LiterASIAN Toronto - Asian Literary Activism

On November 1, 2018, the University of Toronto and Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop is hosting a new literary event in Toronto as an extension of the existing LiterASIAN festival in Vancouver which celebrates the best in Asian Canadian arts. For LiterASIAN in Toronto in 2018, the theme is Asian Literary Activism in which we will examine the history, cultural influence and the outcomes of Asian Canadian writers involved in changing society as a whole with their work.

The event features two panels with three writers on each panel discussing the past, present, and future of literary activism along with two catered receptions. Honoured guests for our first annual event in 2018 include Joy Kogawa, Cheuk Kwan, Lynne Kutsukake, Kai Cheng Thom and Shani Mootoo. We look forward to their lively discussions and sharing of ideas.

Admittance is free to all members of the public! | RSVP through this Eventbrite

(Un)framed: Half a Century of Asian Canadian Magazines

The Long Sixties kicked off in earnest in Vancouver after moving north from California, as news of the countercultural movement began spreading across the world. However, this period was never just
limited to the Hippies and the Flower Power movement—it involved a renewed sense of activism that
began to dissect power structure, race, sex, and privilege. Asian Canadian magazines, which began with Overseers at the University of British Columbia, took on a new form in Toronto when The Asianadian was founded open three principles: It was anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic.
This led to other magazines like Ricepaper, Bambooda, Rungh, and Looseleaf. Although the nature of the publishing and magazine industry has changed significantly during this time, it is interesting to look back at how the politics of the New Left effectively birthed a new cultural consciousness and became responsible for introducing the works of many prominent writers including SKY Lee, Paul Yee, and Madeleine Thien.

Framed images featuring original and reproductions of front covers from The Asianadian, Ricepaper,
Bambooda, and Looseleaf magazine. Also features a poster designed by Michelle Kuan and Michelle Lu, a reproduction of the Ricepaper anthology, Currents, and photographs of The Asianadian’s founders and collective members.

Date
September 21-22,2018.

In conjunction with LiterASIAN 2018.

Exhibition Credits
Allan Cho, Sarah Suk, William Tham, and Thi Tran. This exhibition was possible thanks to the generous help of the Centre A team.

Opening New Frontiers: The Art of Self-Publishing & Traditional Publishing at Word Vancouver Festival

Traditional publishing has been shaken to the core with new digital technologies and the Internet. Unlike a decade ago, when writers finish writing, they face the question of working with a traditional publisher or doing it themselves as self-publishers. Authors not only have to be concerned about polishing their prose and characters, but they also now need to understand the complexities of deciding on an agent or uploading their books to Amazon. Some of today’s most successful authors even do both through a hybrid approach, traversing both the traditional publisher route and as self-publishers. Join us as a panel of authors share their expertise with you on the perils and promises of the new frontiers of getting published.



Presented by: Historic Joy Kogawa House

Location: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Ave.

Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 pm

With: William Tham, Vincent Ternida & Cynda Yeasting

LiterASIAN 2018 Returns, September 21 to September 23, 2018

Launched in 2013, LiterASIAN is an annual festival of Pacific Rim Asian Canadian writing and a community-building initiative of the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop (ACWW).

The first of its kind within Canada, the festival’s purpose is to promote and celebrate the works of Asian Canadian writers and artists through author readings, panel discussions, and workshop events, creating important and unique networking opportunities between professional and emerging writers, students, and members of the broader public so that everyone participating can learn and discuss topics of importance to Asian Canadian writing.

Explore "Powder and Paint" with PCHC-MoM & Museum Bento as Part of Open Doors Richmond

Join PCHC-MoM and Museum Bento on Saturday June 2 and Sunday June 3 at the Richmond Museum for this year’s Doors Open Richmond, a weekend-long, city-wide celebration of heritage, culture and the arts.  On Saturday June 2, Museum Bento will be displaying different objects from the Powder and Paint: Cantonese Opera and Immigrant Experience box, developed in conjunction with PCHC-MoM, where you can learn about how Cantonese opera shaped the lives of early Chinese immigrants in Canada. You'll have a chance to explore and interact with the items inside the box, ranging from opera masks and dolls to a model of an opera stage.  It will also be engaging in a fun, interactive paper mask-making, where you can create your own unique Cantonese opera mask to bring home!

For more information about the Doors Open programme, please click here.

Location and Time

11:00am-3:00pm
Richmond Museum
7700 Minoru Gate
Richmond, BC
V6Y 1R9

Kim Thúy Talks About Her Novel "Vi" at the University of Toronto, May 7 as part of Asian Heritage Month

---

The youngest of four children and the only girl, Vi was given a name that meant "precious, tiny
one," destined to be cosseted and protected, the family's little treasure.  Daughter of an enterprising mother and a wealthy, spoiled father who never had to grow up, the Vietnam War destroys the life they've known. Vi, along with her mother and brothers, manages to escape-- but her father stays behind, leaving a painful void as the rest of the family must make a new life for themselves in Canada.

While her family puts down roots, life has different plans for Vi. As a young woman, she finds the
world opening up to her. Taken under the wing of Hà, a worldly family friend, and her diplomat
lover, Vi tests personal boundaries and crosses international ones, letting the winds of life buffet
her. From Saigon to Montreal, from Suzhou to Boston to the fall of the Berlin Wall, she is witness to
the immensity of the world, the intricate fabric of humanity, the complexity of love, the infinite
possibilities before her. Ever the quiet observer, somehow she must find a way to finally take her
place in the world.

Born in Saigon in 1968, Kim Thúy left Vietnam with the boat people at the age of ten and settled
with her family in Quebec. A graduate in translation and law, she has worked as a seamstress,
interpreter, lawyer, restaurant owner, and commentator on radio and television. She lives in
Montreal and devotes herself to writing.

Sheila Fischman is the award-winning translator of some 150 contemporary novels from Quebec.
In 2008 she was awarded the Molson Prize in the Arts. She is a Member of the Order of Canada and
a chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec. She lives in Montreal.Praise for Vi and Kim Thúy.

---

"A voyage into the Vietnamese soul, a story of rupture and a long rebirth of the self, Vi is a novel that is at once astonishing and energizing, one that pays magnificent homage to the quiet power of women"—ELLE France

"Kim Thúy is one of the most interesting new voices in Canadian literature." —CBC Books

“With Kim Thúy, past and present are never very far apart.” — La Vie