Featured Writers:
Antoinette Cheung
Antoinette Cheung (張冬眉) is on a mission to rewild her imagination after spending too many years immersed in corporate speak. As an immigrant from Hong Kong whose main language has become English, she is energized by the voices of writers embracing their hyphenated identities. She writes primarily short-form poetry and personal essays. Her poetry has been awarded Top Winner in the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Haiku Invitational (2023, 2025) and Honourable Mention in the Muriel’s Journey Poetry Prize (2026), and has appeared in Ricepaper, Poetry Pause, and international haiku journals/anthologies. Antoinette was previously co-editor for the online journals Prune Juice and confluence, which celebrate the art of Japanese short-form poetry within a contemporary English-language context.
Francis Chang
Francis Chang was born in Tokyo, grew up in Vancouver and has lived in Montreal, New
York, Toronto and Hong Kong. Francis returned to Vancouver at the end of 2019, retired and
recovering from his 25-year legal career. He is a graduate of the Writer’s Studio program at
SFU, and his work has appeared in Ricepaper, CBC First Person, The Fiddlehead and
WordWorks. He is also an impassioned supporter of live theatre, currently serving as Board
President of Urban Ink Production Society and Board Vice President of the Vancouver Asian
Canadian Theatre.
Cynthia C. Farley
A graduate of SFU's Writer's Studio, Cynthia C. Farley's work spans poetry, fiction, and nonfiction stories. Her short story has appeared in Emerge 24, and you can find some of her stories curated on Medium.com, Vocal Media, Vancouver on Ink, and most recently in The New Canadian Stories. She has just completed a thriller novel.
Alyssa Sy de Jesus
Alyssa Sy de Jesus is a poet in search of the worded-artefacts of her family’s five-generation settlement in the Philippines from Fujian, and eventual migration to Canada. She has ancestral roots in Taiwan via her mother’s lineage. Her work has been featured in: Chinatown Stories, ACAM Tributaries, Living Hyphen, Ginger and Smoke, Liars of Orpheus, Jane’s Walks, the Diasporic Writers Salon, Mashed Poetics, and the Jade Music Festival. She was co-editor of de-comp Journal’s “Translate Me Not” issue and is a graduate of the SFU Writers Studio. She was a programmer and community consultant on “Kuwentong Pamamahay”, an oral history project with members of the Filipino Canadian community. This November, she will be doing a writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts on Treaty 7 Territory, traditional home of the Niitsitapi from the Blackfoot Confederacy. She lives on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations.
Allan Cho
Allan Cho is a Vancouver-based writer, editor, librarian, and community organizer. He is the Executive Editor of Ricepaper Magazine, the Executive Director of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop, and the Festival Director and co-founder of the LiterASIAN Writers Festival. Through his literary work, Allan has helped build platforms for Asian Canadian writers and expand the visibility of Asian diasporic literature across Canada. His writing explores cultural identity, intergenerational trauma, and belonging, and his work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies.
Come listen, connect, and celebrate the rich and evolving voices of Asian Canadian literature at TAIWANfest. Presented on Granville Street (700 block) on September 5–6, 2026, this special reading series celebrates Asian Canadian voices and creative expression through the written word.
Come listen, connect, and celebrate the rich and evolving voices of Asian Canadian literature at TAIWANfest. Presented on Granville Street (700 block) on September 5–6, 2026, this special reading series celebrates Asian Canadian voices and creative expression through the written word.