Book Launch – ‘The Walking Boy’ by Lydia Kwa – March 22 at 7PM

Join Novelist Lydia Kwa
and
Arsenal Pulp Press
for the launch of
‘The Walking boy’
in Vancouver
Friday, March 22nd at 7pm
Massy Books
229 E. Georgia Street
Vancouver

This compelling story happens in the magical time of Wu Zhao, China’s first woman emperor, in Tang Dynasty during the 8th century. The novel was first published by Key Porter Books in 2005, and now, it is celebrating a second life with Arsenal Pulp Press.

More about the Author
lydiakwa.com
More about the novel
https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/T/The-Walking-Boy
..

‘words by me’ by Ayesha Durrani

Violated and repressed by twisted cultural toxicity
And stories misinterpreted to keep her in captivity
Hiding away the power of her enormous life force energy.
.
Backed by generations of women who did not have the luxury
Born to blaze in the expression of her sacred physicality
She will never, never, never. Be your property.
.

‘(New Year’s Eve)’ a poem by Sana Janjua

‘i am fewer in pieces than your estimation of my splintered self’

it’s here
the stabbing of the heart
pulsating

gritty against my eyes
like Nusrat says it is
until it no longer is

the sealine seamlessly beckons
inviting the gulls to conjure up the final witnessing
of the birth of turtles

omnipresent
eternally towering
like this island

i hum discursiveness
about the fire
into the dark road

i lighten up
with an out of tune song
to say i too noticed those roses

(thank you,
Michelle.)

concealing my mossy green ideation
as if what had to be sanctified shall be
at this attempt of mine

to put your life in order
or mine
or this composure of time which tells

we met commemorating
what genocide left us with
your people and mine

it’s my heart
i sleep with the fool
and know it better than the aloofness of a poem

a trigger is a doorknock
a stranger pouring coffee two aisles away
a long pause to announce the guilt is mine to possess

what does it retain?
the shunting of memory leaves behind marks
that a singular morning ray reveals damage to be beyond control

this was the last time
i ever planned to speak of it
i am fewer in pieces than your estimation of my splintered self

it’s the sweetest
and preserved as such
it shall be our our lasting love apart from each other.
..

Book Launch: ‘FINDING MR. WONG’ by Susan Crean – Oct 11 – 5pm – Sun Yat-Sen garden – Vancouver

Talonbooks
and
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden Society of Vancouver
invite you
to the book launch of
‘Finding Mr. Wong’
A memoir by Susan Crean

October 11, 2018
5 PM (Doors at 4:30 PM)
The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
578 Carrall St., Vancouver, BC
Free event

Download Poster
Poster_Finding Mr. Wong (1)

‘Finding Mr. Wong is an important contribution to a growing body of writings that illuminate the lives of people silenced or otherwise negated by myopic history.’

‘Susan Crean was born and raised in Toronto. She studied and traveled in Europe in the sixties, and acquired two degrees in art history. She worked as a freelance journalist and television producer through the seventies and began writing full-time in 1981. She has been a member of the editorial collective of This Magazine since 1979. She was also Chair of The Writers’ Union from 1991-92.’ Susan has published seven books including ‘The Laughing One: A Journey to Emily Carr’ that was nominated for a Governor General’s award and won the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (B.C. Book Prizes) in 2002.
https://writersunion.ca/member/susan-crean

‘Finding Mr. Wong’ by Susan Crean
Talonbooks 2017
$19.95 | 272 pages | Pub. Date: 2017
5.5 W × 8.5 H × 1 D inches
ISBN 13: 9781772011944
talonbooks.com/books/finding-mr-wong
..

Adding ‘Complexity’ to the ‘Simplicity’ of Racist Constructions – and a rabbit that was not allowed to come out of the hat

‘I had a four-month long debilitating experience of this ‘deep and submerged’ racism while working with another non-profit organization whose claim to anti-racism, or ‘diversity’ (their name for it), was to hire a hijab-wearing woman as their receptionist. Perhaps I was the only Person of Color ever hired by them in a decision-making role (the Project Lead); and, it seemed they didn’t know what to do with me. I was honored when they offered me the job on the basis of my work with Surrey Muse, as well as my ideas about the project that I had earlier presented in their community consultation meetings, and so I was delighted to accept. Three other people were also hired at the same time to look after publicity, technical direction, and coordination of available resources. I was asked by the Project Manager to develop a plan on the basis of project mandate and the notes from community-consultation meetings. I worked full-time (and into overtime) for the next three weeks to research and develop our plan, that was then sent to the Project Manager and the other three hired staff. That’s when strangeness began, where two opposites were at work at the same time, and one could not know which one was operating when.’

via Adding ‘Complexity’ to the ‘Simplicity’ of Racist Constructions – and a rabbit that was not allowed to come out of the hat