Join us for the Asian Heritage Month Literary Celebration!
This event is free and open to all. First come, first served. Space is limited, and for building access, registration is required in advance. Registration will close once full.
- Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025
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Location: The Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, 8th Floor, Robarts Library, 130 St. George Street, Toronto
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Registration Link: https://forms.gle/M81HLpN2wiCdmPmE8
Event Part I: LiterASIAN Toronto 2025
Time: 1:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. (EDT) (Doors open at 1 p.m.)
Event Part II: Book Launch Celebration of Infusion: A Ricepaper Anthology
Time: 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EDT)
Event Part I: LiterASIAN Toronto 2025
We are pleased to invite you to LiterASIAN Toronto 2025, hosted by the University of Toronto’s Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library in collaboration with the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW).
This year’s theme, "Origins", explores heritage and resilience, reflecting two significant milestones:
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The 30th anniversary of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW)
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The centennial of the Chinese Exclusion Act
The theme holds particular significance, connecting ACWW’s decades-long commitment to amplifying Asian Canadian voices with a critical period in Canadian history when the voices of Chinese Canadians were institutionally silenced. The festival offers a fusion of past and present, encouraging a renewed appreciation of identity, cultural preservation, and creative empowerment within today’s Asian Canadian literary scene. Writers will engage in a literary dialogue that fosters cultural understanding, promotes diversity, and amplifies Asian Canadian voices.
Moderator
Carrianne Leung is a fiction writer and assistant professor at the University of Guelph in Creative Writing. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and Equity Studies from OISE/University of Toronto. She is the co-editor with Lynn Caldwell and Darryl Leroux of Critical Inquiries: A Reader in Studies of Canada. Her debut novel, The Wondrous Woo, published by Inanna Publications was shortlisted for the 2014 Toronto Book Awards. Her collection of linked stories, That Time I Loved You, was released in 2018 by HarperCollins and in 2019 in the US by Liveright Publishing. It received starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews, named as one of the Best Books of 2018 by CBC, That Time I Loved You was awarded the Danuta Gleed Literary Award 2019, shortlisted for the Toronto Book Awards 2019 and long listed for Canada Reads 2019. Leung’s work has also appeared in The Puritan, Ricepaper, The Globe and Mail, Room Magazine, Prairie Fire and Open Book Ontario. She is currently working on a new novel, titled The After to be released by Harper Collins Canada in spring 2026.
Panelist
Leanne Toshiko Simpson is a mixed-race Yonsei writer, educator, and psychiatric survivor from Toronto. She loves writing joyful, messy, laugh-out-loud stories about living with mental illness and the moments of hope that help us get out of bed day after day. Leanne is a graduate of the University of Toronto Scarborough’s Creative Writing program and the University of Guelph’s MFA. She is currently completing an EdD in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. Leanne teaches BIPOC literature and disability arts seminars at Trinity College. Her debut novel, Never Been Better, was released by HarperCollins Canada and Penguin in the U.S., and was named one of CBC's Best Books of 2024.
Wayne Ng was born in Anishinaabe land in what is commonly known as downtown Toronto to Chinese immigrants who fed him a steady diet of bitter melon and kung fu movies. Wayne is a social worker who lives to write, travel, eat, and play, preferably all at the same time. He is an award-winning author and traveller who continues to push his boundaries from the Arctic to the Antarctic. He lives in Ottawa with his wife and goldfish.
Ng is the author of Letters From Johnny (winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Award for Best Crime Novella and Ottawa Book Award finalist); Johnny Delivers (recommended by The Globe and Mail and CBC Books); The Family Code (Ottawa Book Award and Guernica Prize finalist).
Mai Nguyen is a Vietnamese Canadian author based in Toronto. Her debut novel Sunshine Nails—about a Vietnamese family that will stop at nothing to save their ailing nail salon—was longlisted for Canada Reads, and was selected as one of the best books of 2023 by NPR and CBC. Her second book will be published in Spring 2026.
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Event Part II: Book Launch Celebration of Infusion: A Ricepaper Anthology
Infusion Unveiled: Stories from the Asian Canadian Mosaic
Join us for an afternoon celebrating the launch of Infusion: A Ricepaper Anthology, a powerful collection amplifying the voices of Asian Canadian authors and writers from the Asian diaspora. The event will feature readings by contributing writers Mihan Han, Garry Engkent, Hana Kim, Victoria Sa, Ling Chen, Justin Timbol, and Amardeep Kaur. Their work thoughtfully explores themes of identity, belonging, resilience, and creativity, capturing the rich and diverse experiences of Asian communities in Canada and beyond.
The program will also feature a special reading of My Aunt, a poignant poem by the late Jim Wong-Chu, published posthumously in this anthology. Whether you are a long-time supporter of Ricepaper or encountering these dynamic voices for the first time, this launch promises to be an inspiring celebration of storytelling, culture, and community. 
Garry Engkent is a Chinese Canadian writer whose short stories have appeared in publications such as Asianadian, Many-Mouthed Birds, and Ricepaper Magazine. His widely anthologized piece, “Why My Mother Can’t Speak English,” remains one of his most recognized works. He has also co-authored textbooks, including Essay Do’s and Don’ts for Oxford Canada. More recently, he has begun exploring the horror genre.
Ling Ge is an immigrant author based in Toronto. Her writing has appeared in Ricepaper, The New Quarterly, The Heron's Nest, Acorn, and elsewhere. Her first published short story was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her debut poetry chapbook, Snow Flowers, is forthcoming from Anstruther Press.
Mihan Han was born in Mudanjiang, China, and as a child, journeyed with his parents to the United States before eventually putting down roots in Canada. Though he briefly considered a writing career in his youth, he—like many in the stereotypical Asian narrative—acquiesced to his parents’ wishes and became a physician. He now practices internal medicine in Scarborough, Ontario, and writes poetry on the side, with work appearing in publications such as Ricepaper Magazine. Also a composer and songwriter, he releases music under the artist name Lucius Easen, available on all major streaming platforms.
Amardeep Kaur was born and raised in Hong Kong and now resides in Tkaronto. She is a lecturer at the University of Toronto, where she teaches courses on Canada–Hong Kong migration and Sikhism. Kaur holds a PhD in Geography as well as a diploma in Asian Studies from York University. Her research has explored the now-famous SS Komagata Maru ship from its Hong Kong origins, where it first received its Sikh name, Guru Nanak Jahaz. A multidisciplinary scholar, her intellectual impetus is driven by opening poetics to decolonial geographies and religious Earth thought. When she is not writing or teaching, she enjoys walking and sipping endless cups of cha.
Hana Kim is the Director of the 
Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library at the University of Toronto. She has published and presented widely on Asian Canadian heritage, diversity, and East Asian studies librarianship. In 2009, she co-launched the Korean Canadian Heritage Archives with the University of British Columbia. Hana contributed a chapter to Creating an Inclusive Library (ACRL Press, 2024) and edited Asian Canadian Voices: Facets of Diversity (University of Toronto East Asian Library, 2022). She is also the translator of Love is the Pain of Feverish Flowers (Seoul Selection, 2016). Her translations and poetry have appeared in Ricepaper Magazine and other publications. Hana served as President of the Council on East Asian Libraries from 2020 to 2022. Her work has been recognized with the Samsung Life Bichumi Women’s Special Award (2008) and the Korean Canadian Heritage Award (2018).
Victoria Sa is a Burmese-Karen Canadian writer and poet. She holds a BA in English and Creative Writing from York University. Her favourite genres to write in are contemporary, romance, and comedy. Centering themes of self-identity, she aims to weave Burmese-Karen culture into her work, creating spaces of both solace and humour. When she’s not writing, Victoria can be found binging Asian dramas, reading novels and webtoons, or diving into a new DIY hobby. She currently lives in Toronto, Canada. Find her on Instagram at @thelitvicblog.
Justin Timbol is a Filipino writer from Mississauga, ON. His work has appeared in This Magazine, CV2, The Ampersand Review, the League of Canadian Poets, and elsewhere. A while back, he was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize and shortlisted for the Foster Poetry Prize.
Book Sale
Onsite book sales will be provided by the University of Toronto Bookstore and the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop (ACWW). Credit card only.
Click here to view a PDF version of the event poster.
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