About Moi

I’m a long time writer and editor, and since October 2023, have been the Toronto City Editor for Ludwig-Van.Com, part of Zoomer Media. Prior to that date, I worked as a writer and editor for Ludwig-Van for about six years. I’m also an indie singer-songwriter working out of Hamilton, Ontario.

I was a freelance writer for just under three decades, and a creative writing instructor for about two. You’ll find links to much of that work in the tabs on the side.

My writing, both fiction and non-fiction, has been largely fuelled by curiosity — curiosity about the world, the people in it and how things work. I’ve written short stories and novellas, articles, books, web pages, blog posts, marketing materials – in short, everything that a writer can get their hands on.

I’m on the Polaris Music Prize Jury for 2024.

I’m a contributor to:

• The Best New True Crime Stories: Unsolved Crimes & Mysteries (Editor: Mitzi Szereto – Mango Press/September 2022) – released September 13, 2022.
• The Best New True Crime Stories: Crimes of Famous and Infamous Criminals (Editor: Mitzi Szereto – Mango Press/February 2023).

I have my own blog – ArtandCultureMaven.com – which I’ve run since 2009, and where I write about (not surprisingly) arts, culture, and travel.

As an indie singer-songwriter, you can check out my latest music on Bandcamp.

Citations/References & Interviews

My writing on culture, arts, and entertainment – including posts from my personal blog, contributions to Huffington Post blog, and others – is sometimes cited in other publications, including Masters and Doctoral theses and other academic publications, books, and articles. I’ve been interviewed about my writing on arts and culture as well.

• I was interviewed on the Get Lit a literary radio program & podcast, on 93.3 CFMU at McMaster University in March 2023.
• I was asked to make a contribution to an article in Where learning deeply matters: Reflections on the past, present, and future of teaching and McMaster University (12/22) – the article by Dr. Gary Warner From Molière to global justice; Reflections on a pedagogical journey – my contribution is on page 3-4.
• An interview with Todd Burns’ Music Journalism Insider newsletter in November 2022.
• An MFA thesis (California State University, 2021) quotes my interview with Warsan Shire for Okayafrica.
• My blog is referenced (as a link) in an Arts & Culture piece for WLRN in Miami on a film about voting rights.
• MSN Entertainment quotes my article in a piece on “The most overrated movies ever” (2020).
• A piece of mine is quoted extensively in Maury: The Story of an American Pop Culture Institution By Denise Noe, BearManor Media (November 26, 2020) ASIN : B08P6HS81F
• Cited & appear in the bibliography of a Polish academic book: Potencjał zmiany. Rezultaty działania ruchu społecznego na przykładzie aktywizmu LGBT* w Polsce?/ Potential for Change. Social Movement Outcomes by Example of LGBT* Movement in Poland by: BEATA BIELSKA – November 2018 – Nicolaus Copernicus UniversityPublisher: 978-83-231-4092-4Publisher: Wydawnictwo Mikołaja Kopernika w ToruniuWassenberg Anya (2016), Orlando, the Stonewall Riots and the History of Attacks on Gay Nightclubs Illustrate the Intersectionality of Homophobia in America, https://www.inquisitr.com/3197176/orlando-stonewall-riots-attacks-gay-nightclubs-intersectionality-homophobia-america/
• One of my pieces is cited in “All There Is”: The Reconciliatory Poetics of a Singing Voice by Robyn Taylor‐Neu, an article published in AnthroSource, Published by the American Anthropological Association (February 2018). https://doi.org/10.1111/aman.13003 Wassenberg, Anya. 2013. “The Renaissance of Aboriginal Culture.” The Huffington Post, February 2. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/anya-wassenberg/aboriginal-art-_b_2587257.html. Google Scholar https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/aman.13003
• Global Africa: Into the Twenty-First Century – Dorothy Hodgson, ‎Judith Byfield – Univ of California Press, Aug 1, 2017 – Page 169 – Wassenberg, Anya. “New York African Restaurant Week 2015: Akin Akinsanya on Building NYC’S African Culinary Empire,” OkayAfrica, May 28, 2015. http://www.okayafrica.com/news/new-york-african-restaurant-week-june-2015-akin-akinsanya/.
• Science Fiction and the Mass Cultural Genre System – John Rieder – Wesleyan University Press, Mar 7, 2017 – Page 194 – Wassenberg, Anya. “Film News—ImagineNATIVE Embargo Collective at the Berlin Film Fest.” Art & Culture Maven, February 9, 2010. http://www.artandculturemaven.com/2010/02/film-news-imaginenative-embargo.html.
• Quoted in the blog “Mutable Matter” on world music https://mutablematter.wordpress.com/2017/07/07/imagining-world-music/
• I’m Quoted in the blog for classical radio station WQXR in New York City – http://www.wqxr.org/story/tone-deafness-pretty-rare-which-means-you-can-probably-sing/
• I’m quoted as Creative collaborator Anya Wassenberg, talking about my installation in tent 113 of this site specific collaborative art project. Collaborative Performances of Resistance in Twenty-First Century Toronto: Occupy Toronto and The Encampment by Andrea Terry, published in the Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes, University of Toronto Press, Volume 49, Number/numéro 2, Spring/printemps 2015
• My interview with Paul Laverty is referenced in a New York Times film review (link on “Paul Laverty”) – http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/18/movies/18even.html
• A post from my blog is cited in What Did You Say about My Mama? On Being Productively Uppity by Donna-Michelle St. BernardFrom: Canadian Theatre ReviewVolume 146, Spring 2011pp. 95-99 | 10.1353/ctr.2011.0027 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/430922/pdf

Other Recognition:

• I was commissioned to write the liner notes for Cameron Carpenter: Bach & Hanson (Universal/Decca Gold 2021)
• Selected three times to serve as a judge for the East Coast Music Awards (last time 2017).
• Quoted by many artists in their PR material, including dancers, musicians, and visual artists.
• My photographs are also occasionally used for editorial purposes, including a still from one of my YouTube videos featuring Thomas Mapfumo that is used on all international Wikipedia entries on the subject of the Zimbabwean musician and activist.

You can find out more about my music on my Anya Mia music page.

You can check on the links above to see work in my various specialties or view/download a full C.V. and you may have noticed that the widgets along the left of this page also lead you to my work in various forms, including a blog on this website that lists my most recent work and new posts from my art blog, with links to my social media feeds. You can get in touch with the contact form below.

Thanks for looking!

• Anya

Use this Contact Form to get in touch.