About Samantha | Media Kit

Bio | 50 words

Samantha Garner’s debut novel The Quiet is Loud was shortlisted for the 2022 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. A Canadian of Filipino-Finnish background, her character-driven fantasy and science-fiction novels explore identity and belonging. She’s endlessly inspired by history, mythology, and narrative video game worlds. Find her online at samanthagarner.ca or @SamanthaKGarner.

Bio | 100 words

Samantha Garner’s debut novel The Quiet is Loud was shortlisted for the 2022 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. A Canadian of Filipino-Finnish background, Samantha’s character-driven fantasy and science-fiction novels explore themes of identity and belonging. She loves writing nuanced relationship dynamics, atmosphere over action, and outsider characters doing their best. She’s endlessly inspired by history, mythology, and narrative-rich video game worlds.

When not writing, Samantha can be found taking too many photos of trees and rambling to a loved one about the latest historical fact she’s learned. You can find her online at samanthagarner.ca or on most social media at @SamanthaKGarner.

Media Info | The Quiet is Loud

The Quiet is Loud cover image (high-res)

Adult literary sci-fi, published in 2021 by Invisible Publishing.

Shortlisted for the 2022 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize.

The perfect marriage of literary and speculative fiction for readers of Kazuo Ishiguro and NK Jemisin.

When Freya Tanangco was ten, she dreamed of her mother’s death days before it happened. Freya’s life since has been spent in hiding: from the troubled literary legacy created by her author father, and from the scrutiny of a society that is hostile to vekers—people who, like her, have enhanced mental abilities.

When her prophetic dreams take a dangerous turn, Freya finds herself increasingly forced to sacrifice her own anonymity—and the fragile safety that comes with it—in order to protect those around her.

Interwoven with themes of Filipino Canadian and mixed-race identity, fantastical elements from Norse and Filipino mythology, and tarot card symbolism, The Quiet Is Loud is an intergenerational tale about the consequences of secrets and what happens when we refuse to let others tell our stories for us.

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“The Quiet is Loud explores the grey areas between what we say and what we conceal and the stakes of keeping one’s identity hidden… It’s a fearlessly unique book.”—Maria Cichosz, Broken Pencil

“The Quiet is Loud is a zeitgeist zirconia, a choker of sparkling speculation for Gen Z readers whose reading tastes are migrating toward adult literary spec fic. For her debut novel, Toronto writer Samantha Garner pours her curiosity into an approachable, recognizable narrative… Garner wears her spec fic, geek, and SF influences on her sleeve, and The Quiet Is Loud is a warm welcome to the more literary part of that universe.”—Understorey Magazine

“In The Quiet is Loud, Garner builds a world where dream visions, tarot readings, and the existence of the paradextrous are a natural part of day-to-day life. Written in clear-eyed prose that effortlessly weaves in Filipino and Norse mythology, The Quiet is Loud is an exciting and sensitive look into the mind of a young woman grappling with the consequences of family secrets, while also coming to terms with her unique talents. It is a powerful debut.”—Teri Vlassopoulos, author of Escape Plans

Social Media Links

https://www.instagram.com/samanthakgarner
https://www.threads.net/@samanthakgarner
https://bsky.app/profile/samanthakgarner.bsky.social
https://samanthakgarner.tumblr.com
https://www.tiktok.com/@samanthakgarner
https://www.facebook.com/samanthagarnerwriter
https://app.thestorygraph.com/books/fdc08f93-51b0-4abb-a594-7a3b28e045a7
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56669941-the-quiet-is-loud

Interviews, Etc.

Interview by EA Whyte
Interview by Eden Boudreau on Dear Lonely Writer podcast
Interview with Augur Magazine for AugurCon 2022
Carol Shields Prize – Women Reading Women
Reading of my poem “When You Don’t See Me” as part of a special Quarantine Review episode of Howl on CIUT 89.5FM, September 28, 2021
Open Book Writer in Residence – June 2021
June 2021 Writer-in-Residence & Star Debut Novelist Samantha Garner on Skydiving, Kirtles, & Her Spy Passport at Open Book
“‘I Had Internalized the Belief That the Stories I Could Tell Had No Audience’ FOLD Guest Authors on Progress & Process” at Open Book
12 or 20 questions with rob mclennan
Writers on Writing with Katie Li
Interview with Maria Bolaños, Marías at Sampaguitas
My writing routine at my (small press) writing day by rob mclennan

Interviews related to The Quiet is Loud can be found here.

To contact my agent, or for media inquiries and review copies of The Quiet is Loud, click here.