When: Wednesday, November 30. Doors 7:30pm, readings 8pm.
Where: VIVO Media Arts, 1965 Main Street, Vancouver, BC
Who: Janey Lew, Rita Wong, Ray Hsu, Valerie Sing Turner plus other guests TBA!
Includes food and refreshments, with a cash bar.
$10-$15 entrance; $15 comes with a 1-year subscription!
RSVP on our Facebook event page

Whatever you think (or don’t think) about philosophy, Ricepaper is interested in learning more from its contributors. If you have a story, a poem, a comment, or picture that can foster a deeper appreciation for the relationship between ART, CULTURE, and PHILOSOPHY, we would love to hear from you!

For submission guidelines and inspirations on our theme, read through our 16.4 Faith and Philosophy call for submissions and contact Editor Eury Chang at editor@ricepapermagazine.ca.

The UBC Faculty of Arts and the Departments of Theatre and Film, Asian Studies, and English are co-sponsoring a staged reading at UBC of  Thunderstorm, which was written by one of most renowned contemporary playwrights, Cao Yu. Cao Yu was known as the “Shakespeare of the Orient,” and Thunderstorm remains one of his best known works – a tale of fatalism, retribution, and incest.

Asian Canadians are by no means a homogenous group. In addition to differences in taste, style, education, look, and social status, the pan-Asian community, as with Canadian society at large, is made up of many different generations. Baby Boomers (b. 1946-64), Generation X’ers (b. 1965-78) and the emerging wave of Generation Y’ers (b. 1980 onwards) interpret the Asian Canadian experience from their own unique perspectives and vantage points. We are please to announce that the next issue of Ricepaper will be devoted to stories, ideas, and illustrations around the broad theme of “Generations.”

Ricepaper is pleased to accept creative and critical writing about the generations that have come before us, and the generations that will largely determine life in the 21st century. Do you wonder how members of a society so accustomed to “the new, the trendy and the innovative” can honour their own cultural and familial history? How does the new and relatively privileged generation relate to traditional notions of hierarchy and authority? What creates a perceived generation gap, anyhow? Is ageism simply proof of the need for individual power and self-fulfillment? And how do Asian Canadians keep abreast of current affairs and complex issues, while honouring the wisdom and experience of their predecessors? When wrestling with these questions, may we always remember those who walked, fought and laughed before us…

Please visit this page for the official call for submissions and for information on how to submit to Ricepaper! If you have further questions or comments, email Eury Chang at editor@ricepapermagazine.ca.

Ricepaper 15th Anniversary celebration on W2TV from Sid Tan on Vimeo.

Ricepaper magazine celebrated its 15th anniversary at Foo’s Ho Ho Restaurant on Saturday, December 11, 2010. The celebration was organized by tireless Ricepaper, Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop and Friends of Foo’s Ho Ho volunteers and supporters.Ricepaper is Canada’s only nationally-distributed literary magazine devoted to showcasing Asian Canadian artists, writers, performers and innovators. For 15 years, Ricepaper has published important work for and about Asian Canadian community luminaries while also providing opportunities for emerging talent to publish their work.

Tetsuro Shigematsu and Todd Wong co-hosted as Tradewind Books (publishers Michael Katz and Carol Frank) and writer/poet Evelyn Lau were honoured for community building.

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Thanks to Jim Wong-Chu, Jacqueline Young (Friends of Foo’s Ho Ho) and all our volunteers.

More pictures and a recap of the evening from Toddish McWong:
ACWW Community Builder Awards to Evelyn Lau and Tradewind Books at the 15th Anniversary Ricepaper Dinner [Gung Haggis Fat Choy]

When: November 18, 2010 (tomorrow!)
Time: 7 to 8:30 pm
Where: Studio, Museum of Vancouver, 1100 Chestnut Street
Tickets: It’s free! But you can RSVP on Museum of Vancouver’s Facebook event page here

Tomorrow night, go to “An Evening with author Paul Yee,” an event co-presented by the Chinese Canadian Historical Society and the Museum of Vancouver. Paul Yee is an award-winning Chinese Canadian author of several children’s books including The Bone Collector’s Son (highly recommended by yours truly) and Ghost Train, which won the Governor General’s Award for English language children’s literature in 1996. He also contributed the chilling tale “The Dark Room” to the short story anthology Henry Chow and other stories. Saltwater City, an illustrated history of Vancouver’s Chinese population, earned the City of Vancouver Book Award in 1989 (it was revised and redesigned in 2006 to include the years 1987 to 2001).

Paul will be speaking on his book I am Canada: Blood and Iron: Building the Railway, the latest in Scholastic Canada’s “I am Canada” series. Written in a diary format, Blood and Iron tells the story of 14-year-old Heen who comes to Canada as a railway worker with his father in order to reduce  his father and grandfather’s gambling debts back in China. What follows reveals the incredible sacrifices made by Chinese workers building the transcontinental railway. Blood and Iron will be available for sale at the event by Sitka Books & Art.

For more information contact info@cchsbc.ca.

In celebration of Ricepaper’s 15th anniversary, we’re sending out a callout for photos from anyone who’s ever worked with or been involved with Ricepaper magazine! Dig through the musty back corners of your attic, desk or your hard drive or wherever you keep your old photos – if you have any photos of your time at Ricepaper or group photos of people who used to work at Ricepaper, please send them our way at editor@ricepapermagazine.ca.

When sending the photos please include the following information:

1. The year the photo was taken
2. The name of the photographer
3. The names of the people in the photo and their relationship with Ricepaper.
4. (Optional) Any other useful information (i.e. the event the photo was taken, fond [or not so fond] memories or backstory behind the photo).

If you’re unable to send the photos to us in digital format, no worries, just shoot us an email with your contact information and a description of the photo and we’ll try to arrange something.

Images will be accepted until October 10 (next Sunday).

All photos by Josephine Chow

The sold out Henry Chow and other stories book anthology launch during University of British Columbia’s Alumni weekend was well attended. Marty Chan, Kagan Goh, Fiona Lam, Kellee Ngan, Linda Mah, and Hanako Masutani were generous enough to donate their time and read excerpts of their short fiction while poet-scholar Ray Hsu emceed. The afternoon began when Janet Woo, coordinator of the Bedtime Stories Project Committee, spoke on the history and origins of Henry Chow. Henry Chow initially went through some stops and starts and was actually several years in the making. Two calls for submission were sent out and the target audience of the book changed from little kids (hence the “Bedtime Stories Project Committee” moniker) to teenagers. Michael Katz of Tradewind also spoke on the evolution of the project and acknowledged the organizations and people responsible for Henry Chow finally reaching our bookshelves (including the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop [ACWW] and community mainstay and ACWW/Ricepaper founder Jim Wong-Chu).

Although all the readings were excellent, one highlight was Kagan Goh’s reading of “The Boy Who Faked Kung Fu” which is a humorous tale of Kagan’s method of defense against bullies which is – you guessed it – by faking kung fu. Kagan Goh was able to make his reading into a reading/performance by enthusiastically demonstrating martial arts moves such as “the praying mantis, the snake in the eagle’s shadow, the drunken monkey in the tiger’s eye.”  Fiona Tinwei Lam’s lyrical “Air,” which also depicted bullying, but this time with a silent and beaten-down-by-life teen protagonist. All the stories that were read out illustrated typical but wide-ranging aspects of teenage life – from bullying to family embarrassments (Kellee Ngan’s “The Fan Family Orchestra”) to romantic rivalries (Hanako Masutani’s “Beached”) and the all-too-common problems associated with having frenemies (Linda Mah’s “California Dreamin’”) and even driving lessons, albeit with a supernatural undertone (Marty Chan’s “Driven”). And the book launch accomplished what all good book launches should do after an afternoon of first-quality readings – leave the audience wanting even more.

Reviews of Henry Chow online

rabble.ca review (“Asian Canadian bedtime stories target teens”)

CM Magazine review

papertigers.org review