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Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop (ACWW): Difference between revisions
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At the height of ACWW, it had developed over 200 members with ACWW chapters in Toronto and Edmonton. ACWW established a number of successes: establishing writing workshops, literary anthologies, book clubs, mentorship of new writers, one-on-one manuscript development sessions, an annual reading series, and launched and maintained the ACWW Emerging Writer’s Award. | At the height of ACWW, it had developed over 200 members with ACWW chapters in Toronto and Edmonton. ACWW established a number of successes: establishing writing workshops, literary anthologies, book clubs, mentorship of new writers, one-on-one manuscript development sessions, an annual reading series, and launched and maintained the ACWW Emerging Writer’s Award. | ||
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'''History''' | |||
== '''History''' == | |||
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ACWW began the late sixties – early seventies with a handful of community activists turned writers. The earliest publications featured two anthologies: ''Inalienable Rice: A Chinese and Japanese Canadian Anthology'' (1979) and ''West Coast Line: The Asian Canadian and the Arts'' (1981). | ACWW began the late sixties – early seventies with a handful of community activists turned writers. The earliest publications featured two anthologies: ''Inalienable Rice: A Chinese and Japanese Canadian Anthology'' (1979) and ''West Coast Line: The Asian Canadian and the Arts'' (1981). | ||
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• Larrisa Lai’s ''When Fox was a Thousand'' (1995); was shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. <br><br> | • Larrisa Lai’s ''When Fox was a Thousand'' (1995); was shortlisted for the Chapters/Books in Canada First Novel Award. <br><br> | ||
Up to the end of that first decade, ACWW was a major influence on the Asian Canadian literary world and worked hard to uncover emerging writing talent and assisting them in finding publishers. ACWW fundraised to create an ACWW Emerging Writer’s Award. The $4,000 award was innovative because it was a strategy to attract manuscripts from emerging writers. The $4000 award was given to the publisher as incentive to help cover editing and production costs. Although there could only be one winner, ACWW worked on the other manuscripts in hopes that one day they too will find their way to a publisher. <br><br> | Up to the end of that first decade, ACWW was a major influence on the Asian Canadian literary world and worked hard to uncover emerging writing talent and assisting them in finding publishers. ACWW fundraised to create an ACWW Emerging Writer’s Award. The $4,000 award was innovative because it was a strategy to attract manuscripts from emerging writers. The $4000 award was given to the publisher as incentive to help cover editing and production costs. Although there could only be one winner, ACWW worked on the other manuscripts in hopes that one day they too will find their way to a publisher. <br><br> | ||
• One of these success stories is Terry Woo’s ground-breaking ''Banana Boy''s (2005). It was one of those shortlisted for the 1999 Asian-Canadian Writers' Workshop Award. <br><br> | |||
== Emerging Writer's Award == | |||
The winner of our first EWA award, in 1999, was Rita Wong’s ''Monkeypuzzle'', published by Press Gang. The second Emerging Writer Award went to Madeleine Thien in 2001 for her short fiction, ''Simple Recipes''. Madeleine’s manuscript impressed M & S so much that they offered her a two book deal. Simple Recipes went on to win the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, the City of Vancouver Book Prize and was a finalist in the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best first book. Her second book, Certainty (2006) won the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada Award, the Ovid Festival Prize and was a finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize for Fiction. Her latest novel, ''Dogs at the Perimeter'' (2010) continues to be published by M & S. Interestingly, Madeline was a former editor of ''Ricepaper Magazine''. <br><br> | The winner of our first EWA award, in 1999, was Rita Wong’s ''Monkeypuzzle'', published by Press Gang. The second Emerging Writer Award went to Madeleine Thien in 2001 for her short fiction, ''Simple Recipes''. Madeleine’s manuscript impressed M & S so much that they offered her a two book deal. Simple Recipes went on to win the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, the City of Vancouver Book Prize and was a finalist in the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best first book. Her second book, Certainty (2006) won the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada Award, the Ovid Festival Prize and was a finalist for the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Prize for Fiction. Her latest novel, ''Dogs at the Perimeter'' (2010) continues to be published by M & S. Interestingly, Madeline was a former editor of ''Ricepaper Magazine''. <br><br> | ||
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• Following the ''Many-Mouthed Birds anthology'', ACWW produced two additional anthologies ''Swallowing Clouds: An Anthology of Chinese Canadian Writing'' by Arsenal Pulp Press (1999) and ''Strike the Wok: an anthology of Contemporary Chinese Canadian Writing'' (2003). <br><br> | • Following the ''Many-Mouthed Birds anthology'', ACWW produced two additional anthologies ''Swallowing Clouds: An Anthology of Chinese Canadian Writing'' by Arsenal Pulp Press (1999) and ''Strike the Wok: an anthology of Contemporary Chinese Canadian Writing'' (2003). <br><br> | ||
== ACWW Alumni == | |||
ACWW alumni graduated to bigger and better things. The following is a list of the names of some of the writers who had their start with ACWW and are finding their way into the mainstream: <br><br> | ACWW alumni graduated to bigger and better things. The following is a list of the names of some of the writers who had their start with ACWW and are finding their way into the mainstream: <br><br> | ||