Vivek Shraya

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Vivek Shraya

| image = Vivek Shraya.jpg

| image_size =

| landscape =

| caption = Vivek Shraya, 2021

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1981|2|15}}

| birth_place = Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

| genre = Electro, dance, rock

| occupation = Musician, writer, visual artist

| instrument =

| years_active =

| label = Skinsongs

| associated_acts =

| website = {{URL|www.vivekshraya.com}}

}}

Vivek Shraya (born February 15, 1981) is a Canadian musician, writer, and visual artist. She is a seven-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and is considered a Great Canadian Filmmaker of the Future by CBC Arts.{{Cite web |title=About · Vivek Shraya |url=https://vivekshraya.com/about/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=vivekshraya.com |language=en-CA}}{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=17 for '17: These are the great Canadian filmmakers of the future |url=https://www.cbc.ca/arts/thefilmmakers/17-for-17-these-are-the-great-canadian-filmmakers-of-the-future-1.4212952 |access-date=2022-03-13}}

Shraya is dedicated to bringing creative writing opportunities to emerging BIPOC writers through the founding of her award-winning publishing imprint VS. Books, which serves as a "mentorship and publishing opportunity" for these writers.{{Cite web |title=2020 Open Call / VS. Books |url=https://vsbooks.ca/ |access-date=2022-03-13 |website=vsbooks.ca |language=en-CA}}

Shraya is also a director on the board of the Tegan and Sara Foundation, which fights for health, economic justice and representation for LGBTQ women.{{Cite web|url=https://www.teganandsarafoundation.org/about-tsf|title=About TSF|website=Welcome|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-19|archive-date=2019-04-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420204021/https://www.teganandsarafoundation.org/about-tsf|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://vivekshraya.com/about/|title=About • Vivek Shraya|website=vivekshraya.com|language=en-CA|access-date=2019-03-19}}

How to Fail as a Popstar, a web series adapted from her stage play and book of the same name, premiered in 2023 on CBC Gem.Hina Imam, [https://xtramagazine.com/culture/tv-film/vivek-shraya-fail-popstar-tv-258126 "‘How to Fail as a Popstar’ asks us to make space for failure"]. Xtra!, October 13, 2023.

Career

=Music=

Shraya began writing songs at the age of 13 and released her first album, THROAT, in 2002. Since then, she has released a dozen solo albums in a range of genres, including If We're Not Talking (2007), Keys & Machines (2009) and 1:1 (2011). Shraya has also created two albums, Bronze (2015) and Angry (2018), with her band, Too Attached, which she and her brother, Shamik Bilgi, formed in 2015. She has toured extensively in North America, both as a solo artist and with Too Attached, sharing the stage with Tegan and Sara,[http://www.seemagazine.com/Issues/2006/0824/mus6.htm "Vive Le Shraya"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213105430/http://www.seemagazine.com/Issues/2006/0824/mus6.htm |date=2007-02-13 }}. SEE Magazine, August 24, 2006. Dragonette, Melanie C, Team Dresch, Melissa Ferrick, Brian Byrne, Greg MacPherson and Bonjay.[https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/bonjay-too-attached-diversity-tour/ "Bonjay and Too Attached on the limits of 'diversity'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718001522/https://nowtoronto.com/music/features/bonjay-too-attached-diversity-tour/ |date=2018-07-18 }}. Now, May 23, 2018.

Shraya's 2017 album, Part-Time Woman, a collaboration with the Queer Songbook Orchestra, was named one of the 17 best Canadian albums of 2017 by CBC Arts{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbcmusic.ca/posts/19346/the-best-canadian-albums-of-2017|title=The 17 best Canadian albums of 2017|work=CBC Music|access-date=2018-07-25}} and longlisted for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize.{{Cite news|url=https://polarismusicprize.ca/2018-long-list/|title=2018 Long List - Polaris Music Prize|work=Polaris Music Prize|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180625094137/https://polarismusicprize.ca/2018-long-list/|url-status=dead}}

=Writing=

In 2010, Shraya published her first book, God Loves Hair,[http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Vivek_Shraya_launches_his_first_collection_of_short_stories-8597.aspx "Vivek Shraya launches his first collection of short stories"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120924105822/http://www.xtra.ca/public/National/Vivek_Shraya_launches_his_first_collection_of_short_stories-8597.aspx |date=2012-09-24 }}. Xtra!, May 5, 2010. an illustrated collection of 21 linked short stories about a brown, genderqueer child growing up in immigrant family in Alberta. God Loves Hair was nominated for a 2011 Lambda Literary Award in the Children's/Young Adult category. Shraya's second book, She of the Mountains, a lyrical novel consisting of two intertwined love stories, was named one of The Globe and Mail{{'}}s Best 100 Books of 2014,{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-best-100-books-of-the-year/article21696730/|title=The Globe 100: The best books of 2014|work=The Globe and Mail|access-date=2017-03-01|language=en-ca}} and nominated for a 2015 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction.{{Cite web|last=Gentes|first=Brian|date=2021-03-15|title=2021 Lambda Literary Award Finalists Announced|url=https://lambdaliterary.org/2021/03/2021-lambda-literary-award-finalists/|access-date=2022-01-12|website=Lambda Literary|language=en}} Shraya was awarded the Honour of Distinction at the 2015 Dayne Ogilvie Awards.[http://www.quillandquire.com/awards/2015/06/08/alex-leslie-wins-2015-dayne-ogilvie-prize-for-lgbt-emerging-writers/ "Alex Leslie wins 2015 Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBT Emerging Writers"]. Quill & Quire, June 8, 2015.

In 2016, Shraya released her debut poetry collection, even this page is white, an incisive exploration of the effects of everyday racism and colonialism in Canada[http://prismmagazine.ca/2016/05/11/learning-to-be-comfortable-with-being-uncomfortable-a-review-of-vivek-shrayas-even-this-page-is-white/ "Review: Vivek Shraya's even this page is white"]. that won a 2017 Publishing Triangle award{{Cite news|url=https://quillandquire.com/awards/2017/04/28/vivek-shraya-wins-publishing-triangle-award/|title=Vivek Shraya wins Publishing Triangle Award {{!}} Quill and Quire|date=2017-04-28|work=Quill and Quire|access-date=2018-07-25}} and was longlisted for CBC's Canada Reads.{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/cbc-canada-reads-2017-announces-longlist-including-katherena-vermette-vivek-shraya-andre-alexis |title=CBC Canada Reads 2017 announces longlist, including Katherena Vermette, Vivek Shraya, André Alexis |first=Paul |last=Taunton |website=National Post |date=Dec 19, 2016 |access-date=Feb 2, 2017}} The Boy & The Bindi, a children's picture book about a young boy's fascination with the dot on his mother's forehead, was also published in 2016. Shraya's first non-fiction book, I’m Afraid of Men, was released in August 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2017/10/24/vivek-shrayas-new-book-im-afraid-of-men-set-for-fall-2018.html|title=Vivek Shraya's new book I'm Afraid of Men set for fall 2018 {{!}} The Star|work=thestar.com|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en}}

In 2017, Shraya partnered with Arsenal Pulp Press to create an imprint, VS. Books.{{Cite web|url=https://brokenpencil.com/news/vivek-shraya-gives-writers-a-path-through-barriers-with-vs-books/|title=Vivek Shraya gives writers a path through barriers with VS. Books – Broken Pencil Magazine|website=brokenpencil.com|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-25}} Through VS. Books, Shraya supports young writers of colour by providing mentorship through the writing and editing processes and publishing a book by a different emerging artist every year. The first VS. title, Téa Mutonji's short story collection Shut Up You're Pretty, was published in 2019.Sue Carter, [https://quillandquire.com/omni/tea-mutonji-selected-as-first-writer-under-vivek-shrayas-vs-imprint-with-arsenal-pulp/ "Téa Mutonji selected as first writer under Vivek Shraya’s VS. imprint with Arsenal Pulp"]. Quill & Quire, December 11, 2017.

Shraya's first graphic non-fiction work Death Threat was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2019.{{Cite book|url=https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/D/Death-Threat|title=Death Threat}} Ness Lee did the visual art for the book.

Shraya's second novel The Subtweet was published on April 7, 2020 by ECW Press.{{Cite book|last=Shraya|first=Vivek|title=The subtweet: a novel|date=7 April 2020|publisher=ECW Press |isbn=978-1-77041-583-6|oclc=1121630522}} The book is focused on an intense friendship between two women of colour musicians.

Quill & Quire reviewed The Subtweet in March 2020, concluding that "While it wrestles with the political realities of working in the arts and navigating social media, The Subtweet also elucidates certain social-justice modes of thought. Shraya’s narrative pushes back against the ways mainstream and pop-culture formulations of social justice are used to further agendas misaligned with principles of equity. It critiques the ways in which social-justice rhetoric can be wielded as a weapon for the purpose of self-aggrandizement or the pursuit of personal vendettas. The Subtweet attempts to nudge the reader toward a more critical perspective and to encourage the reader to be more skeptical of what comes out of the mouths of public figures, especially when money and politics are involved."{{Cite web|url=https://quillandquire.com/review/the-subtweet/|title=The Subtweet|date=2020-03-05|website=Quill and Quire|access-date=2020-03-06}}

Shraya's 2022 book People Change was published by Penguin Random House and was included in CBC Books list of "26 Canadian Books to Read for Pride Month".{{Cite web |date=June 7, 2022 |title=26 Canadian books to read for Pride Month |url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/26-canadian-books-to-read-for-pride-month-1.6479109 |access-date=June 8, 2022 |website=CBC News}}

=Media and visual arts=

Shraya has created five short films that have screened at festivals across Canada and internationally.{{Cite news|url=http://www.nightlife.ca/2012/10/25/toronto-artist-vivek-shraya-asks-important-question-what-i-love-about-being-queer|title=Toronto artist Vivek Shraya asks an important question in 'What I Love About Being Queer'|work=Nightlife.ca|access-date=2018-07-25}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.outeastfilm.com/2018-films-events/2017/6/17/screening-canadian-shorts|title=Screening: Canadian Shorts|website=OUTeast Film Festival|language=en-US|access-date=2018-07-25|archive-date=2018-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726005553/http://www.outeastfilm.com/2018-films-events/2017/6/17/screening-canadian-shorts|url-status=dead}} In 2016, she released a photo series, Trisha, featuring old photos of her mother displayed alongside contemporary re-creations of the images with Shraya herself as the subject.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/vivek-photo-mother-1.3561029|title=Why this trans artist is recreating photos of her mother {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|url=https://canadianart.ca/features/vivek-shraya-on-becoming-my-mother/|title=On Becoming My Mother|work=Canadian Art|access-date=2018-07-25|language=en-US}} This project has been shown in galleries across North America{{Cite news|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/06/19/vivek-shrayas-trisha-blurs-the-past-and-the-present/|title=Vivek Shraya's "Trisha" Blurs the Past and the Present|access-date=2018-07-25}} and a digital version of Trisha has circulated internationally.

Before coming out as trans on February 15, 2016, Shraya made the film, Seeking Single White Male on August 1, 2010. This film depicts a set of pictures of Shraya increasingly altering her features to those more associated with a Caucasian person. The images depict the bleaching of her brown hair to blonde in addition to the constant use of blue eye contacts over her brown eyes.{{Cite web|last=Shraya|first=Vivek|date=1 August 2010|title=Films|url=https://vivekshraya.com/projects/films/|website=Vivek Shraya}} In a post on her website just over two years after the original post, Shraya shares that the purpose behind the film was “to show how the internalization of racism can manifest externally.”{{Cite web|last=Shraya|first=Vivek|date=7 August 2012 |title=Seeking Single White Male: Two Years Later and An Open Letter |url=https://vivekshraya.com/writing/essays/seeking-single-white-male-two-years-later/|website=Vivek Shraya}} An analysis of Seeking Single White Male completed in June 2019 reveals that “The comments incorporated into this video clearly address the existence of racialized conceptions of desirability within the gay community in Ontario, Canada.”{{Cite web|last1=Liu|first1=Yilong|last2=Park|first2=Soyang|date=June 2019|title=Confronting Ambiguity: Reading the Intersection of Racial and Sexual Marginalization in Rex Vs Singh and Seeking Single White Male|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2331236046|website=ProQuest|id={{ProQuest|2331236046}}}} Prior to 2010, Shraya altered her appearance to appear more Caucasian in response to the “racialized conceptions of desirability” in the Edmonton gay bars that she frequented. Seeking Single White Male has been shown in multiple screenings including the Vancouver Queer Film Festival in 2011 and the Reel Asian International Film Festival in Toronto, ON in 2012.{{Cite web|last=Shraya|first=Vivek|date=1 August 2010|title=Seeking Single White Male|url=https://vivekshraya.com/projects/films/seeking-single-white-male/|website=Vivek Shraya}}

Shraya's first theatrical work debuted on February 18, 2020. The work is called How to Fail as a Popstar, chronicling "her journey to 'not quite' pop music superstardom. A reflection on the power of pop culture, dreams, disappointments and self-determination, this astonishing performance is a triumph in finding one’s authentic voice."{{Cite web|url=https://vivekshraya.com/projects/theatre/how-to-fail-as-a-popstar/|title=How to Fail as a Popstar · Vivek Shraya|website=vivekshraya.com|date=18 February 2020 |language=en-CA|access-date=2020-03-06}} The play includes original songs written and performed by Shraya.

In 2020, Shraya partnered with Pantene on their global Hair Has No Gender Project, highlighting the importance of hair in a trans or gender non-binary person's identity and transition. The campaign's film included a conversation about self-expression and familial support between Shraya and her father, Mohan Bilgi.{{Cite web |first=Sarah |last=Daniel |date=2020-11-24 |title=Meet Pantene's new Canadian ambassador, Vivek Shraya |url=https://fashionmagazine.com/sponsored-content/pantene-campaign-vivek-shraya/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |website=Fashion Magazine |language=en}}

Shraya has also composed music for the television series Sort Of. Alongside Emily Persich, Moël, Terrell Morris, Shan Vincent de Paul and Ceréna, she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Music in a Comedy Series at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023.Connie Thiessen, [https://broadcastdialogue.com/2023-canadian-screen-awards-comedic-dramatic-arts/ "2023 Canadian Screen Awards: Comedic & Dramatic Arts"]. Broadcast Dialogue, April 14, 2023.

Personal life

Vivek Shraya identifies as bisexual. On February 15, 2016, Shraya also came out as transgender{{Cite news|url=https://www.autostraddle.com/girl-its-your-time-trans-artist-vivek-shraya-on-finding-freedom-and-wholeness-336300/|title=Girl, It's Your Time: Trans Artist Vivek Shraya On Finding Freedom and Wholeness|date=2016-05-19|work=Autostraddle|access-date=2017-03-01|language=en-US}} and announced via her Facebook account that she is now using she/her pronouns.