Effie Pow (she/they) is a writer/editor and cultural connector who lives and works in Vancouver on the unceded traditional Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. Effie Pow is writer-in-residence at Joy Kogawa House in April 2023 and will present Transforming Trauma through Words and Music, featuring readings and experimental music by local writers and performers inspired by family, identity, and immigrant experiences.

Effie is interested in interdisciplinary arts and storytelling, and will support the spring queer Asian writing circle at the Joy Kogawa House and collaborate with Theatre as a Second Language to produce a storytelling workshop and performance.

Jonathan Poh is a Singaporean-Canadian writer based in Burnaby on the unceded traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Tsleil-Waututh, Kwikwetlem, Squamish, and Musqueam Nations. He is the winner of the 2020 CBC Nonfiction Prize and a Canada Council for the Arts grant recipient. Jonathan is currently working on his first book: a memoir-in-pieces that examines Asian masculinity, identity, belonging, and the immigrant experience through the lens of clothing.

Wiley Wei-Chiun Ho was born in Taiwan, and moved with her family to Canada when she was nine. Identifying as Generation 1.5, Wiley inhabits the liminal spaces between countries, cultures, languages, and identities. Her stories and essays have been published in anthologies and magazines, most recently Room and PRISM International. Wiley is currently at work on her first book, a memoir about growing up in a Taiwanese-Canadian “astronaut” family.

Jerry Moon is a Vancouver-based musician/composer studying contemporary/jazz saxophone and electronic music with James Danderfer, François Houle, Giorgio Magnanensi, and Georges Couling. Growing up in Taiwan, he played violin, flute, piano, and renewed his passion for music through tenor saxophone in Vancouver. He performs with local bands and musicians, including the Leo Raymundo Quartet, Luvinya and Liam Simpson. Jerry’s latest projects include “Jerriatric Blues,” a musical contemplation on aging and mortality.