A collaborative, multi-faceted book by two extraordinary Black artists about finding beauty in the chaos

Roger Mooking is a Trinidadian-born, Canadian-raised talent who creates immersive experiences in the arts, and francesca ekwuyasi is a writer whose debut novel, Butter Honey Pig Bread, has received wide acclaim. These two artists come together in Curious Sounds, a book of art, stories, and conversations illuminating their search for solace and perspective.

A dialogue between two artists across various mediums, Curious Sounds uses Mooking's most recent album, SoundBites, as scaffolding for the artists' conversations on creativity, Blackness, family, grief, and more. Composed of ekwuyasi's essays reflecting on artmaking, storytelling, and creative expression and Mooking's multimedia visual art, micro stories, music, and lyrics, this book is a collage of ideas about making meaning through life's rhythms.

Arranged in three parts, which mirror the arc of a life - the Learning, the Living, and the Leaving - Curious Sounds is an interactive collection of fleeting moments and visuals that explore the beauty in chaos.

Roger Mooking has earned a reputation as one of Canada’s premier chefs by developing a philosophy built on the perfect execution of globally inspired culinary traditions. As a third-generation restaurateur and chef he began his formal training in the George Brown Culinary Management Program, where he earned Top Student Honours diploma and is now the chair of the Professional Advisory Committee. Roger continued his training at Epic Dining Room in Toronto’s world-renowned Royal York Hotel, before co-owning and consulting on many food and beverage operations. He is the host and co-creator of his own internationally broadcast television series, Everyday Exotic. He is also the co-host of Heat Seekers, on the Food Network. He is also the recording artist and creator of Soul Food, a unique food and music project released by Warner Music. For Roger, music and the epicurean world are seamless. One feeds the body, the other the soul, it is all food in all its various forms.

Roger Mooking's profile page

francesca ekwuyasi is a writer, artist, and filmmaker born in Lagos, Nigeria. Her work explores themes of faith, family, queerness, consumption, loneliness, and belonging. Her writing has been published in Winter Tangerine Review, Brittle Paper, Transition Magazine, the Malahat Review, Visual Art News, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, and GUTS magazine. Her story "Orun is Heaven" was longlisted for the 2019 Journey Prize. Butter Honey Pig Bread, is her first novel; it won the Writers' Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers; was shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, and a Lambda Literary Award, and was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 2021, Butter Honey Pig Bread was named runner-up in CBC's Canada Reads competition.

francesca ekwuyasi's profile page

The unorthodox structure is part of the appeal of Curious Sounds - there's a sense of a mind spilled onto the page, with sharp insights scattered throughout. The results are both odd and enchanting. -Publishers Weekly

I love how my imagination is lit up when I read these stories. It's as though I have been beamed into a universe that is unscathed by the reality we are living in now. Imagination inspires nations. I am inspired. I am in spirit. -Jully Black, award-winning singer/songwriter, artist, and activist

This project symbolizes the journey of life over infectious melodies, poignant lyrics, and dope beats and shows how captivating Roger is as a storyteller. Really dope. -Maestro Fresh Wes, rap artist, actor, and author of Stick to Your Vision: How to Get Past the Hurdles & Haters to Get Where You Want to Be

It is refreshing to see work that encapsulates a Black perspective without having to force Blackness to the centre of the work. Creative, experimental, innovative, and well thought out. -Kareem-Anthony Ferreira, visual artist