Enlightened Histories: Larissa Lai & Shyam Selvadurai

Shyam Selvadurai, Larissa Lai and Ann Y. K. Choi

Enlightened Histories: Larissa Lai & Shyam Selvadurai

Shyam Selvadurai, Larissa Lai and Ann Y. K. Choi

8:30pm

Thursday, September 29, 2022

Canadian authors Larissa Lai and Shyam Selvadurai take the TIFA stage to discuss their epic historical fiction novels focusing on the ways gender, class and race affect the lives of women. Lai’s The Lost Century is set in Hong Kong on the eve of its return to China from the British Crown Colony in 1997, as a young girl learns the secrets of her grandmother’s past. In examining her family’s history during Japan’s occupation in WWII, she learns of the betrayals and passions that shaped her family history and modern day China. Selvadurai’s Mansions of the Moon re-imagines the extraordinary relationship between a woman in ancient India and the man who would later become “the Enlightened One” (the Buddha).

Moderated by Ann Yu-Kyung Choi.

Ticket Info:
Date & Time: September 29 at 8:30pm ET
Where: Brigantine Room in Harbourfront Centre
Duration: 60 minutes
Ticket prices: $17 – Regular; $12 – Youth; or Get a TIFA Pass
*This event will be followed by a book signing

Conversation

Canadian authors Larissa Lai and Shyam Selvadurai take the TIFA stage to discuss their epic historical fiction novels focusing on the ways gender, class and race affect the lives of women. Lai’s The Lost Century is set in Hong Kong on the eve of its return to China from the British Crown Colony in 1997, as a young girl learns the secrets of her grandmother’s past. In examining her family’s history during Japan’s occupation in WWII, she learns of the betrayals and passions that shaped her family history and modern day China. Selvadurai’s Mansions of the Moon re-imagines the extraordinary relationship between a woman in ancient India and the man who would later become “the Enlightened One” (the Buddha).

Moderated by Ann Yu-Kyung Choi.

Ticket Info:
Date & Time: September 29 at 8:30pm ET
Where: Brigantine Room in Harbourfront Centre
Duration: 60 minutes
Ticket prices: $17 – Regular; $12 – Youth; or Get a TIFA Pass
*This event will be followed by a book signing

Conversation

Featured Authors

Shyam Selvadurai 's Funny Boy, won the W.H. Smith/ Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award in the US. He is the author of Cinnamon Gardens, Swimming in the Monsoon Sea and The Hungry Ghosts. His work has been translated into 9 languages and published worldwide. Funny Boy was made into a film, for which Shyam co-wrote the screenplay, and for which he won the Canadian Screen Award and the New York Cinema Independent Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Shyam’s new novel Mansion of the Moon, a historical novel about the Buddha’s wife, was released by Knopf in May 2022. His website is www.shyamselvadurai.com

Read more about Shyam Selvadurai

Larissa Lai is the author of The Tiger Flu, Salt Fish Girl and Iron Goddess of Mercy. Recipient of the Duggins Novelist's Prize, the Lambda Award and the Astraea Award, she holds a Canada Research Chair at the University of Calgary where she directs The Insurgent Architects' House for Creative Writing.

Read more about Larissa Lai

Ann Yu-Kyung Choi is an author and educator. Her novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award. Her writing has appeared in several publications including Quill & Quire, Writer’s Digest and the Toronto Star. Her debut children’s picture book, Once Upon An Hour, was released in 2020. Ann is the co-founder of The Authors Book Club, an initiative that connects authors with readers in Canada. She lives in Toronto.

Read more about Ann Y. K. Choi

8:30pm

Thursday, September 29

What to read

Mansions of the Moon by , The Lost Century by ,
To top