Wayson Choy, acclaimed Chinese Canadian writer and teacher

Born April 20, 1939, in Vancouver, BC, Wayson Choy (崔維新), (died April 28, 2019), was an influential Chinese Canadian novelist, memoirist, and short-story writer. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in August 2005. His debut novel, 'The Jade Peony', tells an intimate tale of an immigrant family living in Vancouver's Chinatown during the Second World War. It won the Trillium Book Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award in 1996. His second novel, 'All That Matters', won the Trillium Book Award and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. His first memoir, 'Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood', won the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction. An openly gay man, Choy was an important figure in LGBTQ+ literature as one of Canada's first openly gay writers of colour to achieve widespread mainstream success. He was also an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights as well as a dedicated teacher and mentor. He has been called one of Canada's most gifted storytellers.