LiterASIAN: Creating from Scratch – Asian Canadian Literary Publications and their role in publishing and the community

This year’s festival GlobalAsian: from Grassroots to Globalization features authors and cultural activists from not only Canada, but across the Asian diaspora. As “Asian” cannot easily be defined within geographical borders of one continent, but rather a conceptual collection of experiences and memories, LiterASIAN shines a spotlight that critically examines what it means to be a storyteller of Asian descent.

This is the second year that LiterASIAN will be virtually broadcast live across the world festival will feature events featuring authors from across North America and the world.

Brooke Xiang from Chinatown Today, Leilan Wong & Olivia Lim from Tributaries, Justine Abigail Yu & Jocelyn Yu from Living Hyphen, Chris Patterson/Kawika Guillermo & David Ng from decomp

Moderated by Alyssa Sy de Jesus

Grassroots literary magazines and journals have been part of publishing since almost the time of the printing press, but throughout history, have played a critical role for emerging writers and editors. Made on the pure passion with little or no funding, these publications are often unglamorous artefacts of our current age of creative independence, but all inevitably encounter the same challenges that traditional commercial publications face: creating readership, meaningful content, and continuing relevance. Featuring three independent journals run by students, artists, and community activists from across Canada, this session highlights not only their work in the publishing field, but also insights from how these cultural producers created their publications from the ground up.

Register HERE.