• Hide and Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin

Hide and Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin

by Sunny Dhillon

November 4, 2025 | ISBN 978-1-998408-32-0 | 142 Pages

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Sunny Dhillon’s “Journalism While Brown and When to Walk Away” revealed the struggles journalists of colour can face in an industry conditioned to downplay racism, especially as it deploys it. Dhillon’s essay on powerlessness, on who has a voice and who is denied, quickly went viral.

In this sharply funny memoir, shaped as a series of letters to his daughter, Dhillon reclaims his voice and traces his path as a Brown Sikh. From his earliest memories, his experience of being Canadian was rooted in race. As a child, he’d often found himself confused by what he should do when the fact he was “different” was raised. His reaction again and again was to hide – until he finally realized he no longer felt the need. With warmth, honesty and lots of humour, Dhillon shares his journey so his daughter won’t have to stumble through the lessons he took too far long to learn.

“In Hide and Sikh, Dhillon offers a series of conversational life lessons shared from father to daughter; but it is also a deeply reflective memoir that grapples with experiences of racism and the courage required to confront it every day in every space. With humour and candour, Dhillon invites each of us to walk a mile in his skin – a necessary journey guaranteed to spark conversation in a polarizing time.” – Anuja Varghese, author of Chrysalis: Stories

Read an Excerpt from HIDE AND SIKH, the New Memoir from Sunny Dhillon (Open Book, 18/12/2025)
Sunny shares an excerpt with Open Book.

Events with Sunny Dhillon

    • Palma’s Picks: Living in your own skin and not hiding anymore (Jennifer Palma, Global News, 12-Apr-2026)
      Living in your own skin and not hiding from who you are can be freeing, it can also give you pause for thought. Hide and Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin, is authored by Sunny Dhillon, he speaks with Jennifer Palma.
    • The Letter You Keep Meaning to Write (Shane Hewitt, The Night Shift, 25-Feb-2026)
      "Letters to your kids about who they are before you have to leave them. You’ve probably thought about it. Maybe you started. Sunny Dhillon started writing his because a racist incident at a playground in Ottawa scared his daughter in kindergarten, and he knew exactly what she was about to carry."
    • Writer’s Block: Sunny Dhillon (Sunny Dhillon, All Lit Up, 18/11/2025)
      "You can’t force your way through a brick wall. You have to give your brain time to find another way."
    • NewsRadio Bookshelf: Sunny Dhillon (Hide and Sikh) (John Ackermann, NewsRadio Bookshelf, 2/11/2025)
      Sunny chats with John Ackermann about his new book.

    • Why We Write (Justine Abigail Yu, 49th Shelf, 2-Sep-2026)
      "Hide and Sikh is a testament to the expertise that lies in each and every one of our lived experiences, and the poise with which we can share it with the world."
    • Hide and Sikh (Sara Hailstone, Sara Hailstone, 24-Aug-2026)
      "As this memoir demonstrates, what we can control is providing the tools for the next generation to face these battles more equipped than we were. The hope is that it will take less time for the next generation to get back up and more profoundly, we do not want our children to have to feel the need to hide. "
    • Reads for Asian Heritage Month (All Lit Up, 04/05/2026)
      Lovely to see Sunny's book as part of this roundup for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
    • REVIEW: Hide and Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin by Sunny Dhillon (Carolyn Roy-Bornstein, Hippocampus Magazine, 10/02/2026)
      "He reminds us that sometimes we just need to show up. For each other. For our families. For ourselves. And not hide anymore."
    • Battles lost, battles won (Brett Josef Grubisic, The British Columbia Review, 21/11/2025)
      "Likeable and flecked with humour, [Dhillon's] essays are also smart and well-crafted; and the politics of them are entwined with personal vignettes that are poignant as well as and immediate."
    • 14 Canadian books coming out in November (CBC Books, 04/11/2025)
      It's great to see Sunny's book included on this list!
    • He’s not hiding anymore: former Vancouver journalist reflects on a lifetime of systemic racism in a new memoir (John Ackermann, CityNews Vancouver, 02/11/2025)
      "There is plenty of heart and humour in the book, despite its serious subject matter. For instance, Dhillon tells his daughter she doesn’t have to be a doctor – she is free to use her medical degree to be a psychiatrist as well."
    • Hide and Sikh: Letters from a Life in Brown Skin by Sunny Dhillon (Anne Smith-Nochasak, The Seaboard Review, 29/10/2025)
      "This book serves as confirmation for those who have suspected all along that racism is fully present in our contemporary world, and an eye-opener for those who live in denial."
    • 45 Canadian nonfiction books to read this fall (CBC Books, 28/08/2025)
      Sunny's book is included in this great list of most anticipated fall nonfiction.

  • Sunny Dhillon worked as a news reporter for ten years. He has also appeared on television and radio and spoken at conferences. He is passionate about racial justice and continues to write on that theme. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of British Columbia. He and his young family now live in Ontario, where Sunny attends law school. This is his first book.