Ricepaper is currently the only Canadian literary magazine with a focus on Asian-Canadian arts and culture. Based in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, it is published quarterly and features articles, literature, poetry, artwork and photography written by or written about writers and artists of primarily Pacific Asian and mixed Asian descent.

History

Ricepaper was created in 1995 by Jim Wong-Chu, founder of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop, as a newsletter for its members . Much of the early editorial content explored the marginalized Asian experience in Canada. Over time, the newsletter has grown into a full-fledged magazine which has evolved along with its reader base to provide a forum for creative works, interviews, profiles and reviews of the contemporary Asian-Canadian community. Currently, the content of each issue is informed by a "theme". Recent issues have focused on space/culture/place, aesthetics, language and cities.

Prominent artists that have been featured include Wayson Choy

Wayson Choy

Wayson Choy, CM is a Canadian writer.-Early life:Choy was born in Vancouver in 1939. A Chinese Canadian, he spent his childhood in the city's Chinatown...

, Joy Kogawa

Joy Kogawa

Joy Nozomi Kogawa, CM, OBC is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent.-Life:Born Joy Nozomi Nakayama in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was sent with her family to the internment camp for Japanese Canadians at Slocan during World War II...

, Kid Koala

Kid Koala

Eric San , who records under the name Kid Koala, is a Canadian DJ, turntablist, musician and an author of graphic novels. He is signed to the British record label Ninja Tune, is a member of alternative hip hop supergroup Deltron 3030, and The Slew with Dynamite D and former members of the...

 , and Sook-Yin Lee

Sook-Yin Lee

Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...

, as well as cultural producers and figures such as David Suzuki

David Suzuki

David Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...

, Bing Thom

Bing Thom

Bing Wing Thom, CM is a Canadian architect and urban designer.Born in Hong Kong, he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada with his family in 1950.-Career:...

 and Roy Miki

Roy Miki

Roy Akira Miki, CM, FRSC is a Canadian poet and scholar.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to second generation Japanese-Canadian parents, he attended the University of Manitoba, the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University, where he is currently a professor emeritus. He lives in...

. Ricepaper also supports emerging artists; those who have worked or written for Ricepaper magazine have gone on to become notable writers and cultural activists such as Madeleine Thien

Madeleine Thien

Madeleine Thien is a Canadian short story writer and novelist.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was educated at Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. In 2001 she was awarded the Canadian Authors Association Air Canada Award for most promising Canadian writer under...

, Kevin Chong

Kevin Chong

Kevin Chong is a Canadian author.Born in Hong Kong, Chong studied at the University of British Columbia and Columbia University, where he received an MFA in fiction writing....

, Craig Takeuchi, and Rita Wong

Rita Wong

-Biography:Wong grew up in Calgary, Alberta and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the author of two books of poetry, monkeypuzzle and forage. Her work investigates the relationships between social justice, ecology, decolonization, and contemporary poetics...

.

Ricepaper is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts

Canada Council

The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...

 and distributed in newsstands across Canada, with large concentrations of readers in major cities such as Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. The magazine has strong ties to the Asian-Canadian community and regularly participates in local cultural and literary events including the Gung Haggis Fat Choy

Gung Haggis Fat Choy

Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a cultural event originating from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The name Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a combination wordplay on Scottish and Chinese words: haggis is a traditional Scottish food and Gung Hay Fat Choy / Kung Hei Fat Choi is a traditional Cantonese greeting ...

 dinner and the Powell Street Festival

Powell Street Festival

The Powell Street Festival is an ongoing annual festival in Japantown, Vancouver. Originating in 1977 the Powell Street Festival is the largest Japanese Canadian festival and the longest ongoing community event in Vancouver...

.

Asian Canadians and Asian Americans featured in Ricepaper

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music...

Tommy Chong

Tommy Chong

Tommy Chong is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, writer, director, activist, and musician who is well known for his stereotypical portrayals of hippie-era stoners...

Wayson Choy

Wayson Choy

Wayson Choy, CM is a Canadian writer.-Early life:Choy was born in Vancouver in 1939. A Chinese Canadian, he spent his childhood in the city's Chinatown...

Lixin Fan

Lixin Fan

Lixin Fan is a Montreal, Canada-based documentary film director with the Canadian production company EyeSteelFilm and previously a producer/journalist at China’s state broadcaster CCTV.Lixin's debut feature documentary Last Train Home won several awards...

Ann Marie Fleming

Ann Marie Fleming

Ann Marie Fleming is an independent Canadian filmmaker, writer, and visual artist who was born in Okinawa, in 1962, of Chinese and Australian parentage. She has a B.A. in English from the University of British Columbia, a B.F.A. from the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design and the Open...

Ray Hsu

Ray Hsu

- Biography :Hsu grew up in Toronto, Ontario. He received an Honours B.A. and an M.A. in English literature from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in English Literary Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. While completing his Ph.D., he taught for over two years at Oakhill...

Kid Koala

Kid Koala

Eric San , who records under the name Kid Koala, is a Canadian DJ, turntablist, musician and an author of graphic novels. He is signed to the British record label Ninja Tune, is a member of alternative hip hop supergroup Deltron 3030, and The Slew with Dynamite D and former members of the...

Joy Kogawa

Joy Kogawa

Joy Nozomi Kogawa, CM, OBC is a Canadian poet and novelist of Japanese descent.-Life:Born Joy Nozomi Nakayama in Vancouver, British Columbia, she was sent with her family to the internment camp for Japanese Canadians at Slocan during World War II...

Larissa Lai

Larissa Lai

Larissa Lai is a Canadian writer, critic, and professor.Born in La Jolla, California, she grew up in St. John's, Newfoundland. She attended the University of British Columbia and, in 1990, graduated with a B.A. in Sociology. Subsequently, she earned her MA from the University of East Anglia, and...

Fiona Tinwei Lam

Joyce Lam

Evelyn Lau

Evelyn Lau

- Biography :Lau was born in Vancouver, British Columbia to Chinese-Canadian parents, who intended for her to eventually become a doctor. Her parents' ambitions for her were wholly irreconcilable with her own; consequently, her home and school lives were desperately unhappy...

Sook-Yin Lee

Sook-Yin Lee

Sook-Yin Lee is a Canadian musician, filmmaker, actress and media personality.-Background:Lee grew up in a Vancouver suburb, the second-oldest daughter of immigrants. She was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Her father was a post-World War II orphan from Hong Kong, her mother an escapee from...

Harvey Lowe

Harvey Lowe

Harvey Lowe was a Canadian radio presenter and world yo-yo champion.-Early life:Lowe was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1918, the youngest of eight daughters and two sons of his parents. Wanting more male children, Lowe's father had also had a son with his concubine, making Lowe the...

Roy Miki

Roy Miki

Roy Akira Miki, CM, FRSC is a Canadian poet and scholar.Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba to second generation Japanese-Canadian parents, he attended the University of Manitoba, the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University, where he is currently a professor emeritus. He lives in...

Lily Hoy Price

Lily Hoy Price

Lily Hoy Price grew up in Quesnel, British Columbia and is the ninth daughter of twelve children in the Hoy family. She has lived in England, Nigeria, Uganda and Nova Scotia....

Andy Quan

Andy Quan

Andy Quan , is a Chinese-Canadian author who now lives in Sydney, Australia. In his writing, he frequently explores the ways in which sexual identity and cultural identity interact...

Tetsuro Shigematsu

Tetsuro Shigematsu

Tetsuro Shigematsu is a Canadian radio broadcaster, comedian and filmmaker. He was the most recent host of CBC Radio One's former afternoon series The Roundup, where he replaced Bill Richardson in 2004, making him the first visible minority to host a daily network radio program in Canada. The show...

David Suzuki

David Suzuki

David Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...

Bing Thom

Bing Thom

Bing Wing Thom, CM is a Canadian architect and urban designer.Born in Hong Kong, he immigrated to Vancouver, Canada with his family in 1950.-Career:...

Adrian Tomine

Adrian Tomine

Adrian Tomine , a popular contemporary cartoonist, is best known for his ongoing comic book series Optic Nerve and his periodical illustrations in The New Yorker.- Biography :...

Terry Watada

Terry Watada

Terry Watada is a Toronto writer with many productions and publications to his credit. His publications include Ten Thousand Views of Rain , Seeing the Invisible , Daruma Days , Bukkyo Tozen: a History of Buddhism in Canada and A...

Milton Wong

Rita Wong

Rita Wong

-Biography:Wong grew up in Calgary, Alberta and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the author of two books of poetry, monkeypuzzle and forage. Her work investigates the relationships between social justice, ecology, decolonization, and contemporary poetics...

Tobias Wong

Norman Yeung