My Roots Poetry Workshop
Applications are open now for the Vancouver Writers Fest’s annual writing workshop for immigrants, My Roots. This year’s workshop will focus on poetry!
Date: Saturday, June 7th, 1–5pm
Location: Suite Genius, 225 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: Free to apply and free to attend! (An application is required.)
Eligibility: Participants must be aged 19+ and identify as an immigrant to Canada.
The author of fourteen books, including nine volumes of poetry, workshop instructor Evelyn Lau will read from and discuss some of her own work related to culture and place, and provide prompts that will engage participants to create their own poems on these subjects.
All levels of writers are welcome, and attendance is free. My Roots is only open to immigrants to Canada.
As spaces are limited, applying doesn’t guarantee attendance.
Selected candidates will be emailed if they are confirmed to attend.
About the My Roots Poetry Workshop
Amidst all the clamour and confusion, the demands and distractions of our days, where do we find a guided space to delve into our inner lives? A space to ask: Where did we come from, and where are we now? Please join poet Evelyn Lau on Saturday, June 7 for a writing workshop where immigrants will be encouraged to find the words to explore their past experiences and present lives.
This will be an afternoon to generate ideas, images, and fragments that participants can later refine into finished poems, using techniques Evelyn will suggest. It will also be a safe place to open up about the personal stories behind our written words, if desired. In addition, there will be time for a Q&A session on any aspect of creativity and craft, editing and publishing, and the ups and downs of a writer’s life in Canada.
Participants will leave with a piece of writing that they can publish on the Vancouver Writers Fest website and in our newsletter.
About the Instructor
EVELYN LAU is a lifelong Vancouverite who has authored fourteen books, including nine volumes of poetry. Her memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid (HarperCollins, 1989), published when she was eighteen, was made into a CBC movie starring Sandra Oh in her first major role. Evelyn’s prose books have been translated into a dozen languages; her poetry has received the Milton Acorn People’s Poet Award, the Pat Lowther Award for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman, and a National Magazine Award, as well as nominations for a BC Book Prize and the Governor-General’s Award. Her poems have appeared in hundreds of journals and anthologies, including the Best Canadian Poetry series. From 2011-2014, Evelyn served as Poet Laureate for the City of Vancouver.
My Roots Application
Applications for the 2025 My Roots workshop are now closed. If you applied, keep an eye on your inbox!