How does Vivek Shraya maintain the dizzying pace of her artistic output? “I pay attention to the things that nag me,” she says.
These could be life events, childhood memories, news stories – any one of which might be the inspiration for a song, novel, TV show, film, poem or podcast.
“I keep notes in my notepad app,” she says. “I make bullet lists. Not everything turns into something, but at some point an idea from seven years ago might find the right time and avenue to express itself.”
The breadth of her creative talents has made Shraya one of Canada’s most prolific artists, and an inspired choice as the 2024–25 Artist-in-Residence at the Queer & Trans Research Lab (QTRL) at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies.
Shraya started writing songs at 13 in her hometown of Edmonton, an experience depicted in the play and CBC Gem comedy series How to Fail as a Popstar. Her career has since seen multiple high points, including three Canadian Screen Award wins and a Polaris Prize nomination — not to mention having Vanity Fair describe her book I’m Afraid of Men as “cultural rocket fuel.”
Now at QTRL, she’s returned to her musical roots. While in residence there, artists traditionally work on a particular project; Shraya’s own project changed midway through the year.
Initially, she wanted to revisit her graphic novel Death Threat, based on actual hate mail that she began to receive from a stranger in 2017.
“With everything happening in the world around trans people and trans rights, I started to wonder about the possibility of turning it into a zany, funny musical,” she says. “The idea was to bring more visibility to the kind of hatred that trans people face, but also turn it on its head. And then Trump got elected, and I found myself not wanting to go there — I said, if people want to know how trans people are being treated, you don’t have to look very far. So I pivoted to this collection of new songs.”
The result is her 11th studio album, entitled New Models. Shraya previewed the collection, scheduled for release in October at Hart House on June 6.
“It's definitely inspired by the last four years,” she says. “And I think the biggest thing for me is that I found myself struggling with language. How do you write about all of the wild things that we’ve just gone through? I’d say the album is very experimental, which is new for me.”
Last fall, Shraya also gave a talk at University College during Trans Awareness Week. In it, she addressed the concept of trans joy.
“I have a complicated response to this,” she says. “Because trans lives are under attack, our rights are being stripped. What are non-trans people doing to make the world a more joyful place for trans people? That’s what I would love for the conversation to be.
“At the same time, joy on its own is something that I have thought a lot about in my own art practice, as someone who tends to be drawn to the wound, so to speak. In the last five years, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to bring more joy into my creativity. So I have complicated feelings about trans joy, but I also think about joy as a place to work from.”
Shraya’s career straddles the line between niche, do-it-yourself projects, and those that could benefit from support of larger institutions.
On the one hand, she’s taught English at the University of Calgary, worked extensively with the CBC and was recently appointed senior editor at Penguin Random House Canada. On the other, she crafts her own independent films and photo essays, and managed a small-press imprint for several years, designed to promote the work of writers of colour.
“There are certainly benefits to working with institutions, especially around funding,” she says. “But as I move into my mid-career I’m asking myself, which are the projects where collaborating with an institution make sense, and which are the projects that feel a little bit more DIY, where I don’t want to have to submit to an institution’s rules or desires around a project?”
One institution she’s enjoyed working with this year is the Queer & Trans Research Lab.
“It’s been so amazing to be in a room full of people who are doing incredible research and working to try to make the world a better place for queer and trans people,” she says. “For me, QTRL represents one of those pockets where I think a lot of good work happens.”
This wide variety of work partnerships attests to Shraya’s constant desire to reinvent herself.
“Perhaps a drawback is that I don’t do the same thing over and over again, since that’s often what makes an artist popular,” she says.
“But I’m drawn to changing things up as much as I can. As an artist I love this idea of reinvention: I find it so inspiring and exciting. How many people can you be in one lifetime?”