• 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.

  • 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.