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Imprinting change: seven women in the book industry who are encouraging diversity

Anna Ling Kaye (illustration: Chris MacDonald)

Anna Ling Kaye

Growing up as the daughter of a foreign correspondent in Asia, Anna Ling Kaye was never in one place for long. Jumping from Taiwan, her mother’s native country, to China, India, Singapore, and beyond, the Vancouver writer and editor’s childhood was like that of an army brat, she says. “But instead of living on the bases, I was thrust into the local schools.”

Thanks to her childhood experience, Kaye speaks fluent Mandarin, and credits her father for exposing her to a life of letters. “I think I always wanted to be involved in the world of words,” Kaye says.

She’s now the editor of Ricepaper magazine, the only publication focusing on the Asian-Canadian writing community; a founding director of Hapa-palooza, an arts festival that celebrates mixed-heritage and cultural-hybrid identity; and an aspiring novelist in her own right. (Kaye is an MFA student in the University of British Columbia’s creative-writing program.)

In 2006, Kaye moved from Hong Kong to Vancouver, and along the way traded in her career as a freelance journalist for a more literary focus. As the guiding editorial voice at Ricepaper, she relishes the chance to work with established Asian-Canadian writers, alongside young people and new immigrants.

“We really can encourage new voices in our community, which feels really right.” – Julie Baldassi

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February 5th, 2015

11:07 am

Category: People

Issue Date: January 2015

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