Photo by Daniel Henshaw
Fiona Tinwei Lam is the author of two books of poetry, Intimate Distances (finalist for the City of Vancouver Book Award) and Enter the Chrysanthemum. Her poetry, fiction and non-fiction have been published in over twenty anthologies (Canada, Hong Kong, and the US), including In Fine Form: The Anthology of Canadian Form Poetry and The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2010 , as well as Force Field: An Anthology of 77 BC Women Poets. Her work has also twice been featured on local transit as part of B.C.’s Poetry in Transit, as well as aired on CBC Radio. She is a co-editor of and contributor to the literary non-fiction anthology, Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 2008. She edited The Bright Well, a collection of contemporary Canadian poetry about facing cancer published by Leaf Press in 2011. Oolichan Books has published The Rainbow Rocket, her first book for children (about a boy dealing with his grandparent’s struggle with Alzheimer’s) in 2013.
Born in Scotland, she emigrated to Canada at a young age with her family. She studied political science and law (B.A.(UBC), LL.B.(Queen’s University), LL.M.(University of Toronto)). She articled and worked as an associate in a Vancouver law firm, and later as a staff lawyer at the Law Society of British Columbia. After a term as a sessional instructor at Carleton University in Ottawa, she returned to Vancouver to obtain an M.F.A. in creative writing at UBC. In the past, she was involved in a variety of non-profit, community and volunteer committees, boards and projects dealing with issues of diversity and social justice.
Memberships
She is a member of The Writers Union of Canada, The League of Canadian Poets, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and the Federation of B.C. Writers. She is included on the Ryerson Asian Heritage website. Information about the author is also available on the University of Toronto Library’s Canadian Poetry Online.
Literary Awards and Nominations
Geist Magazine’s Jackpine Sonnet Contest 2010, 2nd Prize; Event Literary Magazine Non-Fiction Contest 2006, Shortlist; City of Vancouver Book Awards 2003, Finalist; Event Literary Magazine Non-Fiction Contest 2002, Shortlist; Vancouver Courier Fiction Contest 2002, 4th prize; Vancouver Courier Fiction Contest 2001, 2nd prize; League of Canadian Poets’ National Poetry Contest, 1999-2000, Runner-Up (two poems).
