LiterASIAN 2024: (Re)Dress

LiterASIAN returns with established and emerging literary voices coming together for a month of commemoration, celebration, and conversation showcasing the resilience and growth of Asian Canadian voices in CanLit. With this year’s theme of re(dress) 2024, the festival will include book readings, writing workshops, panel discussions, and an afternoon dimsum with the authors. Full events schedule available online.

This year’s featured authors include trailblazing Canadian writer Joy Kogawa (From the Lost and Found Department); politician-turned-author Ujjal Dosanjh (The Past is Never Dead); bestselling author Lindsay Wong (Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality); community worker and mentor Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio (Reuniting with Strangers); author and artist Keiko Honda (Accidental Blooms); and scholar and community researcher Angie Wong (Laughing Back at Empire).

“As one of Canada’s longest-running writers’ festivals, LiterASIAN Festival continues to spotlight Pan-Asian literary voices that have enriched Canadian literary culture,” says Festival Director Allan Cho. “This year’s festival is dedicated to our Ada Con, a founding director of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW), who devoted her life to the love of community, literature, and writing.”

LiterASIAN will take place in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown on the unceded Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil Waututh, and Squamish people. Events will be held at the Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall, Chinatown Storytelling Centre, Centre A International Art Gallery, and Floata Seafood Restaurant.

In collaboration with Word Vancouver Literary Festival, LiterASIAN will host a special fundraiser event, Wine and Words: Dimsum with the Authors. This event will feature an afternoon of food and festivities with all of the featured writers. It will include dim sum, wine tastings, author readings, and live and silent auctions.

Schedule:

Saturday, May 4 2024
2.00pm – 3.00pm: From the Lost and Found Department with Joy Kogawa
Featuring Joy Kogawa
Moderated by Ann-Marie Metten (Venue: Japanese Language School and Heritage Hall)

4.00pm – 5.00pm: Laughing Back at Empire – Asian Canadian activism from the Asianadian to Ricepaper Magazine
Featuring Angie Wong & Todd Wong
Moderated by Cheuk Kwan (Venue: Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art)

6.00pm – 7.30pm: Between Bowls of Borrowed Rice: Harvesting Hope Through Storytelling
Featuring Ujjal Dosanjh, Lindsay Wong, Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio, Keiko Honda
Moderated by Julia Lin (Venue: Chinatown Storytelling Centre)

Sunday, May 5 2024
12.00pm – 3.00pm: Wine and Words: Dim Sum with Authors
Featuring Joy Kogawa, Angie Wong, Ujjal Dosanjh, Lindsay Wong, Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio, Keiko Honda (Venue: Floata Seafood Restaurant)