This book features the voices of women who have experienced the challenge of living in Canadas immigrant communities. Some women were brought to Canada as children, while others immigrated as adults; yet others were born in Canada to immigrant parents. The women chronicle their journey of settlement in Canada through life-writing, poetry, and essays. In all instances, they focused on reaching for a sense of belonging in Canada as they engaged in community building. This required transcending their "immigrantness" to create that new reality. While the end result is gratifying, the journey required adapting to the culture shock, alienation, and loss of identity that are inevitably part of the immigrants experience.

Author Biography

Dr Althea Prince has taught at York University and the University of Toronto. She is also a fiction writer and essayist, and is currently Managing Editor of Canadian Scholars' Press and Women's Press. Dr Susan Silva-Wayne has taught social work at McMaster University, Wilfrid Laurier University, and the University of Wisconsin. She has 30 years of social work practice with women and families in Canada and the United States.