BOOK The Town of Nothing

By K.L. Kivi; illustrated by Amber Santos.

The Town of Nothing is an all ages picture book that, through a series of puns on the word “nothing,” explores what wilderness contains versus what towns contain. Look for the grizzly, hidden or not, in each image. This book is a fundraiser for the Jumbo Wild! campaign (www.keepitwild.ca)

Amber Santos, the illustrator, is an artist and teacher in Brazil and Canada. Currently based out of her hometown, Nelson, BC, she has taught via the Oxygen Art Centre, SelfDesign, Slava Doval’s Dance Fusion, in local public schools and at festivals. She has coordinated many community-based mural projects in the West Kootenay area. She is actively delving into her Indigenous heritage (Metís, Saulteaux) while exploring what it means to be a settler (German, French, Italian) in unceded Sinixt territory. She is interested in themes of decolonization, landscape relationship and belonging.

K.L. Kivi is a queer settler of Finno-Ugric (Mulk, Estonian) heritage. They have lived in the unceded Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔxʷ since 1990.  They work as a writer, activist, peasant and publisher. They are the author of eight books and have coordinated numerous collaborative community-based projects. They seek to catalyze awareness and civic involvement in Indigenous resurgence and decolonization.

Paperback, 2015