World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Kai Cheng Thom

カイ・チェン・トム

Kai Cheng Thom

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1991-03-12 （Canada (details unknown)）
Nationality
Canada
Languages
English, Cantonese
Residence History
Vancouver (grew up) → Toronto → Montreal

Career

Occupations
writer, performance artist, mental health community worker, youth counsellor, former social worker
Active Years
2016-2024
Affiliations
Xtra Magazine (columnist), Institute for the Study of Somatic Sex Education (adjunct faculty)
Nominations
Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction shortlist 2017, Pat Lowther Memorial Award shortlist 2024

Education

McGill University
School of Social Work / Social Work
Degree: Master of Social Work
Country: Canada
McGill University
School of Social Work / Couples and Family Therapy
Degree: Master of Science (Applied)
Country: Canada

Awards

Dayne Ogilvie Prize
2017
Work: Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars
Category: LGBTQ Emerging Writers
Organization: Writers' Trust of Canada
Result: won
Stonewall Book Award - Honor Book
2018
Work: a place called No Homeland
Organization: American Library Association
Result: honor
Publishing Triangle Award for Trans and Gender-Variant Literature
2020
Work: I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World
Result: won
Stonewall Book Award - Honor Book
2020
Work: I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World
Organization: American Library Association
Result: honor

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir

2016 novel

A genre-breaking trans memoir refashioned as fabulist fiction.

trans identitymonstersfeminism

a place called No Homeland

2017 poetry collection

Poetry exploring collisions of marginalized identities.

no homelandtrans experiencemarginalization

From the Stars in the Sky to the Fish in the Sea

2017 children's picture book

A children's book about gender fluidity.

genderself-acceptance

I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World

2019 essays

Essays on transformative justice.

transformative justicetrans justice

Falling Back in Love With Being Human: Letters to Lost Souls

2023 lyrical essays/letters

Lyrical love letters to various figures including monsters and trans women.

monsterslovehumanity

Style & Themes

Literary Style
bold storytelling voicejoyful exuberance and creativity
Recurring Motifs
monsterstrans women's powerlove and acceptance

Legacy

A pioneering voice in transgender literature, recipient of multiple prestigious awards, influencing LGBTQ+ discourse.

In Popular Culture

  • Selected by Emma Watson for Our Shared Shelf book club
  • Selected by Julie Andrews for Julie's Library podcast

Quotes

  • 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.
    Source: Apartment613 interview
  • 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.
    Source: Falling Back in Love With Being Human (2023)

Trivia

  • Parents hail from Guangdong province of China
  • Speaks Cantonese
  • Co-founder of Monster Academy
  • Creator of the Loving Justice Framework