Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of ACWW – Dimsum featuring Cheuk Kwan, Alyssa Sy de Jesus, Sean Gunn/Effie Pow, & special guest Larry Grant

The Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW) marked its 50th anniversary with a joyful dim sum celebration honouring a historic moment in Asian Canadian literary history—the merger of the Japanese Powell Street Revue and the Chinese Canadian Writers’ Workshop. This milestone gathering commemorated the spirit of solidarity and creativity that led to ACWW’s first groundbreaking project, Inalienable Rice (1979), the pioneering anthology that gave voice to a new generation of Asian Canadian writers. The afternoon was filled with food, laughter, and reflection as community members, writers, and elders gathered to celebrate five decades of cultural resistance, storytelling, and collective vision.

Cheuk Kwan opened with a reading from Have You Eaten Yet and Linda Lau Anusasananan’s The Hakka Cookbook: Chinese Soul Food from Around the World, followed by Alyssa Sy de Jesus’ heartfelt poem honouring Jim Wong-Chu, inspired by her archival journey and his lasting mentorship. Sean Gunn and Effie Pow reflected on the groundbreaking collaboration between the Chinese Canadian Writers’ Workshop and the Japanese Powell Revue, whose unity sparked five decades of creativity and activism, and the publication of Inalienable Rice. Other authors who joined us for this event included Henry Tsang (White Riot), Janie Chang (The Porcelain Moon), David HT Wong (Escape to Gold Mountain), and Scott Steedman (Visions of British Columbia). The event culminated in a festive cake-cutting ceremony and group photo, before many attendees continued to celebrate Larry Grant’s remarkable book launch of Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong and his 89th birthday at the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum.

 

Carrying the Light: Inaugural Gathering with award-winning poet Tāriq Malik

Carrying the Light: Inaugural Gathering will open with the warmth of Musqueam storytelling, grounding the evening in the ancestral lands on which we gather. Juxtaposed with this living knowledge, Kathak artist Palak will bring the ancient North Indian storytelling tradition of dance to life, weaving movement, rhythm, and narrative in a performance honoring teachers, renewal, and the triumph of light over darkness. Interlacing these traditions, award-winning poet Tāriq Malik will share new work inspired by fall harvests, flooded rivers, and the luminous poetry of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, reflecting on migration, memory, and the light that carries us forward. Together, these voices will offer an intercultural celebration of resilience, transformation, and shared futures for the Festival of Lights.

Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 6:30–8:30 PM
Great Hall, Museum of Anthropology at UBC
RSVP required by October 17, 2025

Vancouver Writers Fest: Visions of Chinatown, Friday Oct 24, 2025

Vancouver’s Chinatown is a vibrant cultural hub, and these two locally published titles capture both its striking visual ambience, which draws countless photographers and visitors to its streets, and the rich and diverse histories contained within. Donna Seto’s gorgeous illustrations of the neighbourhood’s historical buildings are collected in Chinatown Vancouver, alongside interviews with community members and information about these cultural sites. Carol Lee, founder of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, joins us with Vitality, pairing stunning photographs of Chinatown in the ‘50s, ’60s, and ’70s with interviews and historical insights gathered by the Chinatown Storytelling Centre. This event will be a feast for the eyes while celebrating the resilience and contributions of Chinatown’s communities.

Fri Oct 24, 2025 | 10:00 AM | Waterfront Theatre 1412 Cartwright St, Vancouver

Registration

Book Launch of “Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong” by Larry Grant and Scott Steedman at the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum on Saturday, September 14, 2025

ACWW and Chinatown Wonders present the launch of Larry Grant’s personal and historical story of identity, place, and belonging, as told by a Musqueam-Chinese Elder caught between cultures.

It’s taken most of Larry Grant’s long life for his extraordinary heritage to be appreciated. He was born in a hop field outside Vancouver in 1936, the son of a Musqueam cultural leader and an immigrant from a village in Guangdong, China. In 1940, when the Indian agent discovered that their mother had married a non-status man, Larry and his two siblings were stripped of their status, suddenly labeled “bastard children.” With one stroke of the pen, they were no longer recognized as Indigenous.

In Reconciling, Larry tells the story of his life, including his thoughts on reconciliation and the path forward for First Nations and Canada. His life echoes the barely known story of Vancouver — and most cities in the Americas, from Cusco to Mexico City, from New York to Toronto. It combines Indigenous traditions with key events of the last two centuries, including Chinese immigration and the Head Tax, the ravages of residential schools, and now Indigenous revival and the accompanying change in worldview. Each chapter takes the form of a series of conversations between Larry and writer Scott Steedman and is built around one pivotal geographical place and its themes, including the Musqueam reserve, Chinatown, the site of the Mission Residential School, the Vancouver docks, and the University of British Columbia.

When Larry talks about reconciliation, he uses the verb reconciling, an ongoing, unfinished process we’re all going through, Indigenous and settler, immigrant and Canadian-born. “I have been reconciling my whole life, with my inner self,” he explains. “To not belong was forced upon me by the colonial society that surrounded me. But reconciling with myself is part of all that.”

Location: Chinese Cultural Centre Museum (555 Columbia Street, Vancouver).

Please RSVP: bit.ly/reconcilingsept14

Pre-order your copy here. Net proceeds from book sales will go towards Musqueam language projects, including a multilingual children's book on Larry Grant's childhood.

LiterASIAN 2025 Presents "Ink and Identity: Narratives from the Chinese Diasporic Experience"

This session explored the intersections of identity, storytelling, and belonging within the Chinese diaspora. Acclaimed writers Rachel Phan, JF Garrard, and Eddy Boudel Tan discuss how their personal and collective histories shape their work across genres, sharing their experiences navigating the complexities of representation in their writing journeys. Whether through fiction, journalism, or speculative storytelling, each writer offers a distinct perspective on what it means to be a Chinese Canadian writer in a rapidly changing world. 

This event was held at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre on Saturday, June 28, 2025.
The featured speakers included: JF Garrard, Eddy Boudel Tan, Rachel Phan, and moderator Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho.

Food and the Chinese Diaspora on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at VPL

Author Cheuk Kwan (Have you Eaten Yet?) interviewed members of the Chinese diaspora for his book. He then asked these Chinese transplants about what drove them to their new homes and what they like to eat and cook. Kwan will be in conversation with Kevin Chong, author of The Double Life of Benson Yu and Associate Professor of the University of British Columbia Okanagan and Judy Lam Maxwell, culinary-heritage tourism entrepreneur, will lead with introductory remarks.


Speakers
Cheuk Kwan grew up in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. He co-founded in 1978 The Asianadian, a magazine dedicated to promoting Asian Canadian arts, culture and politics. Kwan’s fifteen-part Chinese Restaurants (2005) documentary braids his personal experiences with his love of travel and appreciation for Chinese culture worldwide. His 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.

Kevin Chong is the author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction, most recently the novel The Double Life of Benson Yu, which was a finalist for the 2023 Giller Prize and named a Best Book of Canadian Fiction by the CBC. His creative nonfiction and journalism have recently appeared in Time Magazine, Literary Hub, Montecristo, and The Globe and Mail. An associate professor at the University of British Columbia, he lives in Vancouver with his family.

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 and 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.

In partnership with the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop.

Tuesday, September 16, 2025
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Central Library

Registration