We Are Water and Light anthology set for October 16 LitFest presentation
The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton will host the LitFest Alberta presentation of the Edmonton Chinese Writing Club’s anthology We Are Water and Light on October 16, 2026. Photograph taken September 27, 2026.
Photo credit: Chris Woodrich
The Edmonton Chinese Writing Club’s anthology We Are Water and Light: Anti-Racism Stories Rooted in Chinese Wisdom and Other Asian Traditions will be featured at LitFest Alberta on Friday, October 16. The presentation, organized by LitFest in partnership with the writing club, takes place at the Rice Theatre in Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre.
The club had already announced a separate launch celebration for October 3 at the Queen Elizabeth II Building. The October 16 event is a LitFest presentation of the collection, with several contributors scheduled to appear and Kevin Schultz hosting.
LitFest describes the anthology as a collection of stories examining anti-Asian racism, identity, belonging and cultural memory. The festival says the writing draws on personal experience and archival research, as well as Chinese wisdom and other Asian traditions. Its event description also identifies Daoist ideas about harmony and non-confrontation as an influence on the collection.
Several of the writers on the LitFest program have connections to Edmonton’s educational and cultural organizations. Jia Jia Yong (楊佳佳), a writer and musician, works as a community archivist with the City of Edmonton Archives. Joe Wu (伍洲) previously taught in Edmonton Public Schools and worked in second-language education before retiring from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Education.
The scheduled presenters also include Carly Chiew (周嘉莉), Mila Bongco-Philipzig (ᜆᜒᜆ ᜋᜒᜎ), Nathan Ip, Oliver Rossier (オリバア) and Paul Akira Fujishige (ポール 明 藤重). The writing club identifies Bongco-Philipzig as a writer, visual artist and community organizer. Fujishige is a third-generation Japanese Canadian and former president of the Edmonton Japanese Community Association.
Musical guests Jyn-Ting Ying (應琬霆) and Raya Rosario will join the program, which runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. at the Rice Theatre, 9828 101A Avenue. The Citadel lists general-admission tickets at $20 and student/low-income tickets at $10, although its ticketing page was marked sold out when checked on October 10. A half-hour book signing is scheduled after the program.
