Starkie Mak is an artist, illustrator and writer who studied creative writing at the University of Oxford. Mak also studied fine arts and integrated arts at the University of Hong Kong. She moved to Toronto from Hong Kong in 2018.
Fiction (Graphic novel)
Coming to Canada
Winnipeg: At Bay Press, 2021.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
With sensitivity and tenderness, Starkie Mak has captured a tale of the immigrant experience, from the eyes of a child. Masterfully rendered with careful homage paid to the children’s books that have touched the hearts of so many, Mak’s brush strokes and calligraphy evoke the turbulent emotions and difficulties a child must surely experience when having their little world upended, only to have a much larger and foreign world unfold before them.
In a heartbreaking parting, a child says goodbye to her family and is left with her imagination as guide. In search of a new life in a new land, a child retreats into the realm of fantasy. Through the devastating pain of childhood loss emerges the joy of a child’s triumph.
Non-fiction (Graphic novel)
Remembering Taiyaki
Winnipeg: At Bay Press, 2025.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
As a young man, Daisuke enjoys the simple things, spending time with family, taking his little sister to the bakery for caramel pudding, and eating his favourite treat, taiyaki. He meets Sachiko and through acts of kindness, they fall in love. They hold hands and watch fireworks.
However, war is coming. Daisuke and Sachiko are separated during a bombing of their prefecture. They vow to meet at their cherished taiyaki stand. Both are lost in the chaos and destruction. Daisuke is captured and taken as a prisoner of war to the United States. He is stripped of his name and his honour. Unable to return to Japan, he is disgraced by his own government and erased by his own family. Until now. In her singular voice and driven by the need to discover her own lineage and legacy, the author tells a story of family secrets, the ravages of war on children, and the undying love between young hearts.
Based on her own Grandfather’s harrowing tale, Remembering Taiyaki should be considered essential reading for all ages.