Excerpts from Reimagining ChinaTOwn: Speculative Fiction Stories from Toronto’s Chinatown(s) in 2050. (Preface by Linda Zhang)
What would it look like for Chinatown to thrive instead of just survive? Who holds the right to decide how Chinatown’s future is … more »
He was walking briskly along the travelator, pulling his suitcase behind him, when the thought appeared in his mind—what if it were possible to determine the exact date of our deaths?
Would he opt to remain in oblivion, living … more »
This is how it may start to end,
round of applause for the chief exec
to exit, quaintly hugging
in a photo op her family,
handshake, flowers.
There is no such easy exit tho,
one side wants blood,
the other … more »
Don’t call them dogs.
Protest is merely a sound
for ears that must stay deaf
for those who feed above.
They are more bothersome,
just as you are bothersome
as a roach, they are people
who have reasons of their … more »
Tin Yuet, Sky Joy, also a public estate building’s name:
meals by good friends’ parents always make you doubt
if yours have been serving you the right recipes.
We ate everything. Wai Ching’s parents could deep fry
a slipper … more »
The graduation ceremony
had to end early, the chancellor
left with guards. Students
held signs in black gowns, saying,
“You can’t kill us all.”
How do we live up to that?
Inaudible, the sound of choice
midst human traffic.
These … more »
Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Jessalyn Wanlim, of Filipino and Chinese-Indonesian descent, pursued dance at the National Ballet School of Canada and furthered her artistic endeavors at The Juilliard School in New York. She is widely known for her roles in … more »
Wayne Ng was born in downtown Toronto to Chinese immigrants who fed him a steady diet of bitter melons and kung fu movies. Ng works as a school social worker in Ottawa but lives to write, travel, eat and play, … more »
Or so the collective chant goes,
but no, ideas are not bulletproof,
they can be usefully forgotten.
What did you do a month ago?
Truth is, I want you to be safe,
want you to sleep so I can sleep.… more »
Don’t betray me,
his brow suggests
behind a covering.
I offer him a beer
as reconciliation,
which he refuses
in the presence of
cops. It’s not illegal
to drink publicly here,
I should mention.
I have sketched out
a park … more »