In this important, prescient event, writers, and artists explore what it means to be Chinese in North America. They explore threats to Chinese North American heritage, community, and wellbeing including spreading gentrification across Vancouver, Toronto, and San Francisco, home to the largest Chinese diasporic populations in the West. They also offer a vividly accessible way to celebrate the sustained vibrance of these communities. Don’t miss this conversation with Daniel Innes and Christina Wong (Denison Avenue), Fae Myenne Ng (Orphan Bachelors), and Henry Tsang (White Riot). Moderated by Kevin Chong.
ASL Interpretation will be provided at this event.
Masks are mandatory at this event by request of an author.
Presented in partnership with Chinatown Storytelling Centre.
Event Participants:
KEVIN CHONG is the award-winning author of several books of fiction and nonfiction. His work has appeared in The Guardian, The Rumpus, and more. He currently lives in Vancouver and is an associate professor at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan campus.
DANIEL INNES’s extensive portfolio includes painting, installation, graphic and textile design, illustration, sign painting, and tattooing. He uses traditional commercial art techniques, with a focus on the process. He has a special interest in creating works that have the possibility of an immersive physical experience.
Daniel was born in the north end of Toronto and has lived in the Spadina–Chinatown neighbourhood for over 20 years. Watching the neighbourhood change over the years has ended his love affair with Toronto. His time is now spent between Toronto and his studio (an artist residency project) in Hyōgo, Japan.
FAE MYENNE NG is the author of bestseller and PEN/Faulkner Fiction finalist Bone and American Book Award winner Steer Toward Rock. Her work has been published in Harper’s Magazine, The New Republic, Ploughshares, and anthologized in Charlie Chan is Dead: An Anthology of Contemporary Asian American Fiction, Literature Across Cultures, The PEN Short Fiction Project, and The Pushcart Prize. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Guggenheim, the Lannan Foundation, the NEA, the Radcliffe Institute, and the Rockefeller Foundation. She teaches creative writing and literature in UC Berkeley’s Department of Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies.
HENRY TSANG is an artist who explores the spatial politics of history, language, community, food, and cultural translation in relationship to place. His artworks take the form of gallery exhibitions, 360-degree video walking tours, curated dinners, and public art. Henry teaches at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.
CHRISTINA WONG is a playwright, prose writer, and a multidisciplinary artist who also works in sound installation, audio documentaries, and photography. Her plays have been performed at Factory Studio, Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace, and Palmerston Library Theatre. Her work has also appeared in TOK Magazine, the Toronto Star, and on CJRU 1280AM.
