LiterASIAN Festival 2026 -- When Railways Were Highways: Remembering Jim Wong-Chu

Long before Asian Canadian writing was institutionally recognized, Jim and the pioneers of his generation built pathways where none existed, transforming railways, symbols of exclusion and labour, into highways of connection, storytelling, and belonging. This panel brings together writers whose creative lives were shaped by the mentorship, advocacy, and generosity of Jim Wong-Chu, who is a foundational figure in Asian Canadian literature and cultural organizing. This panel of writers reflect on how Jim nurtured emerging voices, insisted on the importance of community over individual acclaim, and modelled a literary practice rooted in care and cultural memory. Through personal stories, reflections on mentorship, and discussions of their artistic lineage, this conversation honours Jim’s belief that writing is not only an act of expression but also a responsibility to the history and community of those who come after. The panel invites audiences to consider how mentorship can be a form of resistance and how literary communities are built. Evelyn Lau is an award-winning Canadian poet, novelist, short story writer, and memoirist based in Vancouver. She is the author of more than a dozen books, including the groundbreaking memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, published when she was just eighteen, which has become a landmark work in Canadian literature. Lau’s writing is known for its emotional precision, lyrical intensity, and unflinching honesty. Her poetry and prose explore themes of identity, survival, intimacy, urban life, and transformation, often drawing from lived experience with remarkable clarity and grace. Her work has been widely taught, translated, and recognized with numerous honours, including the Pat Lowther Memorial Award and the Milton Acorn People’s Poetry Award. From 2011 to 2014, she served as Poet Laureate of the City of Vancouver, where she championed poetry as a vital public art and mentored emerging writers. Yasuko Thanh is an award-winning writer from Vancouver Island and a Creative Writing instructor at the University of Victoria. She won the 2009 Journey Prize for the title story in her collection Floating Like the Dead. Her debut novel, Mysterious Fragrance of the Yellow Mountains—a historical tale set in Vietnam—won the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize in 2016. Her best-selling memoir, Mistakes to Run With, which traces her journey from sex work to literary success, was nominated for the Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. Her literary work is profoundly intertwined with social justice themes, aiming to confront existing biases and advocate for significant change. Her most recent novel, To the Bridge, was published by Penguin Random House in 2023. Her next novel, The Falling Maria, is forthcoming with them in 2027. Jessica Chan is the former Editor-in-Chief of Ricepaper, a nationally-distributed Asian Canadian arts and literary magazine. During her tenure, she worked with Jim Wong-Chu to mentor emerging writers, shape the publication’s voice, and establish Asian Canadian writing as a literary genre in its own right. Today, Jessica Chan is a corporate-commercial lawyer at Torkin Manes LLP. She has built her legal career by taking untraditional paths, and is passionate about helping professionals navigate language, jurisdictional, systemic and cultural hurdles. Jessica continues to be an enthusiastic advocate for mentorship, equity, diversity and inclusivity, both in law and the arts. Jessica is currently a Director for the Board of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (FACL), where she co-chairs the Mentorship Committee. Jessica received her J.D. from Dalhousie University and holds a Masters of Publishing from Simon Fraser University. Her work has appeared in Ricepaper and Strike the Wok: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Canadian Fiction. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys fusion cooking (or eating!), making up stories about fantastical worlds, and exploring new places with her camera. 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.