Anna Nobile
She/Her
Anna Nobile is a freelance journalist, writer and editor based in Gibsons, BC where she gratefully lives on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation. She has been published in numerous newspapers, journals and anthologies including The Westender, The Georgia Straight, Loop Magazine, Mamma Mia: Good Italian Girls Talk Back and Here & Now: An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing volumes 1 and 2.
Excerpt from A Black and White Affair
In my family’s solar system, I am Pluto: way out there and not even a real planet. While I live in Vancouver, and most of them live in Toronto, the void between us is more about the way my brand of queer feminist politics is met with polite blank faces. Despite this, I’m officially out to only my mother and my cousin, Matteo.
Once, on a visit to the centre of the universe, this is how it happened:
“I’m in love,” he gushed.
“Yeah?” I said, sensing an opportunity. “Me too.”
“Right on. What’s his name?”
I shook my head. “Her name.”
“Crystal.”
“No, Sandra.”
“She’s Black.”
We looked at each other, puzzled, until the light hit. “What?” we said at the same time.
Two years later, he’s standing in front of the altar looking nervous as Crystal comes up the aisle. I’d been reluctant to fly in for the wedding, but Matteo pleaded. “I’ll feel better knowing you’re here. You know what it’s been like.” So, I’ve come, for him, but I’ve come alone sensing that if a layer of queerness were added to this black and white affair it might just crumble under the tension.