KWAI-YUN LI EVENTS
Upcoming Events
Thursday, January 26, 2012
TORONTO, ON
PAN-ASIA CULTURAL SHOWCASE 2012
The Pan-Asia Cultural Showcase sets to celebrate Asian culture by displaying local talents of Asian arts, ranging from music to film. The event invites students to explore the diversity and richness in Asian art forms, and thereby understanding the region in new light. Presented by the Pan-Asia Student Society and South Asian Development Council at the University of Toronto.
Presenter Kwai-Yun Li is the author of The Palm Leaf Fan and Other Stories was published in 2008 to much acclaim, being one of the first works of fiction to describe the life of the Chinese Hakka community in Kolkota. She grew up in Chattawalla Gully, in the old part of the city and came to Canada through an arranged marriage. She is also a co-author of A Kiss Beside the Monkey Bars, a collection of short stories.
Thursday, January 26, 2012 6:30 p.m.
Hart House (Music Room)
University of Toronto
7 Hart House Circle
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H3
Admission: Students $3, Other guest by donation.
Email Contacts:
Betty Xie: betty.xie@utoronto.ca
Emman Rahman: emman.rahman@utoronto.ca
Past Events
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 TORONTO
Toronto-based Chinese-Indian author Kwai-Yun Li will read from her book The Palm Leaf Fan about her days growing up in Calcutta's Chinatown. Screening of The Legend of Fat Mama: Stories from Calcutta's Melting Wok to follow.
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2011
2:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
Taylor Memorial Library
1440 Kingston Rd.
Toronto, ON M1N 1R3
416-396-8939
Saturday, May 14, 2011 RICHMOND HILL, ON
the palm leaf fan book reading
&
the legend of fat mama: stories from calcutta’s melting wok film screening.
Hosted by Kwai-Yun Li
Kwai-Yun Li’s books have been described as “a collection brimming with sorrow, laughter, and grace.”
She will give a brief history of the little known Hakka-Chinese community in Calcutta, India and provide insight into their past, present, and future. Her books help us understand the complex history of global migration, the stigmatization and oppression of minorities by modern states, and the challenges of multiculturalism.
Kwan-Yun Li will also lead a discussion of the documentary The Legend of Fat Mama from Rafeeq Ellias’ Chinatown Kolkata series.
The film captures the bittersweet story of the Chinese-Hakka community in Calcutta, India. Made for BBC World in 2008 it won two National Awards from The President of India and the Best Film of MIFF 2006 in Mumbai as well as the 52nd National Film Awards Best Anthropological/Ethnographic Film.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Richmond Hill Central Library
1 Atkinson Street
Richmond Hill, ON L4C 0H5
(Yonge Street & Major MacKenzie Drive)
January 27 & 28, 2010 SINGAPORE
indian and chinese immigrant communities
comparative perspectives
This three-day international and interdisciplinary workshop organised by the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre, ISEAS, Singapore in collaboration with the Hong Kong University, will focus on various facets of the Indian and Chinese immigrant communities across the globe within a comparative framework. reading and "meet the author" with Toronto-based Chinese-Indian author Kwai-Yun Li and others.
Wednesday, January 27:
Panel II
Indians in China and Chinese in India
Kwai-yun Li presented: Shifting Worlds and Changing Identities:
The Reshaping of the Chinese-Indian Communities in India after the “1962 Sino-Indian Incident”
Thursday, January 28: Panel IV
Chinese and Indian Diaspora across the globe
Kwai-yun Li read from: The Last Dragon Dance: Chinatown Stories
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
The Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre
30 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Pasir Panjang,
Singapore,
119614
Saturday, September 26, 2009 TORONTO
festival of south asian literature and arts:
Book reading and "meet the author" with Toronto-based Chinese-Indian author Kwai-Yun Li and others.
The Munk Centre for International Studies,
University of Toronto
1 Devonshire Place, Toronto, Ontario
Friday, Feb 15, 2008 MUMBAI
chinese new year series: from kolkata to canada: stories of the chinese diaspora
Film Screening of The Legend of Fat Mama: Stories from Calcutta's Melting Wok
Kitab Mahal, 192 D.N. Road, Fort, Mumbai,
Fourth Floor
Film screening at 6.30 p.m.
Discussion at 7 p.m., Closed at 8 p.m.
Director: Rafeeq Ellias
Followed by Rafeeq Ellias in conversation with Toronto-based author Kwai-Yun Li
The Legend of Fat Mama tells the bitter-sweet story of the Chinese community
in Calcutta and its experience in the aftermath of the 1962 War, which
triggered a wave of migration, principally to Canada. It is a journey
of nostalgia in search of a woman who once made the most
delicious noodles in Calcutta's Chinatown, weaving in the process the
rich tapestry of life of the Chinese in the city.
Rafeeq Ellias, an international fashion and magazine photographer, has won innumerable awards for his work in India and abroad. These range from UNESCO to the Art Directors Club of New York to the Asian Advertising Congress. Rafeeq worked in advertising with McCann Ericsson and Ketchum McLeod & Grove before founding his own advertising agency in India - Metaphor Communications. During the past two decades Rafeeq has also been photographing the Chinese community in Kolkata.
Saturday, Feb 23, 2008 DELHI
chinese new year series:
the palm leaf fan and other stories
book reading and "meet the author" with toronto based chinese-indian author kwai-yun li.
chaired by patricia uberoi, institute of chinese studies
Conference Room 1, India International Centre (Main Building), 40 Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi
Book reading at 6.30 p.m.
Discussion at 7 p.m., Close at 7.30 p.m
From crumbling shops in Chinatown to decaying tanneries in Tangra, this collection of short stories take a look at the life of the Chinese community in post-colonial Calcutta. From tales of Wong's Shoe Shop, where a mother arranges a marriage for her six year old daughter; to temples guarded by billy goats as a family drama rages inside, Kwai Yun-Li takes readers on a wonderful journey into a world experienced by few and forgotten by many.
Dr. Patricia Uberoi is an Honorary Fellow and present
Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies. She is a
Professor in Social Change and Development at the Institute of Economic
Growth, Delhi.
Professor Uberoi has held teaching and research positions in the Australian
National University (Canberra), the Indian Institute of Advanced Study
(Shimla), the Department of Sociology (Delhi School of
Economics) and the Centre for the Study of Social Systems (Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi), and since 1992 has been Co-Editor of the
sociology journal, Contributions to Indian Sociology. She has published
widely on family, kinship, gender relations and popular culture in reference
to both India and China.
Wedneday Feb 27, 2008 CALCUTTA
chinese new year series:
the palm leaf fan and other stories
book reading and "meet the author" with toronto-based chinese-indian author kwai-yun li.
Jadavpur University
Thursday, Feb 28, 2008 CALCUTTA
book reading and "meet the author" with toronto-based chinese-indian author kwai-yun li.
Cha Bar, Oxford Bookstore, 17 Park Street, Kolkata
Sunday, July 29th, 2007 TORONTO
Masala! Mehndi! Masti! Festival
Exhibition Place, in Toronto, Ontario
Kwai-yun Li will read from her collection of short stories: The Palm
Leaf Fan and Other Stories.
All TSAR publications are available online.
Visit 
Sunday, June 24th, 2007 MISSISSAUGA
Mosaic
2007
The South Asian Heritage Festival of Mississauga
Tea Tent at the north Civic Centre
300 City Centre Drive, Mississauga, Ontario
Kwai-yun Li will read from her collection of short stories: The Palm
Leaf Fan and Other Stories.