June 28th, 6.00pm – 7.30pm (PST) at the Chinatown Storytelling Centre.
Join us for an evening of candid dialogue exploring 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 while sharing their experiences on navigating the complexities of representation in their writing journeys. Whether through fiction, journalism, or speculative storytelling, each writer offers a unique lens into what it means to be a Chinese Canadian writer in a world shifting.
JF Garrard is an award-winning speculative fiction writer, editor, publisher and host of The Artsy Raven podcast about writing and publishing. She is the President of Dark Helix Press, the Canadian Authors Association’s Toronto Branch President, and Deputy Editor for Ricepaper Magazine. Her portfolio of books and short fiction is listed on jfgarrard.com, and you can find her on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube @jfgarrard.
Rachel Phan is a Chinese Canadian author born and raised in a small town in Southern Ontario, where she was one of only two racialized people in her class. Growing up, Rachel always felt a little lost and a lot lonely. She sought escapism from her life by writing the stories she desperately wanted to see, ones where a Chinese-Vietnamese girl like her was the main character. It was no surprise when she got two journalism degrees and became a professional writer. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Master of Journalism program, she has shared her stories on CBC, HuffPost, the National Post, and Maclean’s. Rachel’s work often explores the impacts of racism, assimilation, fetishization, and forced displacement on one’s feelings of identity, belonging, and self-worth. Her debut book, Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging, publishes in Spring 2025. Rachel now lives in Toronto, ON. For more information, www.rachelphan.com and follow @rachelmphan.
Eddy Boudel Tan has been a finalist for the Edmund White Award, the ReLit Best Novel Award, and the Ferro-Grumley Award for his novels After Elias and The Rebellious Tide. The Writers’ Trust of Canada named him a Rising Star in 2021. His short stories can be found in Joyland, Yolk, and various literary journals and anthologies. The Tiger and the Cosmonaut from Penguin Canada is his third novel. Follow Eddy on Instagram (@eddyautomatic) and at eddyboudeltan.com.
Chinatown Storytelling Centre, 168 E Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1T5
We would like to acknowledge that our festival takes place on the unceded traditional territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Səl̓ílwətaɬ and xʷməθkwəy̓əm First Nations.
LiterASIAN 2025 