Kevin Chong in Conversation with Emi Sasagawa

Kevin Chong has been enthralling readers for over 20 years. His latest novel, The Double Life of Benson Yu, has been called “gutsy”, “evocative”, and “ambitious.”

Join him and local author Emi Sasagawa as they discuss his career, explore the craft of writing, and how his life has changed since being shortlisted for a Scotiabank Giller Prize.

FREE! Registration is required to secure your spot. Drop-in seating may be available but is not guaranteed.

Interested in attending more than one Festival event? You must register for each event separately to guarantee your spot at each event.

For more information on this and other festival events: www.northshorewritersfestival.com

The North Shore Writers Festival is presented in partnership by North Vancouver City Library, North Vancouver District Public Library, and West Vancouver Memorial Library.

The Festival would not be made possible without support from the Friends of the Library groups from all three North Shore Libraries, North Shore Writers’ Association, KidsBooks, and the North Shore News.

The Festival takes place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) , and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. The Coast Salish Peoples have long used oral storytelling to pass on and preserve their cultural teachings. This powerful tradition highlights the important role that stories play in our lives. We are grateful to host the North Shore Writers Festival on the lands of these Nations and honour the art of storytelling.

Kevin Chong is the author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction, most recently the novel The Double Life of Benson Yu, which was a finalist for the 2023 Scotiabank Giller Prize and named a Best Book of Canadian Fiction by the CBC. His creative nonfiction and journalism have recently appeared in Time Magazine, Literary Hub, Montecristo, and the Globe and Mail. An Associate Professor at the UBC Okanagan, he lives in Vancouver with his family.

Emi Sasagawa is a settler, immigrant and queer woman of colour, living and writing on the traditional, ancestral and stolen territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Selilwitulh Nations.

Her debut novel Atomweight, by Tidewater Press, tells the story of Aki, a good girl, good student, good daughter from a loving but demanding multiracial family, who, after being triggered by aviolent incident, begins picking fights with random strangers. This is a story about mixedness, queerness and power—about reflecting on oppression and privilege, and the ways we take up space in the world

Host or Publisher North Shore Writers Festival