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StARkiE:･✧スターキ☆.•¨•.¸¸♪

@hoshi_koubou

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🤹 #artist🖌
🎀 #Illustrator 🖍️
📖 #writer #文学 #絵本作家 🖋️
Graphic novel: Coming to Canada /Remembering Taiyaki

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On August 4, 2026, Starkie Mak, author and artist of the graphic novel, ‘Remembering Taiyaki’, received an Adult Honour Award for the 2026 VLA Graphic Novel Diversity Award. Mak’s book was published with At Bay Press in June of 2025, and has since accrued generous words of praise and recognition from the CanLit community alike.

The VLA Awards (Virginia Library Association) exist to bring light to librarianship and services, as a means of bolstering literacy and learning in Virginia.

The Graphic Novel Diversity Award was erected to recognise literary excellence that features eclectic characters, themes, and narratives. In crafting further visibility, these books are highlighted to honour the embodiment of diversity in literature.

Here is what the VLA had to say about ‘Remembering Taiyaki’:

“I think one of the most impactful aspects of this story was the depiction of the impact of not only the United States’ nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the destruction of local communities and displacement, especially of children, during World War II that is often not represented in North American media in general, much less ‘World War II’ stories.”

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#canlit #atbaypress #rememberingtaiyaki #vla #bookstagram by @hoshi_koubou

The AMBP (Association of Manitoba Book Publishers) has featured At Bay Press in their Fall 2025 Book Blitz catalogue! We are thrilled to see THREE of our titles spread throughout this edition ...

‘Hunting History: A Writer’s Odyssey’ by Erna Paris in Non-Fiction
‘Mary and Her Métis Grandma’ by Rita Jasper in Fiction
‘Remembering Taiyaki’ by Starkie Mak in Fiction

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#atbaypress #ambp #bookblitz #catalogue #canlit #literature #book #books #fiction #nonfiction #ernaparis #starkiemak #ritajasper #manitoba #manitobabookpublishers #publisher by @hoshi_koubou

Starkie Mak (@hoshi_koubou), author of ‘Remembering Taiyaki’ (At Bay Press 2025) & ‘Coming to Canada’ (At Bay Press 2021), attended the Montreal Comic Arts Festival (@fbdm_mtl) back in May—a Quebecan celebration birthed to place the comic arts into the radiant limelight, as well as a method of conjoining cultural exchanges and interactions between adjoining creatives.

STARKIE MAK is an artist and writer deeply in love with expressive drawing and painting. Her paintings have been exhibited across Europe and Asia. She illustrated for children’s magazine ‘Cotton Tree’ and is an art teacher educating children. The classic novel ‘The Secret Garden’ sparked her interest in literature. Literature and illustration are indispensable parts of her life. She studied creative writing at the University of Oxford.

She moved to Toronto from Hong Kong in 2018.

To purchase Mak’s beautiful books, visit: https://atbaypress.com/creators/detail/starkie-mak, or, confer with your local bookshop!

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#starkiemak #rememberingtaiyaki #fbdm #montrealcomicartsfestival #montreal #comic #arts #festival #atbaypress #canadian #canada #canadianauthor #canadianpublisher #canlit #quebec by @hoshi_koubou

一目見ただけでここに入りたくなる🤩
I would go in here just by a glance 🤣

#illustration #drawing #sketching ##digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #digitalart #procreate #procreateart #procreatedrawing #procreateillustration #cafefrontdoor #cafesketching #喫茶 #喫茶室 #昭和喫茶店 #昭和喫茶 by @hoshi_koubou

メロンソーダは好きですか？🍈🍷😄
Melon soda 🍈❤️✨️

#illustration #drawing #sketching #digitalart #digitaldrawing #digitalillustration ##procreate #procreateart #procreatedrawing #procreateillustration #melonsoda #メロンソーダ #retrodrawing #showaera #昭和喫茶 #喫茶 #japancafe #cafe #afternoontea #喫茶室 #tokyocafe by @hoshi_koubou

音楽は好きですか？🎼🎵🎶🤩

Do you like music? 😊😊

#illustration #drawing #sketching ##digitalillustration ##digitalart #digitaldrawing ##procreate #procreateart #procreatedrawing #procreateillustration #fantasydrawing #music #musicdrawing #音楽 #音楽は好き #pianoplayer #catdrawing #cutedrawing by @hoshi_koubou

私は電車に乗るのが好きです😝🚇🚇
I like riding on train 🚞

#illustration #drawing #sketching #digitaldrawing #digitalillustration #digitalart ##procreate #procreatedrawing #procreateart #procreateillustration #japantrain #train #電車 #電車好き #japanesetrain #trainstation #japan #japanscenery by @hoshi_koubou

それは私のお気に入りのプリンです🌟😋😋
My favorite pudding ✨️

#illustration #drawing #sketching ##digitalart #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing ##procreate ##procreateart #procreatedrawing #procreateillustration #pudding #japanesepudding #プディング #昭和 #昭和プディング #retrodrawing by @hoshi_koubou

夏の思い出🎐🌞花火大会🎇🎆✨️🎐❤️
summer memories🌞fireworks festival ✨️✨️

#illustration #drawing #sketching #digitaldrawing
#digitalillustration #digitalart #procreatedrawing #procreate #procreateart #procreateillustration #花火大会 #花火 #fireworks #japansummerfestival #japanfireworksfestival #summertime #夏の思い出 by @hoshi_koubou

ヴィンテージミシン 🧵🪡
Vintage Sewing Machine 🧵🪡

#illustration #drawing #sketching #sewing #sewingmachine #ヴィンテージミシン #ミシン #裁縫機械 #ビンテージ #vintagedrawing #retro #retrodrawing #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #digitalart #procreate #procreatedrawing #procreateart #procreateillustration #レトロ #レトロな縫製 #昭和 by @hoshi_koubou

文房具店は楽園です 🤩🌟🌟
Stationery shop = paradise 🤩

#illustration #drawing #sketching #procreateart #procreate #procreatedrawing #procreateillustration #digitaldrawing #digitalillustration #digitalart #Stationery #stationeryshop #tokyostationery #文房具 #文房具店 #文房具好き #japanesestationery #tokyo by @hoshi_koubou

豪勢な食事をしよう😋✨️🌟🤩
食品展示コーナーはあなたを決して失望させません🤣

Let's eat a big meal 🙌🏻
Food display corner never disappoints you✨️

#illustration #drawing #sketching #digitalillustration #digitaldrawing #digitalart #procreate #procreateart #procreatedrawing #procreateillustration #fooddisplay #restaurant #tokyorestaurant #fooddisplaycounter #foodsample #plasticfood #食品ディスプレイ #食品展示コーナー #東京レストラン #東京レストランガイド by @hoshi_koubou