Denison Avenue

A story told in two parts as a graphic novel and novella, about elderly Wong Cho Sum's attempt to cope with the death of her husband by taking up bottle and can collecting. Denison Avenue explores the price of progress in cities like Toronto and those it leaves behind. A moving story told in visual art and fiction about gentrification, ageing in place, grief, and vulnerable Chinese Canadian elders. Bringing together ink artwork and fiction, Denison Avenue by Daniel Innes (illustrations) and Christina Wong (text) follows the elderly Wong Cho Sum, who, living in Toronto's gentrifying Chinatown-Kensington Market, begins to collect bottles and cans after the sudden loss of her husband as a way to fill her days and keep grief and loneliness at bay. In her long walks around the city, Cho Sum meets new friends, confronts classism and racism, and learns how to build a life as a widow in a neighbourhood that is being destroyed and rebuilt, leaving elders like her behind. A poignant meditation on loss, ageing, gentrification, and the barriers that Chinese Canadian seniors experience in big cities, Denison Avenue beautifully combines visual art, fiction, and the endangered Toisan dialect to create a book that is truly unforgettable.