Posted on May 5, 2023
We are excited to announce that two Fiddlehead contributors have been nominated for National Magazine Awards! Izza Hassan's poem "Neighborhood Haunt & Hamsas Around My Neck" which appeared in Issue 290 BIPOC Solidarities has been nominated for poetry and Shirley Harshenin's story "Invisible Walls: A Decentred Hermit Crab Sticky Note Narrative" which appeared in Issue 292 has been nominated for One-of-a-Kind Storytelling. Congratulations to all the nominees of the 2023 National Magazine Awards.
Izza Hassan (she/her) is an emerging Pakistani-Canadian writer living on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg People. Izza has an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing. Her writing explores themes of immigration trauma, colonialism, and belonging. Alongside recent poetry publications in magazines such as Contemporary Verse 2 and The Fiddlehead, she is currently working on her first book –— a project that has been generously funded by the Canada Council for the Arts. Izza’s poem “Jet Lagged” received a notable mention in the Best Canadian Poetry 2021 Anthology.
Shirley Harshenin writes from her home in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. She believes in angels, caffeine, and the human spirit’s extraordinary resilience. Her work has been published in The Fiddlehead, Room, Contrary Magazine, The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Entropy: Woven, Lit Mag Love Anthology I: Blood & Water, Nailed, Crack the Spine, The Nasiona, Young Ravens Literary Journal, FBCW Anthology, and others. She recently completed the 12-week writing program, Spark Your Story Intensive, and is a 2022 National Magazine Awards finalist. Shirley enjoys canoeing, nature walks, collaging, and spending time with her family. For more information visit www.shirleyharshenin.ca.
