When Railways Were Highways: Remembering Jim Wong-Chu's Legacy

This panel brings together writers whose creative lives were shaped by the mentorship, advocacy, and generosity of Jim Wong-Chu.

Featuring: Evelyn Lau, Yasuko Thanh, Jessica Gin-Jade Chan, moderated by Julia Lin

This panel brings together writers whose creative lives were shaped by the mentorship, advocacy, and generosity of Jim Wong-Chu, who is a foundational figure in Asian Canadian literature and cultural organizing. Long before Asian Canadian writing was institutionally recognized, Jim and the pioneers of his generation built pathways where none existed, transforming railways, symbols of exclusion and labour, into highways of connection, storytelling, and belonging.

This panel of writers reflect on how Jim nurtured emerging voices, insisted on the importance of community over individual acclaim, and modelled a literary practice rooted in care and cultural memory. Through personal stories, reflections on mentorship, and discussions of their artistic lineage, this conversation honours Jim’s belief that writing is not only an act of expression but also a responsibility to the history and community of those who come after.

The panel invites audiences to consider how mentorship can be a form of resistance and how literary communities are built.