut."{{Cite web|author=Adèle Barclay|url=https://roommagazine.com/reviews/place-called-no-homeland|title=a place called No Homeland|website=Room|access-date=March 6, 2020|archive-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718074332/http://roommagazine.com/reviews/place-called-no-homeland|url-status=dead}} Further in the Room Magazine review, the reviewer Adele Barclay writes "Many of Thom's poems deploy this bold, storytelling voice, foregrounding the wisdom of what is said, experienced, lived, rumoured, and gossiped in lieu of traditional history with its myopia of normativity. a place called No Homeland consistently examines the collisions that marginalized identities encounter. And through this, Thom finds, 'there is a poem waiting deep below.'" One of the poems in a place called No Homeland, "we did not ask for", is featured in Vancouver is Awesome's Poetic License series.

In 2019, Thom published her non-fiction debut, I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World. It was a 2020 American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book, and won the Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature.Samraweet Yohannes, [https://www.cbc.ca/books/t%C3%A9a-mutonji-and-kai-cheng-thom-among-winners-of-2020-publishing-triangle-awards-for-lgbtq-literature-1.5552236 "Téa Mutonji and Kai Cheng Thom among winners of 2020 Publishing Triangle Awards for LGBTQ literature"]. CBC Books, May 1, 2020.

In 2023 Penguin Random House Canada published Thom's most recent book, Falling Back in Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls.{{Cite web |title=Falling Back in Love with Being Human by Kai Cheng Thom {{!}} Penguin Random House Canada |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/713624/falling-back-in-love-with-being-human-by-kai-cheng-thom/9780735245938 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=www.penguinrandomhouse.ca |language=English}} The book was shortlisted for a Pat Lowther Memorial Award in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Drudi |first=Cassandra |date=April 17, 2024 |title=Shortlists announced for 2024 LCP Book Awards |url=https://quillandquire.com/omni/shortlists-announced-for-2024-lcp-book-awards/ |access-date=October 22, 2024 |website=Quill & Quire}} Shondaland writer Sarah Neilson describes the book as “a collection of lyrical love poems dedicated to runaways, liars, compulsive caregivers, and even J.K. Rowling.” Neilson adds, “The book also includes interludes where [Thom] offers a prompt for self-reflection or a ritual.”

Currently, Thom writes a column called Dangerous Space for Xtra Magazine,{{Cite web |title=Dangerous Space {{!}} Xtra Magazine |url=https://xtramagazine.com/series/dangerous-space |access-date=2024-10-23 |language=en-CA}} where she explores current "hot-button" issues related to the LGBTQ community. Prior to Dangerous Space, Thom wrote a column for Xtra called Ask Kai: Advice for the Apocalypse, which ran from 2019 until 2023.{{Cite web |title=Ask Kai: Advice for the Apocalypse {{!}} Xtra Magazine |url=https://xtramagazine.com/series/ask-kai-advice-for-the-apocalypse/page/7 |access-date=2024-10-23 |language=en-CA}}

Thom has written for Everyday Feminism,{{Cite web |last=Thom |first=Kai Cheng |date=2015-07-26 |title=This Trans Woman Never Felt 'Born In the Wrong Body' – And Here's Why That's So Beautiful |url=https://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/not-born-in-the-wrong-body/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Everyday Feminism |language=en-US}} BuzzFeed,{{Cite web |last=Thom |first=Kai Cheng |date=2016-04-17 |title=How Trans Women Are Reclaiming Their Orgasms |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/kaichengthom/the-search-for-trans-womens-orgasms |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=BuzzFeed |language=en}} Autostraddle,{{Cite web |title=Kai Cheng |url=https://www.autostraddle.com/author/kaicheng/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Autostraddle |language=en-US}} Asian American Literary Review, Guts Magazine,{{Cite web |last=Thom |first=Kai Cheng |date=2018-07-13 |title=Kai Cheng Thom - GUTS |url=https://gutsmagazine.ca/contributor/kai-cheng-thom/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=gutsmagazine.ca |language=en-US}} Plenitude,{{Cite web |title=your white cisgender boyfriend can't save you from the end of the world – Plenitude Magazine |url=https://plenitudemagazine.ca/your-white-cisgender-boyfriend-cant-save-you-from-the-end-of-the-world/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=plenitudemagazine.ca}} and xoJane.

In addition to her formally-published writing, Thom freely shares her experience and education via infographics, poetry, and long-form writing on her social media (X, Substack, Instagram).

== Monsters ==

In addition to Monster Academy, weaved through Thom's past and current work and interviews exists the theme of monsters. In Falling Back in Love With Being Human, for example, Thom dedicates the book to "all the monsters still waiting to be loved".{{Cite web |last=La Mackerel |first=Kama |date=2024-02-01 |title=Falling Back in Love with Being Human |url=https://herizons.ca/archives/cover/falling-back-in-love-with-being-human |access-date=2024-10-23 |language=en-CA}} In one of the letters to "The Ones Whose Bodies Shall Shake the Heavens", Thom writes "Dear trans women, the only way to live as a being cast as irrevocably monstrous is to embrace a monster's power, the power to inspire awe, horror, unbidden desire. A monster is a creature made of the truth no one else dares to speak. A monster is a being beyond fear."{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2023 |title=The world can be painful. But love is possible, too |url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1197954391 |access-date=October 22, 2024 |website=NPR}} Thom is also quoted saying, " I love monsters because they represent the hungriest, most hidden parts of ourselves that we most often confine to exile. If I can love a monster, if someone can love the monster in me, then anyone is capable of loving and being loved."

= Social Work =

Thom worked in the public sector in Toronto as a mental health clinician for transgender youth and families for four years.{{Cite web |first= |date=April 6, 2021 |title=Transforming Social Work Speaker Series |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/socialwork/channels/event/transforming-social-work-speaker-series-329929 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=McGill School of Social Work |language=en}} During this time, Thom co-founded Monster Academy: Mental Health Skills for Montreal Youth, a program that provided resources and workshops to youth aged 16–25.{{Cite web |title=November 22: Monstrous Love with Kai Cheng Thom – Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre |url=https://www.svpscentre.utoronto.ca/2022/10/27/november-22-monstrous-love-with-kai-cheng-thom/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2014-06-20 |title=Monster Mission |url=https://monsteracademymtl.wordpress.com/about/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=MONSTER ACADEMY |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2021-03-29 |title=RESOURCES |url=https://headandhands.ca/resources/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=À Deux Mains / Head & Hands |language=en-US}}

Thom contributed to a peer-reviewed paper in Transgender Health titled Guidance and Ethical Considerations for Undertaking Transgender Health Research and Institutional Review Boards Adjudicating this Research,{{Cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Noah |last2=Pearce |first2=Ruth |last3=Veale |first3=Jaimie |last4=Radix |first4=Asa |last5=Castro |first5=Danielle |last6=Sarkar |first6=Amrita |last7=Thom |first7=Kai Cheng |date=December 2017 |title=Guidance and Ethical Considerations for Undertaking Transgender Health Research and Institutional Review Boards Adjudicating this Research |journal=Transgender Health |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=165–175 |doi=10.1089/trgh.2017.0012 |issn=2380-193X |pmc=5665092 |pmid=29098202}} a set of guidelines developed with the purpose of "creat[ing] a set of provisional criteria for Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) to refer to when assessing the ethical orientation of transgender health research proposals".

= Loving Justice Framework =

Kai Cheng Thom created the Loving Justice Framework, "a trauma-informed model of conflict resolution rooted in Transformative Justice and prison abolition" In partnership with Project NIA, Thom helped to create an Abolitionist Toolbox{{Cite web |title=Loving Justice — Abolitionist Toolbox |url=https://abolitionist.tools/Loving-Justice#:~:text=Kai%20Cheng%20Thom's%20Loving%20Justice,for%20participants%20to%20take%20home. |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=abolitionist.tools |language=en}} featuring abolition-focused graphic designs called Radical Roadmaps.{{Cite web |title=RADICAL ROADMAPS |url=https://www.radicalroadmaps.com/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=RADICAL ROADMAPS |language=en-US}}

Education and Background

Thom has a Master of Social Work and a Master of Science (Applied) in Couples and Family Therapy, both from McGill School of Social Work. Thom is a certified Somatic Sex Educator and works as an adjunct faculty member at the Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education.{{Cite web |title=Our Faculty - Somatic Sex Educator |url=https://somaticsexeducator.com/faculty/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Institute for the study of Somatic Sex Education |language=en-US}}

Thom grew up in Vancouver but her parents roots are in the Guangdong province of China. She speaks Cantonese.{{Cite web |date=2017-05-24 |title=Q&A: Kai Cheng Thom, author of a place called No Homeland {{!}} Ricepaper Magazine |url=https://ricepapermagazine.ca/2017/05/qa-kai-cheng-thom-author-of-a-place-called-no-homeland/ |access-date=2024-10-23 |language=en-US}}