Elvira Truglia

Journalist and storyteller creating impactful narratives across print, radio, and multimedia.

Canada

I am a writer, multimedia journalist, and storyteller whose work has appeared on CBC Radio and in publications such as New Canadian Media, HuffPost Canada, and Rabble.ca. I cover culture, social issues, and current affairs through human-interest stories, investigative reporting, op-eds, and literary journalism. My work also spans photography, video, and other multimedia projects, with a focus on amplifying underrepresented voices.

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Portfolio

Society & Current Affairs (Online & Print)

New Canadian Media
05/21/2020
Newcomers Among Hardest Hit During Pandemic, Research Shows

While Canadians from across the country have felt the economic impact of COVID-19, a new study from the Association of Canadian Studies (ACS) explains how the pandemic has been especially painful to new Canadians. The...

New Canadian Media
04/01/2020
Italian Diaspora Mourns Passing of Elder Generation

Many people who have lost their lives have not been able to have a proper funeral in Italy. Others remain trapped, forced to watch the suffering unfold and find a sense of reinvention and meaning in their own lives. Many people who have lost their lives have not been able to have a proper funeral in Italy.

New Canadian Media
04/04/2016
Religious Accommodation Still a Struggle in Quebec

On one of the final stops during its two-year, cross-country "Our Canada" workshop series, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) held an open conversation about faith and social inclusion in Montreal last month. According to Thomas Gallezot, francophone communities and outreach project officer for the organization, the CRRF aims to promote diversity and social inclusion through community dialogue.

HuffPost Canada
04/11/2016
Health Care Must Do More To Address Environmental Sensitivities

Think a toxic injury that doesn't heal. If you are susceptible, exposure to small amounts of chemicals every day creates a "body burden" that impacts multiple biological systems (nervous, digestive, respiratory system, etc.). Typically, you don't detox very well, and repeated exposures can trigger the "on" switch in your brain, making you hypersensitive.

HuffPost Canada
04/11/2016
Violence Against Women Is the Western World's Dirty Little Secret

There is still a lot of bad news for women since the Montreal Massacre, according to investigative journalist, feminist and filmmaker, Francine Pelletier. But there is also some good news: as a social struggle and in the media, feminism is making a comeback.

HuffPost Canada
03/18/2015
Why Is Mexico on Canada's List of 'Safe Countries'?

Canadians love Mexico, especially when crystalized ice on window panes, trigger thoughts of sandy beach retreats from Canada's punishing winters. Over 1.9 million Canadians turn to Mexico as their getaway destination. In Mexico, thousands are seeking refuge from poverty and the human rights crisis, most recently brought to the fore by the disappearance of 43 students from the Ayontizapa teacher's college in Guerrero, Mexico.

Vice Versa Online
02/07/2014
In the Belly of the Beast – Judy Rebick on Occupy This!

“The idea that we could create alternative communities as a way of resisting the existing culture is not new but doing it in the middle of big cities, in the belly of the beast is new and was a major reason for the power of Occupy.” Judy Rebick (This article was originally published in Vice Versa Online Magazine on November 6, 2012)

HuffPost Canada
04/30/2013
Can Traditional Italian Families Survive in Modern Canada?

According to the latest Statistics Canada report on household demographics, the nuclear family is no longer the norm. But are Italians, one of the country's largest ethnic groups, rethinking family composition in step with other Canadians? If so, how do these changes interplay with cultural identity?

HuffPost Canada
10/18/2012
A Safe Space for Malala

"I felt like they had tried to kill me, I felt like they had tried to kill every girl in the world, that they had tried to kill hope," says Saman Ahsan when she heard the news about Malala Yousufzai, a school girl shot by the Taliban in Pakistan last week.

rabble.ca
11/20/2010
Two-Tier Refugee System Flawed, Say Critics

Nothing riles up Canadian sensitivities more than someone jumping a line. Jason Kenney knew this when he introduced Bill C-49 in response to the arrival of two boat loads of Tamils on Canadian shores in the last year.

Arts & Culture (Online & Print)

New Canadian Media
05/20/2016
Journey Back to Vietnam Becomes Universal Story

Kim Thuy's fourth novel continues the author's style of recalling her own journey to Canada and crossing linguistic and cultural boundaries. "I don't mind at all being considered as migrant literature, Asian literature, Canadian literature, or Quebec literature," says the award-winning author, who just published Vi.

Panoram Italia
06/22/2012
Michael Occhipinti's Sicilian Jazz Project

Occhipinti's latest CD garnered him his eighth Juno nomination in 2009 for the music he shied away from as a child. The album is somewhat a coming of age, "The Sicilian Jazz Project reflects the place where my parents ended up as much as where they started," says Toronto-based Michael Occhipinti.

Panoram Italia
2009
Italian-Canadian Writers Debate Their Role at Metropolis Azurro

The 75-minute panel discussion “Italian-Canadian Writing Inside/Outside” held at the Blue Metropolis International Montreal Literary Festival on April 26 provided a lively debate on the role and value of Italian-Canadian writers inside and outside the community.

Panoram Italia
06/01/2008
Italians of Montreal: A Memoir

The Cinémathèque Québecoise, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute in Montreal, paid tribute to the struggles of Italian immigrants last spring during a special screening entitled: Italians of Montréal: A memoir.

Audio/Broadcast (Podcast & Radio)

thetraffikreport.ca/
2021
The Traffik Report

Co-hosted and produced a podcast on human trafficking in Canada, amplifying the voices of front-line workers, advocates and survivors while exposing systemic gaps in law and policy.

https://soundcloud.com/culture-days
Culture Days
04/23/2015
Resonance (Pilot Podcast)

Created and produced a pilot podcast featuring conversations with Canadian arts and culture leaders, including Jean Grand-Maître (Alberta Ballet) and Todd Hirsch (ATB Financial), on creativity, innovation, and cultural change.

https://soundcloud.com/elvira-truglia/04-05-bagpipetradition/s-rByoo
The Global Village, CBC Radio
06/04/2005
Bagpipes in Tunisia

As a world music correspondent for CBC Radio’s Global Village, I reported on international music news and culture. In one feature, I joined a Bedouin bagpipe player in Tunisia for an impromptu jam session over mint tea, discovering how his music maintains Bedouin traditions while adapting to modern life.

Making Contact | Radio Show and Podcast | from Frequencies of Change Media
08/06/2003
Strangers in Italy: Immigration, Italy, and Fortress Europe

Produced a documentary on Italy’s immigration laws under Silvio Berlusconi, capturing the experiences and perspectives of migrants, Italian citizens, and policymakers.

Photography

Point of View Exhibit, Canadian Museum of Human Rights
2016
Protesting the Charter of Values, 2013

Photo of a Montrealer at a Quebec’s Charter of Values protest, exhibited at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights and later shown internationally.

Point of View Exhibit, Canadian Museum of Human Rights
2016
Global Day of Action, 2011

Documentary photo of a six-year-old at an Occupy protest during the 2011 Global Day of Action, exhibited at CMHR and later in Spain.

Video & Documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0iQlCQUrXo
Culture Days, YouTube Channel
07/13/2015
What's Your Story?

Directed and produced a short video exploring the impact of arts and culture in Canada, featuring voices from media, economics, and the arts including Marci Ien, Amanda Shatzco, Todd Hirsch, and Jean Grand-Maître.

Creative Non-Fiction (Literary Journalism)

Laberinto Press
06/29/2024
The Smell of Joy

Literary journalism piece blending memoir and reportage to explore multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS). It interweaves personal narrative, research, interviews, and cultural critique to examine what it means to live in a toxic world.

The Apostles Review
2018
Francesco and Other Roman Chronicles

Literary journalism piece combining personal narrative with immersive reportage. Through character portraits and on-the-ground observation, it explores migration, precarious work, and social unrest in early-2000s Rome, reflecting on identity, belonging, and resilience.

Accenti Magazine
08/01/2003
Coming Home

Travel writing that blends reportage, cultural observation, and personal narrative. Following the writer’s work and travels in Rome and Calabria, the piece explores local activism, social movements, and the navigation of heritage and identity in Italy.

Ideas/Editorial/Academic

InteRadio Magazine
Volume 10, Number 1 1998
Mind if I Speak? Community Radio Takes a Stand

Editorial exploring systemic barriers to communication, access to media, and the role of community radio in advocating for the right to communicate.

Archive (Inactive Links)

McConnell Foundation
02/21/2018
Hydroponics for Food Security in the North

As the northern ice breaks this summer, two retrofitted shipping containers are arriving in Iqaluit, where they will be repurposed as vessels for growing plants in water. The hydroponics project, called The Growcer, aims to help address food insecurity, and will be the first project of its kind in the city.

McConnell Foundation
01/10/2017
Montreal Subway Cars Get New Life and Revitalize Public Space

Montreal's South West is in the midst of transformation. Some residents have had roots in the borough for generations, while others have flocked to the area attracted by new housing as well as business opportunities.

McConnell Foundation
05/30/2016
World Wide Hearing and Partners Take on Hearing Loss in Northern Communities

When seven-year-old Mahmoud in Jordan was fitted with hearing aids for the first time, he started to giggle. "He could hear and this was really exciting," says Audra Renyi, Executive Director of World Wide Hearing Foundation International (WWH), the Canadian non-profit that provides accessible services for people with hearing loss in the developing world.