Denise Chong Coming to Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay – LIVING – The author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling books The Concubine’s Children and The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War will make three appearances in Thunder Bay this month.

Denise Chong, who was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2013, will give a free public presentation entitled The Girl in the Picture – The Making of a Book on Friday, May 12 at 7 pm in the Baggage Building at Prince Arthur’s Landing. Her appearance is with financial assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts through the Writers’ Union of Canada.

On Saturday, May 13, Chong will offer a workshop from 10 am to noon at the Mary JL Black Library called Writing Memory – Writing Truth.

Later that day (May 13) she will be the keynote speaker at the annual Literary Awards Party hosted by the Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (NOWW) at the Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel, beginning at 6 pm with a symposium. Interested participants can register for the Saturday events at nowwwriters.ca.

“Fans of Chong’s books will want to attend the reading, the workshop, the Literary Awards Party – or all three,” said Brandon Walker, a member of NOWW’s Board of Directors.

The Literary Awards Party is the perfect opportunity to learn more about great writing being produced in Northwestern Ontario.

“This year we had an incredible amount of submissions to our annual awards contest,” Walker said. “We may see some people receiving awards for the first time this year.”

The Kouhi Award will also be presented and the audience’s favourite play from the 10×10 Showcase will be performed.

“This is a special night for writers and lovers of writing in Northwestern Ontario and their friends and family members,” Walker said.

Writers from Northwestern Ontario will have the opportunity to display their work, too. 

Advanced registration for Chong’s writing workshop is necessary and the cost is $10 for NOWW members and $40 for non-members, which includes a NOWW membership.

Tickets for the Literary Awards Party are $35 for NOWW members and $40 for non-NOWW members. To purchase tickets or for information about NOWW, visit nowwwriters.ca.

Copies of Chong’s books will be available for purchase at the Literary Awards Party. Proceeds from the books will go to NOWW.

Chong is an internationally published and award-winning writer, best known for her family memoir, The Concubine’s Children.

Born in Vancouver, she moved with her parents to Prince George, then a small logging town. Chong began her working life in Ottawa as an economist for the federal finance department and went on to become senior economic advisor in the office of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

On Trudeau’s retirement, Chong turned to writing. She holds four honorary doctorates and in 2013 was named an Officer of the Order of Canada for “writing books that raise our social consciousness.”