Koffler Centre of the Arts

Our Fall 2020 Books & Ideas season begins with online conversations with the writers of Penguin Teen Canada’s Pocket Change Collective, a series of small books with big ideas by today's leading youth activists and artists.

In Concrete Kids, musician, playwright, and educator Amyra León takes us on a poetic journey through her childhood in Harlem, as she navigates the intricacies of foster care, mourning, self-love, and resilience. Using free verse, she challenges us to dream beyond our circumstances -- and sometimes despite them.

In Taking on the Plastics Crisis, youth activist Hannah Testa, the founder of Hannah4Change, chronicles both her personal and political mission to save the Earth's oceans by limiting single-use plastic products.

In conversation with writer, cultural critic, and scholar, Huda Hassan.

Watch the talk on YouTube:

Listen to the talk on SoundCloud:

Koffler Centre of the Arts · Pocket Change Collective 3: Amyra León & Hannah Testa with Huda Hassan

The conversation has been transcribed for accessibility purposes. Please click here to view.

Amyra León is an author, musician, playwright, and activist. Her work transcends genre and medium, and focuses on Black liberation, politics, and communal healing. She believes that the art of listening and honest conversation are the primary tools for lasting change, and her aim is to empower communities to believe in the significance of their individual stories.

Hannah Testa is a sustainability advocate, international speaker, author, politico, and founder of Hannah4Change, a non-profit dedicated to fighting issues that impact the planet. Hannah has received numerous honors and awards, including the Teen Earth Day Hero by CNN, the Young Superhero for Earth Award by Captain Planet, the Action for Nature International Young Eco-Hero Award, the Gloria Barron Prize, and many others.

Huda Hassan is a writer, cultural critic, and scholar from Toronto’s east end. Exploring the connections between culture, politics, and power, her writing has appeared in Hazlitt, Quill and Quire, Fader, BuzzFeed, Gawker, and more. She is a Black feminist interdisciplinary scholar and is currently completing her Ph.D. at the University of Toronto’s Women and Gender Studies Institute, where she is also the 2020-2021 New College Senior Doctoral Fellow. In 2017, Huda was highlighted as 100 incredible millennial women in Canada by FLARE Magazine.

The Koffler is thrilled to present virtual conversations with all six Pocket Change Collective contributors: Adam Eli & Alok Vaid-Menon (September 29), Kimberly Drew & Xiuhtezcatl Martinez (October 6), and Amyra León & Hannah Testa (October 21).

The Pocket Change Collective series is presented with Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers. Thanks to event bookseller, Another Story Bookshop.

Books & Ideas: Fall 2020 Series
Our year-round Books & Ideas series spotlights provocative writers, novelists and thinkers, celebrating literary excellence and fostering critical dialogue through compelling book launches, author talks and in-depth interviews. This fall, in conjunction with programming across the Koffler's multidisciplinary art streams, Books & Ideas takes up themes of youth activism, food culture and politics, and environmentalism, presenting a series of virtual events on our online platform.

Books & Ideas was launched with the generous support of Dorothy Shoichet & Family and the Estate of Joseph Koenig.

Books & Ideas Media Partner:

Images at top: Concrete Kids by Amyra León. Illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. | Taking on the Plastics Crisis by Hannah Testa. Illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky.

Amyra León & Hannah Testa with Huda Hassan

Photos