Finalist, 2023 Trillium Book Award
Finalist, Writers Union of Canada 2023 Daunta Gleed Literary Award
Finalist, 2023 ReLit Award for Short Fiction

Twelve exquisitely written stories depicting the search for human connection and the attempt to fit in far from home.

All the Shining People explores migration, diaspora, and belonging within Toronto’s Jewish South African community, as individuals come to terms with the oppressive hierarchies that separate, and the connections that bind. Seeking a place to belong, the book’s characters — including a life-drawing model searching the streets for her lover; a woman confronting secrets from her past in the new South Africa; and a man grappling with the legacy of his father, a former political prisoner — crave authentic relationships that replicate the lost feeling of home. With its focus on family, culture, and identity, All the Shining People captures the experiences of immigrants and outsiders with honesty, subtlety, and deep sympathy.

KATHY FRIEDMAN emigrated with her family from South Africa to the suburbs of Toronto when she was five. She studied creative writing at the University of British Columbia and the University of Guelph, and was a finalist for the Writers’ Trust Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Grain, Geist, PRISM international, Canadian Notes & Queries, and the New Quarterly. She teaches creative writing at the University of Guelph and is the co-founder and artistic director of InkWell Workshops. Kathy Friedman lives in Toronto.

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Twitter: @kathyfriedman7

Instagram: @kathylfriedman

Kathy Friedman's profile page

• Short-listed, ReLit Award for Short Fiction
• Short-listed, Ontario Trillium Award
• Short-listed, Writers' Union of Canada Danuta Gleed Literary Award

A cubist collage in transition which captures the dynamics of contemporary Jewish Diaspora … Betwixt and between, neither here nor there, Friedman’s characters shine through Kafka’s shadows, liminal migration, and the contrapposti of linked short stories.

Miramichi Reader

Kathy Friedman takes a stirring, up-close look at where our many identities intersect in this short-story collection … Deeply moving.

Apple Books

In a dozen loosely connected short stories, [Kathy Friedman] weaves a colourful and rich tapestry of the community — and does so masterfully … While the individual tales shine on their own, each is enriched by the ones that follow, forming a beautiful constellation of work.

Canadian Jewish News