Crafting your memoir, with JJ Lee and Lillian Au

In our next Writing with Writers program — "Worst of Times, Best of Times: How to Tell Hard Truths" — two former journalists will discuss what it takes to dig deeper and unearth the details that are needed to tell a good memoir. 

Find out how acclaimed editor and memoirist JJ Lee worked with writer Lillian Au on her story Arviat, featured in the newly released Christmas book Upon A Midnight Clear. They will share how they transformed a rough draft into a poignant tale about loneliness. 

JJ Lee is the author of the memoir The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Father, a Son, and a Suit, which was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Non-Fiction, the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction, the BC Book Prize’s Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-Fiction. He is also the editor of the nonfiction anthology Better Next Year and Upon A Midnight Clear. He teaches creative nonfiction at The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University and writing at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. He previously worked in broadcasting as a writer, contributor, comedy performer, reporter, and producer, and was the menswear columnist for the Vancouver Sun. His essays and features have appeared in ELLE Canada, ELLE Man, Flare, Fashion, Montecristo, and Nuvo magazines.

Lillian Au is the author of short stories and poetry. Her memoir Arviat is featured in the anthology Upon a Midnight Clear. Her work received an honorable mention in the International Amy MacRae Award for Memoir. Her poems were awarded a runner-up prize and honorable mention in the Echoes of Exclusion poetry contest this year. She is a former broadcast journalist and works as a radio traffic anchor. 

Registration is requested, but drop-ins may be allowed if space permits. 

Questions? Email info@nvcl.ca or call 604-998-3450.