Gala Speaker – Wayson Choy

Alice Munro Writers and Readers Festival

September 28 – 29, 2013

Wayson Choy, novelist, memoirist and short-story writer was born in Vancouver in the spring of 1939. Raised in Vancouver's Chinatown by both his adoptive parents and his extended community, Wayson Choy was an only child whose father, a Canadian Pacific Ocean Steamship Line cook, was often away at sea. Choy attended the University of British Columbia (UBC) in the late 1950s to study creative writing under the tutelage of teacher and Canadian poet, Earle Birney. Choy began teaching English at Toronto's Humber College in 1967, where he was also a faculty member of the Humber School of Writers. 

Wayson Choy experienced some success with his early short stories, he didn’t return to writing in earnest until 1977, when he again enrolled in UBC's Creative Writing program. His story, "The Jade Peony," was later expanded from a short story into a full-length book, and was published as a novel in 1995.

After spending six months on the Globe and Mail bestseller list, The Jade Peony won the 1996 City of Vancouver Book Award. Choy and author Margaret Atwoood shared the 1996 Trillium Book Award. 

Following the success of his first novel, Choy published his second book, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood, in 1999 and this book was the winner of the Edna Staebler Creative Non-Fiction Award in 2000.  Choy's memoir was also nominated for a Governor General’s Award as well as being named as a 1999 Globe and Mail notable book of the year.  

All That Matters (2004), revisits the story of the Chen family, this time from the eldest son's point of view, finding his way in a new life in Vancouver. All That Matters was awarded the Trillium Book Award for 2004, and was shortlisted for the 2004 Scotiabank Giller Prize.   

WAYSON CHOY will be our guest at the Gala – Appreciating Alice, on Saturday, September 28, 2013 – at 5:30pm at the Wingham Golf Course.  Full details at this link.