Ruby Smith Diaz on how one picture inspired art and a book that is an inquiry into ourselves

ABOUT THIS EPISODE:
On this episode of Writing the Coast, Ruby Smith Diaz talks about her book Searching for Serafim: The Life and Legacy of Serafim “Joe” Fortes. Searching for Serafim was a finalist for the 2026 Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, and the 2026 Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. It is also a finalist for the 2026 Vancouver Book Award. In her conversation with host Megan Cole, Ruby talks about how the book allowed her to examine questions of home while grappling with displacement. She also talks about the ways that colonialism manifests in research and archives.
For more about Searching for Serafim: https://bcyukonbookprizes.com/project/searching-for-serafim/
To view the 2026 BC and Yukon Book Prizes shortlists: bcyukonbookprizes.com/winners-finalists/#2026
ABOUT RUBY SMITH DIAZ:
Ruby Smith Diaz is an Afro Latina multidisciplinary artist, educator, and award-winning body-positive personal trainer. Her experiences growing up in a migrant, poor, single-parent family in amiskwaciy (Edmonton, AB) have inspired her to dedicate her life’s work to exploring and addressing issues of equity and social justice. Ruby currently resides on the unceded territories of the Stz’uminus peoples (Ladysmith, BC).
ABOUT MEGAN COLE:
Megan Cole is the Executive Director for the BC and Yukon Book Prizes. She is also a writer based on the territory of the Tla'amin Nation. Megan writes creative nonfiction and has had essays published in Chatelaine, This Magazine, The Puritan, Untethered, and more. She has her MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King's College and is working her first book. Find out more about Megan at megancolewriter.com
ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Writing the Coast is recorded and produced on the traditional territory of the Tla'amin Nation. As a settler on these lands, Megan Cole finds opportunities to learn and listen to the stories from those whose land was stolen.
Writing the Coast is a recorded series of conversations, readings, and insights into the work of the writers, illustrators, and creators whose books are nominated for the annual BC and Yukon Book Prizes. We'll also check in on people in the writing community who are supporting books, writers and readers every day. The podcast is produced and hosted by Megan Cole.