Camila Justino (she/her)

MA Student

Email: camila.justino@mail.utoronto.ca

Social Media:

Instagram

Instagram

Areas of Interest

• Transnational Feminisms
• Migration and Disapora
• Latinx Studies

Biography

Camila is from Brazil and has published four books for young readers back home. After immigrating to Canada 12 years ago, she decided to learn and write in English to connect with the language directly, without the need for translators, and to engage more fully with the community around her. In trying to learn how to live within a new language and far from the homeland, she felt her “language- in-between” was bringing pain, and economic and social challenges. Her research is focused on how the so-called broken-english is a resilient and creative force that can be celebrated instead of being corrected, translated or silenced. Her road to Women and Gender Studies was driven by her curiosity and interest in exploring how the English language and mother tongue became, over time, a bodily language that could either empower or constrain her. She dreams of listening to more loud accents and idiomatic expressions around the city and the media. Camila is the mother of Lily and Bento, who bring her the greatest inspiration in life.

The painting in profile photo is by Brazilian artist Julia Debasse

Program: MA 2024

Education

BA, Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro 2004

MA, Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro 2010

Ba, University of Toronto

Master’s Research Paper

Supervisor: Alissa Trotz

Selected Works

“Dear English Language,” 2021: Tongues, Book*Hug Press, Toronto, Canada

“Dear English Language,” 2016: Wherever I Find Myself, Caitlin Press. Qualicum Beach.

“Mudando tudo, Alice Ferrie no Canada” [Alice Ferrie in Canada], 2011: Editora Leitura, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 176 pp. ISBN-13: 9788573589641

“No mundo da lua” [Up on the Moon], 2010: Editora Leitura, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 186 pp. ISBN-13: 9788573588781

“Socorro, sou menina!” [Help, I’m a girl!], 2009: Editora Leitura, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 124 pp. ISBN-13: 97885735883611

“O mundo dá voltas para meninas que não engolem sapos” [The world turns fast for sparkle-girls], 2008: Editora Leitura, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 102 pp. ISBN-13: 9788573588057

“Smile, you are not being recorded,” 2009: Plástico Bolha Magazine, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Ovulation,” 2009: Plástico Bolha Magazine, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“81 seconds,” 2005: Plástico Bolha Magazine, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

“Smile, you are not being recorded,” 2010: Antologia de Prosa Plástico Bolha, Oito e Meio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ISBN: 978-85-63883-00-

Honours and Awards