“Eating Globally: Chinese Cuisine” at VPL Central Library on Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Authors Cheuk Kwan (Have you Eaten Yet?) and Linda Lau Anusasananan (The Hakka Cookbook: Chinese Soul Food from around the World) reunite to share tales of scouring the world for good eats - and just a taste of home - as they recount stories from Peru, Mauritius, Malaysia, Madagascar and Norway. Kwan and Lau Anusasananan will be in conversation with comedian and actor Ali Hassan (Is There Bacon in Heaven?). Judy Lam Maxwell, culinary-heritage tourism entrepreneur, will lead with introductory remarks.

Speakers

Cheuk Kwan grew up in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. His fifteen-part documentary, Chinese Restaurants (2005), braids his personal experiences with his love of travel and his appreciation for Chinese culture worldwide. Kwan's personal memoir, Have You Eaten Yet? (2002), draws out a global narrative of the Chinese diaspora by linking together personal stories of chefs, entrepreneurs, labourers and dreamers who populate Chinese kitchens worldwide. The book is the 2023 Gold Winner of Taste Canada Awards (Culinary Narrative).

Linda Lau Anusasananan wrote The Hakka Cookbook: Chinese Soul Food from around the World (University of California Press, 2012). The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards named it "Best Chinese Cuisine Cookbook of the World 2012.” The book weaves together history, personal stories, and recipes of the Hakka, China's "guest people.” For 34 years, she served as a recipe editor and food writer at Sunset Magazine. She also presents Chinese cooking videos and recipes on the subscription site Grokker.com.

Ali Hassan is a stand-up comedian, author and former chef. He is the host of Laugh Out Loud on CBC Radio, as well as Canada Reads - CBC’s “battle of the books”. In 2023, Ali began touring his latest one-man show based on his decade in the food industry, entitled Does This Taste Funny? His comedic memoir Is There Bacon in Heaven? was described by Rick Mercer as “perhaps the funniest and most heartfelt Canadian memoir yet.”

Judy Lam Maxwell is a culinary-heritage tourism entrepreneur based in Vancouver. She is the owner of Historical Chinatown Tours, which offers guided walking tours and traditional dumpling classes. Ms. Lam Maxwell, who is of mixed Chinese European heritage and has a UBC Master’s degree in History, also specializes in Chinatowns around the world. She is currently on the City of Vancouver Chinatown Advisory Committee and is a City Heritage Commissioner.

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Registration

ACWW Welcomes New President Tāriq Malik

The Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop (ACWW) is excited to welcome Tāriq Malik as its new President.

A Vancouver-based writer, poet, and visual artist, Tāriq has spent more than four decades creating powerful work across poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and photography. Born in the Pakistani Punjab, he has a remarkable life journey that spans war, migration, and years in Kuwait before making Canada his home. These experiences have shaped a distinctive literary voice that explores migration, memory, belonging, history, and identity with compassion and originality.

Tāriq is the author of the acclaimed short story collection Rainsongs of Kotli, the novel Chanting Denied Shores, and the poetry collections Exit Wounds and the award-winning Blood of Stone. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Puritan, Write Magazine, and The Aleph Review. In 2023, he served as Writer-in-Residence at the historic Joy Kogawa House, continuing his longstanding commitment to literary community and mentorship.  

As President, Tāriq brings a deep commitment to amplifying Asian Canadian voices, developing artistic excellence, and strengthening connections across communities.  

A Conversation with Suzanne Elki Yoko Hartmann, Keiko Honda and Raymond Nakamura on August 4, 2026

Join writers Suzanne Elki Yoko Hartmann, Keiko Honda and Raymond Nakamura for an evening of conversation and celebration of their shared Japanese heritage.

Toronto-based Hartmann will read from her hybrid memoir The Nail That Sticks Out: Reflections on the Postwar Japanese Canadian Community. The work of creative non-fiction is a next-generation account that explores an evolving community through memories of places, events and traditions. It tackles issues of identity, belonging and racism. Steeped in cultural arts, it includes portraits of family and community members.

The book was nominated for a Heritage Toronto Book Award and been featured on CBC radio, in print and online. Media coverage includes CBC’s 2024 “54 Works of Canadian nonfiction to check out this fall,” Vancouver’s The Bulletin, the Toronto Star, Open Book and Discover Nikkei.

Honda, a scientist and artist, will share readings from her two memoirs — Accidental Blooms (Caitlin Press, 2023) and Hidden Flowers (Heritage House, 2025) — to show how her voice as a writer and her relationship to her Japanese roots have evolved together.

Accidental Blooms was featured on CBC’s list of 46 works of Canadian nonfiction to read in fall 2023, and Hidden Flowers appeared on CBC’s list of 45 Canadian nonfiction books to read in fall 2025 and was awarded third prize in Prose Illustration at the 43rd Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design in Canada. Her other books include The Broken Map Home (Caitlin Press, 2025), a translation of her late grandfather's wartime memoir. Her fourth book, Words That Last (Caitlin Press), is forthcoming on Sept. 18, 2026.

Following the readings, Nakamura, a cartoonist and educator, will moderate the discussion and question-and-answer session. Meet the authors, enjoy light refreshments and join in the conversation. The event is free but space is limited, so please RSVP here. Books will be available for sale and signing. Thank you for supporting the authors and your local bookstore.

More about the authors:

Suzanne Elki Yoko Hartmann is a Toronto-based editor and writer with an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of King’s College. She is the author of a children’s book (My Father’s Nose, KDP, 2016) and the hybrid memoir The Nail That Sticks Out: Reflections on the Postwar Japanese Canadian Community (Dundurn Press, 2024). Her writing reflects her roots as a fourth-generation Japanese Canadian with German ancestry and explores meaningful coincidences, cultural memories and identity.

Keiko Honda is a scientist, writer, community organizer and painter. She holds a PhD in international community health from New York University and had a research career at Columbia University, which was interrupted when she suddenly contracted a rare autoimmune disease that confined her to a wheelchair for life. After moving to Vancouver in 2009, Honda began hosting artist salons, for which she was awarded the City of Vancouver’s Remarkable Women Award in 2014. She founded the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society to bridge generations and cultures through the arts and to offer marginalized communities the opportunity for artistic self-discovery. She teaches at Simon Fraser University.

Raymond K. Nakamura is a writer, cartoonist, and educator in Vancouver, on the unceded, traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. He is the author of the Pyjama Press picture book Peach Girl and posts online comics under the handle @raymondsbrain.

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Upstart & CrowVancouver, BC

Tuesday, August 4, 5:30 PM - 7 PM

Stories in Conversation with novelist Ed Lin, Julia Lin, and Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho on September 7, at the Annex

 

Join us for Stories in Conversation with novelist Ed Lin, biographer and fiction writer Julia Lin, and memoirist Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho.

How does Taiwanese and Taiwanese diasporic culture play into historical and crime fiction, a biography, and a family memoir? This panel will see three authors—two born in the island nation, and the third in New York City—delve into their heritage while also moving forward to tell their stories. As Taiwan itself sees cultural shifts, what is preserved and what is lost in tales set in North America? Come for a lively discussion, audience Q&A, and book signing.  This session will be moderated by Charlie Smith, editor of Pancouver.

September 7, 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM at the Annex (823 Seymour St, Vancouver).

love bends / the mover: The Roy Miki Issue of The Capilano Review on July 17th at 7pm

The Capilano Review invites you to the launch of its Spring 2026 issue.

love bends / the mover: The Roy Miki Issue brings together new and commissioned work by over 20 contributors to reflect on the enduring legacy of beloved poet, teacher, and organizer Roy Miki (1942-2024).

On Friday, July 17th at 7pm at The Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum (SFU Burnaby Mountain campus), the magazine will celebrate the issue’s release. The evening will feature a casual reception followed by an open-floor reading of Roy’s poems, specially selected for the occasion by The Capilano Review’s editors.

This event is free, and all are welcome. Light snacks and refreshments will be served.

Following the reception, guests are encouraged to visit the free Starry Nights program at the neighbouring Trottier Observatory on Burnaby Mountain for stargazing. (*Note that this program is weather dependent—learn more and follow the latest weather updates here.)

RSVP

Directions for getting to the Gibson Art Museum (Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby) can be found here.

ACWW at Word Vancouver Literary Festival on September 19, 2026 - “Imagining Other Fiction, Democracy, and the Human Cost of Progress”

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The Word Vancouver Literary Festival is happening on September 19, 2026, and ACWW is sponsoring a panel session featuring Asian Canadian writers. Three bold writers explore how contemporary life is shaped by technology, politics, and systems of power. Kawika Guillermo’s Of Floating Isles moves through gaming culture, identity, and coming of age in shifting digital worlds. Sung Ming Chow’s Demotopia examines the uneasy relationship between democracy and artificial intelligence, where human decision-making meets algorithmic influence. Joanne Leow’s Exhumations: Inside the Body of a Petrostate traces memory, extraction, and the hidden human costs of oil economies. Together, these works offer urgent and imaginative ways of understanding the present and the futures still being imagined within it.

Speakers include: Kawika Guillermo, Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games. (Arsenal Pulp Press) | Sung Ming Chow, Demotopia: An Exploration of Democracy and Artificial Intelligence (Electromagnetic Print) | Joanne Leow, Exhumations: Inside the Body of a Petrostate (Penguin Random House Canada), Moderator: Todd Wong.

Saturday, September 19, 2026, 3.30-4.30pm in Room C400, UBC Robson Square (800 Robson Street, Vancouver)

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Registration is free