Aug 13
8月13日
Montalbano Family Theatre, L8
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
About the Program
Topics such as gender, the body, and intimacy are often considered “taboo” in the Chinese-speaking community.
This year, TAIWANfest extends an invitation to the Chinese-speaking community through a series of lectures, literary events, music, and art programs. From sexual violence, sexual trauma, LGBTQ+ rights, and transgender experiences to explorations of the body and self, the festival hopes to provide an opportunity for unspoken experiences to be heard, fostering mutual understanding across generations.
Featuring a panel discussion with Taiwanese novelist Louise Lee-Hsiu and queer theatre producer Yanting Qiu.
Moderated by Ann Cheng, program curator & TAIWANfest team member.
**This talk will be conducted in Mandarin.
More than a cultural festival, TAIWANfest serves as a platform for dialogue. Through films, culinary programs, performances, and conversations with communities from around the world, the festival creates space to explore shared histories, cultural connections, and the possibilities of a collective future.
Yanting Qiu (she/they) is a theatre producer, translator and cultural connector based in Vancouver on the unceded lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ nations. As a first-generation immigrant whose native tongue is Wu Chinese, she is also fluent in Mandarin and English.
Being a long-term Flame storyteller and storytelling coach/producer, Yanting works closely with Deborah Williams in bringing true personal stories to the stage, especially from the immigrant and queer storytellers. Yanting's storytelling projects include: The Flame: HerStory, TAIWANfest Special Edition (2019), Stories from Taiwan (2023), The Flame: Lunar New Year Edition (2024), Marpole Food Storytelling Project (2025). She also produced/curated Zee Zee Theatre’s Queer Asian Storytelling Collection (2023) and The Rainbow Youth Project (2024), as well as Gateway Theatre’s True Voices: Pride Storytelling & Tea (2024/2025/2026).
Louise Lee Hsiu was born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with ancestral roots in Penghu. In 2002, she immigrated to Canada as a writer. She is a multidisciplinary artist whose creative work spans piano, painting, novels, essays, children's poetry, modern poetry, and song lyrics.
She has published nineteen books in Taiwan and the United States. Her first ten books were written primarily in Chinese, while her most recent nine books encompass Taiwanese, Chinese, and English. In recent years, she has focused mainly on writing in Taiwanese and translating her works into English.
Her most significant work is the acclaimed Moon in the Well Trilogy—Penghu Moon in the Well, Circulating Moon in the Well, and Returning Moon in the Well. The English edition of Penghu Moon in the Well has been showcased at major international book fairs, including Frankfurt, Toronto, and Taipei. The English translations of Circulating Moon in the Well and Returning Moon in the Well have also been completed and are currently seeking publication.
Louise has received more than a dozen literary and arts awards in Taiwan and abroad, including three Kaohsiung Literary Awards and the prestigious Wu Zhuoliu Literature Award.
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TAIWANfest Vancouver is grateful to be held on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We acknowledge our privilege to be gathered here, and commit to work with and be respectful to the Indigenous peoples of this land while we engage in meaningful conversations of culture and reconciliation.