ann y.k. choi
Toronto-based author and educator
Winterset In Summer Literary Festival
Posted on August 17, 2026
My first time in Eastport, Newfoundland! I was thrilled to be part of Winterset in Summer Literary Festival‘s 25th year.
Eastport was an hour drive from Gander International Airport. The town is located in Central Newfoundland on the Eastport Peninsula. My family and I enjoyed the nearby sandy beaches and explored the many coastal hiking trails that offered stunning ocean lookouts. The festival was held at the Beaches Arts & Heritage Centre.
This was my first time in conversation with David Bergen. On stage, we discovered that Phyllis Bruce, one of Canada’s most legendary editors, edited both our debut novels. A Year of Lesser was a Phyllis Bruce Books (imprint with HarperCollins Canada, 1996) and Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety was a a Phyllis Bruce Edition (imprint with Simon & Schuster Canada, 2016). Our moderator was the super-cool Ted Blades, who made it easy for us to have a relaxed and fun chat.
I can’t take selfies, but Maddie sure can! Ever since I read Sweetland, I’ve been a huge fan of Michael Crummey’s work. What a pleasure to meet and watch him on stage. And I finally got to thank Lisa Moore for her kindness and generosity when she moderated my first out-of-province lit panel back in 2016. Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety had been published that year and suddenly I was in Vancouver sharing a stage with Ivan Coyote and Ashley Little for one event and Andre Alexis, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, Emma Donoghue, Francesca Melandri, Peter Robinson with host Caroline Adderson, for another. Lisa told me to “just breathe.”
The event with Souvankham Thammavongsa and Ian Williams in conversation with William Ping was entitled “Excellence in Craft” and covered a range of topics that included beauty, appearance, and identity. Souvankham talked about how hard writing was – that the real work was the things readers couldn’t see – navigating editorial feedback, having to defend creative choices, and writing for countless hours that might not result in anything meaningful. Ian made everyone laugh when he said, “I’d trade food for a good idea.” He raised an important point when he wondered, who gets to be in a novel? What type of characters are included? Excluded?
Madeleine Thien in conversation with Eleanor Wachtel moved us with her candor and honesty. When asked, what is it to imagine? Maddie replied that she had spent something like 31,200 hours inside her imagination working on The Book of Records.
Our welcome bag had coffee, tea, bread, locally made jam and even a mini-first aid kit. The flashlight came in handy! It got very dark at night. The partridgeberry jam had a lovely tart twist without being overly sweet. The East Coast Glow lip balm, which I just started using, soothes and softens instantly – love it!
The fish dinner at the local Legion was a huge hit! People were taking photos of others taking photos of their meals – which made everyone laugh.
My family and I loved our little cabin! And because each cabin around us had an author staying in it, White Sails Inn felt like a little writing community. The festival also had a Hospitality space in a house near the Beaches Centre for guest authors and hosts to hang out and grab a bite to eat.
Congrats on 25 years Winterset! A huge thanks to everyone for making this year’s festival such a memorable and engaging experience.
Special thanks to Emma (middle photo) for lending me her copy of All Things Under the Moon to read on stage. And, Helene (top photo), I hope you keep writing!
11th Floor Writers
Posted on August 4, 2015
The guidelines we use to run our writing circle, The 11th Floor Writers, have been added to its website. I can’t believe that we’ve gone eight years. It helps that we follow a set routine: we meet the second Saturday of every month at the same venue, we rotate chairs, and everyone adheres to guideline expectations.
I’m currently working on my second novel, and continue to be grateful for the support and constructive feedback I get from this group.
Some online resources worth checking out:
A Workshop Guide for Creative Writing
A great place to start. The guide asks a series of questions we should be considering as we critique others’ work.
Tips for Revising Creative Nonfiction
The tips also apply for fiction writing.
15 Tips for Successful Writing Groups
A comprehensive guide with lots of useful suggestions and tips.
paper swan logo
Posted on July 10, 2015
Logo by Darcy Morgan
Thanks to Darcy Morgan for creating this awesome logo for me. She embedded my initials (aykc) into parts of the paper swan (e.g., “A” makes up the beak, “Y” the neck).
I chose the paper swan because it captures the spirit of my protagonist, Mary, who is the “ugly duckling” that transforms into a swan. My novel, Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety (formerly entitled Cornered), will be released on May 3, 2016.
Editors and Writers
Posted on March 20, 2015
With Allyson Latta
I was finally able to thank Allyson Latta in person when I met up with her last month. She was a guest speaker at a Markham high school where she spoke to students about her work as a freelance editor. I was fortunate enough to work with Allyson on my first book which will be released early next year.
Allyson has worked with many prominent Canadian writers including two of my favourites, Marina Nemat and Lawrence Hill. Her website, full of guest posts, interviews, and all things that might interest any writer, is definitely worth checking out. Allyson also teaches memoir writing at the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies.
Thanks to a quiet March Break, I was able to finish reading a couple of books. One novel I would highly recommend is Michael Crummey’s Sweetland. After visiting Newfoundland a few years ago and falling in love with that province, I couldn’t resist reading this book. Set in a remote island community, our protagonist Moses Sweetland, fakes his own death and stays behind after everyone else relocates.
For more information:
Michael Crummey’s Sweetland is like a song of mourning – a review by The Globe and Mail
Michael Crummey: How I wrote Sweetland – Canada Writes
David Adams Richards
Posted on November 3, 2014
With David Adams Richards at the IFOA
I met up with David Adams Richards this weekend at the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) in Toronto. He was my mentor at The Humber School for Writers.
David is one of the most accomplished writers in Canada. I still can’t believe that I was lucky enough to work with him. At all times, he encouraged me to persevere. We completed the first draft of my novel in only thirty weeks!
David’s new book, Crimes Against My Brother, was released earlier this year (Doubleday Canada).
New book by David Adams Richards
Memorable characters 2
Posted on January 21, 2013
I love books where I feel connected with the main character, or when the character is someone whom I admire and want to root for. I recently saw Les Miserables again. Jean Valjean is an example of a character I both admire and feel tremendous sympathy for – a character almost impossible for me to forget.
There are several books and online resources that offer great advice, tips, and suggestions on how to create complex and compelling characters. One book title I’d like to pass along is Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters. It’s definitely worth checking out. Schmidt looks at several archetypes, both heroic and villainous, to explore character traits and behaviours. Her examples of memorable characters from books, movies, and T.V. are especially helpful in shaping our understanding of classic archetypes.
Also worth checking out:
- How to Craft Compelling Characters – Writer’s Digest
Great article; a must read if only to review what you already knew - Character Creation – Fiction Factor
Links to online articles about everything you need to know about creating characters in fiction
That time of year
Posted on December 31, 2012
One of the things I wanted to do during this holiday break was catch up on my reading. I have far more books than I could possibly get through in one calendar year. I keep buying them, intending to read them later. I also get a lot of books as gifts.
Of the books I did get to this year, Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negros, was my favourite. It was published in 2007, and I wish I had gotten to it sooner! Hill’s protagonist, Aminata Diallo, who was abducted as a child from her village in West Africa and sold into slavery, continues to haunt me. The story had such an effect on me that I couldn’t pick up another book for two weeks.
I also thought Ins Choi’s play, Kim’s Convenience, was brilliant. The story hit close to home. Both Ins and I, although we have never met, immigrated to Canada in1975, and had families that worked in variety stores in downtown Toronto. I wrote about this play in an earlier blog.
Now that it is 2013, there are several lists of ‘the best books of 2012’ published everywhere. Here are a few to check out.
Writers who passed away in 2012
Posted on December 29, 2012
“Don’t talk about it; write.” – Bradbury, 1976
I recently read a list of writers who passed away in 2012. Donald J. Sobol, writer of the Encyclopedia Brown series, passed away in July. Leroy, aka Encyclopedia Brown, is a boy detective who used his intelligence to solve neighbourhood mysteries. Some of my fondest childhood memories in Canada include going to the public library where I could escape into books – lots of them. Encyclopedia Brown was a favourite because solving whatever mystery that was thrown at both Encyclopedia and the reader, left me feeling both satisfied and smart.
Another children’s favourite, Maurice Sendak, who wrote Where the Wild Things Are, passed away in May.
I was first introduced to Ray Bradbury’s work in high school. Fahrenheit 451 continues to be on many English class reading lists. His short stories also remain popular. Surprisingly, I only found out recently that there’s a prequel or rather a companion to Fa
hrenheit entitled, A Pleasure to Burn. Bradbury passed away in June.
For a list of writers who passed away this past year, click here.
For more Ray Bradbury quotes, click here.
Overcoming stage fright
Posted on December 28, 2012
Years ago, as a way to gain greater confidence speaking in front of an audience, I signed up for a series of singing workshops. I recently found the notes I took during the workshops. The following was written after my first class.
“I sang to the floor.”
The lights were too bright, and right away my body tensed up sensing the reality of the situation. I was on stage!
I had prepared for this. I tried to take a deep breath but my throat closed up. I was shaking. I was so busy trying to conceal my nervousness that I didn’t notice that the music had begun. I opened my mouth and looked in front of me, and just as quickly, dropped my eyes. I started singing.
I desperately wanted to look up but knew no words would come out if I did. So I did the only thing I could: I sang to the floor. It felt safe as long as I pretended that I was not on stage with strangers’ eyes resting on me. I hid behind my hair, kept purposely long for that reason. I could hear my own voice echoing softly in the air and to my surprise, liked the sound. It allowed me to get through to the end.
The reaction of my classmates was encouraging. Suddenly, the room felt cozy.
The first exercise that Art, the instructor, assigned me was to make eye contact with each person in the room. Easier said than done. I reminded myself that I had already sung the song once and no one had asked me to leave. I drew strength from the energy I picked up in the room.
It was a challenge made easier by the warmth and support of my classmates who, with their smiles and silent encouragement helped me get through the song again. It felt great! What I learned most from this exercise was that it was actually EASIER to perform in front of a crowd if I made eye contact because I got a response from the people in front of me; an acknowledgement that they were listening. Suddenly performing was made an exchange between me as the performer and them, as the audience. It wasn’t about me on stage doing everything.
The last exercise was called Copycat. Not only did I have to make eye contact with my classmates, I had to mirror whatever movements they made. This was tricky at first because singing suddenly entailed focusing on the audience and not the song. I found myself doing everything from running my fingers through my hair to sticking out my tongue in the middle of the song! By the end, I realized I was so busy following the audience’s movement that I forgot to be nervous on stage! It was amazing. And this was only my first class.
To read more, click here.
Growing up Buddhist at Christmas time
Posted on December 18, 2012
My first memory of Christmas is back in South Korea. I must have been five or six when I found a green-beaded necklace under my pillow. I remember that the first thing I did was look at it under the blanket to see if it glowed. It didn’t. Still, it was the most precious gift I had ever received. When I asked my mother where it had come from, she told that Santa-harabahji (Grandpa Santa) had left it for me.
Although we dutifully gave presents to all of our elementary school teachers for Christmas once we immigrated to Toronto, we didn’t have a tree. My mother made all the gifts we took to school – knitted hats and scarves.
By 1991, I was working part-time and had money for the first time. I decided that year I would give my family our first ever Christmas tree. I spent over a thousand dollars, spread over three different credit cards, on a tree and gold music-themed decorations. My parents didn’t object and even seemed to admire the seven-foot evergreen that I plopped in the living room by the TV. My brothers referred to it as the “Buddha Tree.” I didn’t tell any of them how much I had spent.
The beauty of growing up in a Canadian Buddhist household was that we were open to celebrating and acknowledging other faiths. As children, we decorated and looked for Easter eggs, learned the rules to play the dreidel game during Hanukkah, and ate rice-cake and dumpling soup on lunar New Year’s Day. Being in Canada, surrounded by people of so many different ethnicities and cultures, it wasn’t about religion. It was about having a reason to celebrate and have fun; a reason to be together and be happy.
ann y.k. choi 