Wayson Choy

Wayson Choy Template:Postnominals (崔維新 Pinyin: Cuī Wéixīn; Jyutping: Ceoi1 Wai4-san1) (April 20, 1939 – April 28, 2019)<ref name="canenc">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was a Canadian novelist. Publishing two novels and two memoirs in his lifetime, he is considered one of the most important pioneers of Asian Canadian literature in Canada,<ref>"Wayson Choy, bestselling author of The Jade Peony, dies at 80" Template:Webarchive. Toronto Star, April 28, 2019.</ref> and as an important figure in LGBT literature as one of Canada's first openly gay writers of colour to achieve widespread mainstream success.<ref>"On Queer / Asian / Canadian Critique" Template:Webarchive. Canadian Literature, 227 (Winter 2015), pp. 191-193.</ref>

Personal life and education

Choy, whose birth name was Choy Way Sun,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> was born in Vancouver on April 20, 1939<ref name=canenc/> and was adopted by parents Toy and Lilly.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A Chinese Canadian, he spent his childhood in the city's Chinatown.

He graduated from Gladstone Secondary School and went on to attend the University of British Columbia, where he studied creative writing.<ref name="canenc" /> He was the first Chinese-Canadian student accepted into the program.<ref name="canenc" />

He learned later in life that he had been adopted, which formed part of the basis for his memoir Paper Shadows.<ref name="qq">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2001, Choy suffered an asthma attack, which led to him being placed in a medically induced coma for 11 days during which he also suffered cardiac arrest.<ref name="beinghuman">"'Being human is worth something'; Wayson Choy reflects on life - and brushes with death". Montreal Gazette, May 16, 2009.</ref> He remained in hospital for four months to recuperate and recover with physiotherapy.<ref name="beinghuman" /> In 2005, he had a second heart attack, and underwent quadruple bypass surgery.<ref name="georgiastraight">"Trailblazing Vancouver-born author Wayson Choy dies" Template:Webarchive. The Georgia Straight, April 28, 2019.</ref>

In 2010, Wilfrid Laurier University presented Choy with an honorary Doctorate of Literature.<ref name="canenc" />

Career

Choy published a number of short stories while studying creative writing at the University of British Columbia, with one of his stories appearing in the annual Best American Short Stories anthology, but after graduating he devoted himself primarily to teaching, resuming writing only later in life.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Choy moved to Toronto in 1962, where he taught English at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate (1966–1967), then at Humber College from 1967 to 2004.<ref name=canenc/><ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He continued to teach at the Humber School for Writers,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> and served as president of the Cahoots Theatre Company.<ref>"Cahoots Theatre Projects" Template:Webarchive. Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia.</ref>

Choy published his first novel, The Jade Peony in 1995. It won the Trillium Book Award and the City of Vancouver Book Award.<ref name=canenc/> In 2010, it was selected as one of five books for the CBC's annual Canada Reads competition, where it was defended by physician Samantha Nutt.<ref name=":1">"Crash course in CanLit; Canada Reads will mean a lot more to you if you've read the books". Vancouver Sun, February 27, 2010.</ref><ref name=":2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

His first memoir, Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood, was published in 1999.<ref name=qq/> Written about his childhood within the Chinese Canadian community in Vancouver, the book explores both his discovery that he was adopted and his process of coming to terms with being gay.<ref>"Play it again, Wayson". National Post, October 16, 1999.</ref> It won the Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction,<ref name=":3">"Wilfrid Laurier University announces that Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood has won the 2000 Edna Staebler Award". Canada NewsWire, October 12, 2000.</ref> and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 1999 Governor General's Awards.<ref name=":4">"Governor-General's award nominees". Vancouver Sun, October 20, 1999.</ref>

His second novel, All That Matters, was published in 2004<ref name=":5">Michael Redhill, "Hot dogs, sandwiches with chopsticks". National Post, October 16, 2004.</ref> and was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.<ref name="canenc" /> All That Matters won Choy's second Trillium Book Award in 2004.<ref name="canenc" />

In 2005, he was named a member of the Order of Canada.<ref name=":6">"Governor-general announces 82 new appointments to the Order of Canada". Montreal Gazette, August 31, 2005.</ref>

In 2009 Choy published Not Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying, his second and final memoir about dealing with the life-threatening health challenges.<ref>"Unspiritual Awakening; Wayson Choy forgoes melodrama in book about his brush with death". Calgary Herald, May 3, 2009.</ref>

In 2015, he received the George Woodcock Award, the lifetime achievement award for writers from British Columbia presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada and the Vancouver Public Library.<ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Three recently published monographs have featured chapters on Choy's publications up to Not Yet; these are: John Z. Ming Chen's The Influence of Daoism on Asian-Canadian Writers (Mellen, 2008), John Z. Ming Chen and Wei Li's A Study of Canadian Social Realist Literature: Neo-Marxist, Confucian, and Daoist Approaches (Inner Mongolia University Press, 2011), John Z. Ming Chen and Yuhua Ji's Canadian-Daoist Poetics, Ethics, and Aesthetics (Springer, 2015).

Awards and honours

Choy was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2005.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6" /> In 2015, he received the George Woodcock Award,<ref name=":2" /> a lifetime achievement award for writers from British Columbia presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada and the Vancouver Public Library.<ref name=":7" /> Three years later, the City of Vancouver recognized him with their Civic Merit Award.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1999, The Globe and Mail named Paper Shadows among the year's noteworthy books.<ref name="canenc" />

In 2010, The Jade Peony was selected as one of five books for the CBC's annual Canada Reads competition, where it was defended by physician Samantha Nutt, founder of War Child.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

In 2012, Project Bookmark Canada presented two plaques in Vancouver's Chinatown with excepts from The Jade Peony written in both English and Mandarin.<ref name="canenc" />

Awards for Choy's writing

Year	Title	Award	Result	Ref.
1995	Template:Sort	Trillium Book Award (English)	Winner	<ref name="canenc" /><ref>"Atwood and Choy share Trillium prize". Ottawa Citizen, April 24, 1996.</ref>
1996	Template:Sort	City of Vancouver Book Award	Winner	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1999	Paper Shadows	Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction	Shortlist	<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />
2000	Paper Shadows	City of Vancouver Book Award	Finalist	<ref name=":8" />
2000	Paper Shadows	Edna Staebler Award	Winner	<ref>Faculty of Arts (2000). "Edna Staebler Award for Creative Non-Fiction Template:Webarchive". wlu.ca. Headlines (News Releases). Previous winners. Wayson Choy. Retrieved 11/18/2012.</ref><ref name=":3" />
2004	All That Matters	Trillium Book Award (English)	Winner	<ref name="canenc" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name="choy">Anne-Marie Tobin, "Wayson Choy wins Trillium Book Prize for All That Matters". Sault Star, April 29, 2005.</ref>
2004	All That Matters	Scotiabank Giller Prize	Shortlist	<ref name="canenc" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2005	All That Matters	City of Vancouver Book Award	Finalist	<ref name=":8" />

Publications

Novels

• The Jade Peony – 1995
• All That Matters – 2004

Memoirs

• Paper Shadows: A Chinatown Childhood – 1999
• Not Yet: A Memoir of Living and Almost Dying – 2009 Template:ISBN

External links

• Records of Wayson Choy are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books Template:Webarchive