Mia Herrera is a writer, registered yoga teacher and certified aromatherapist. She has an honours BA in English Literature, Book and Media Studies and Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto, and a Certificate in Creative Writing from Humber College. She also earned certificates in Adult Education and Human Resource Management. Herrera lives in Bradford, Ontario.
Fiction
Shade
Toronto: Inanna Publications, 2016.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything — the clouds in the winter sky, the “firework” display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.
After her plans for the future are disrupted by an unexpected breakup, Benni, born and raised in northern Ontario, seeks escape from her everyday routine by visiting her father in the Philippines – the fantastical land of ghosts and glamour that her parents described to her as a child. In the Philippines, Benni is captivated by the luxurious lifestyle of the wealthy members of her mother’s family. Canada, in comparison, is a bleak world of work, work, and more work, and Benni cannot understand why her parents ever left. During her visit, Benni finds much more than she bargained for: she discovers a world of poverty that supports the rich and the social restrictions that even the rich experience; she learns to value the honest, human relationships that come from seeking and reconnecting with family; and she comes to understand the importance of the stories we tell ourselves to construct and maintain our identity.
Anthology
Tok. Book 7
Herrera, Mia. “Next Time.” In Tok. Book 7, edited by Helen Walsh. Toronto: Zephyr Press, 2012, 93-100.