Happy 2018 everyone! It’s been so long since I have last blogged so I feel like I should really update my website and start posting more about my writing again. 🙂 Here is a (very delayed) year-in-review post for 2017, as well as some notes about my upcoming plans, projects, and goals for 2018. 2017 was a really amazing and busy year with lots of first-time experiences for me, such as serving on a contest jury for the first time and appearing on my first panel, for which I’m really grateful. I want to take this chance to some of my work with you, so please excuse the bragging, and thank you, fellow writers and readers, for all your support!
2017 Publications & Awards
- “Straw Man” was published in Abyss & Apex (2017), and is eligible for a Rhysling Award nomination by Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association Members.
- Another poem, “an incomplete elegy,” was published in LooseLeaf Magazine. (2017)
- My short story “Drifters” was a finalist for The Malahat Review’s 2017 Far Horizons Award for Short Fiction.
- “Absent” was accepted by Contemporary Verse 2, to appear in an upcoming issue.
- I also collected a wide array of rejection letters, including personalized letters from some of my favorite literary magazines that said I came close and should submit again.
- I wrote 60k of a very rough draft of my thesis novel, and got to meet some writers who I really admire, like Patrick Rothfuss, Hiromi Goto, and Jillian Tamaki. Yay for signed books 😛
2017 Literary Events & Community Involvement
- I’m absolutely delighted to now be a part of Room Magazine’s Editorial Collective, including helping out with Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Festival as the Volunteer Coordinator, and serving as an Assistant Editor for the recently launched Room’s issue 40.4 Let’s Make Contact.
- I also returned to Ricepaper Magazine as their Poetry Editor, where I have helped to edit for the “Celebrate” and “Reflection” issues.
- It was an eye-opening and humbling experience to serve on my first writing jury for Asian Canadian Writer Workshop’s Emerging Writers Award, working alongside Fiona Lam and Dr. Glenn Deer.
- I read at a bilingual poetry event at Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden, appeared on my first writing panel (with Room Magazine at Word Vancouver, alongside one of my favourite poets, Evelyn Lau), and co-organized a writer’s circle at Word Vancouver with Event Magazine.
- I also got invited to join the Chinese Canadian Writers’ Association and started going to their delicious monthly dim sum socials to meet writers working in Chinese.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BZXypXFHXxy/?taken-by=creativevoyagers
Looking ahead to 2018: Writing Projects
- My main goal this year is to try to complete 4 drafts of my thesis, a fantasy Martial Heroes novel inspired by Chinese literature and folklore, and get to the point I can revise with feedback from readers.
- Another goal is to finally finish editing short stories I wrote over the last two years, so I can send them out to magazines and writing contests. I’d love to be able to qualify soon for Canada Council for the Arts (only need a few more pages) and for the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association, as that would open up more opportunities.
- I am really grateful to be receiving more invitations to submit from literary magazines, including three publications that have solicited my poetry, so I have a lot of poetry writing to do.
2018 International Travel Plans
- I have been accepted by Southwest University in Chongqing, China as a Visiting Graduate Researcher, and hope to do research for my novel in China from late April to late July. I have also connected with scholars in Hong Kong and Beijing who might host me as a visiting writer.
- My travel dates are dependant on grant funding, and I’m also on the lookout for writer residencies and other scholarships.
- If the trip happens, I would love to meet writers/literary scholars/translators/publishing professionals in Mainland China and Hong Kong. Let me know if you’re a writer in this area or connected to the area’s publishers/literary organizations/writers. 🙂
Literary Events & Community Involvement
- For the second time, I’ll be serving as the Volunteer Coordinator for Growing Room: A Feminist Literary Magazine’s. Follow Room Magazine’s website and my Twitter as I will be putting out a call for local volunteers in the next week.
- Starting next week, I’ll also be leading writing sessions at University Hill Secondary School through the New Shoots program, which sends MFA students to teach in local schools. Excited to share my writing passion with high schoolers!
- I’ll continue to edit for Room Magazine and Ricepaper, so please look out for submission calls. Ricepaper is now looking for submissions for our upcoming issue, Lost in Translation.
- I’m also working with Ricepaper to plan and look for funding for some community creative writing workshops. This might happen in the summer or fall, in Chinatown or other parts of Vancouver.
- Finally, I’m working on designing a panel for a local literary organization, which will be on the theme of how the publishing industry can support Asian Canadian writers, likely to take place in fall 2018.
As events come up in Vancouver, I will post on my website and on my Twitter so please follow for updates. Thank you again for reading and following along on my journey. Feel free to connect with me on my blog/twitter and let me know your 2018 plans.
