Langara College is proud to welcome renowned Canadian poet and author Evelyn Lau as the 2024 Writer in Residence. A lifelong Vancouverite, Lau has authored fourteen books: two bestselling memoirs, a novel, two short story collections and nine volumes of poetry. From 2011-2014, she served as Vancouver's Poet Laureate.
The Writer in Residence program will begin in January 2024 and run for approximately three months.
"I'm thrilled to be joining Langara as the 2024 Writer in Residence," said Lau. "This is personally meaningful for me, as I attended Langara briefly as a troubled teenager; decades later, I still remember the terror and excitement of sharing my early creative efforts in this supportive environment."
Her memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid (1989), published when she was 18, was made into a CBC movie starring Sandra Oh in her first major role.
"Many of Langara's dedicated English instructors are writers themselves, so I'm eager to work alongside them - to connect with their students within the intimate focus of one-on-one consults, and to engage everyone during classroom visits and public events," she said. "It's always a privilege to be entrusted with work by emerging writers, and I hope to provide the encouragement and thoughtful, specific feedback necessary to nudge them to the next level."
The Writer in Residence program is made possible through the support of TD Insurance and is being hosted by the English department. It provides an opportunity for the Writer in Residence to pursue creative projects while providing student mentorship, classroom visits, and a public reading for the community.
"The Writer in Residence program provides access for our students to a leading Canadian author, and we're proud to welcome Evelyn Lau," said Yusuf Varachia, Vice President, External Relations and Community Engagement. "Evelyn is sure to inspire our students and community as she shares her expertise and insight as an acclaimed - and local - poet and author, and we are privileged to have her on campus."
This is the second Writer in Residence at Langara College, following Rawi Hage in 2023.
About Evelyn Lau
Evelyn Lau's prose books have been translated into a dozen languages worldwide; her poetry has received the Milton Acorn People's Poet Award, the Pat Lowther Award for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman, and a National Magazine Award, as well as being shortlisted for the Governor-General's Award and a BC Book Prize. Her most recent collection, Cactus Gardens (2022) was named one of CBC's Top 20 poetry books and was shortlisted for the Vancouver Book Award. She has worked with emerging writers/students for decades at SFU Continuing Studies, as well as through previous writer-in-residencies at University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, Kwantlen University, and Vancouver Community College. She has served on many local and national literary prize juries and been published in over a hundred journals and anthologies over the course of her career.
