Writing as a community

The Langara Writer in Residence program provides an opportunity for the College community to engage with an established writer. The program permits the Writer in Residence to pursue their own creative projects while being available to Langara students for classroom visits, manuscript consultations, and events—including a public lecture. The position runs for three months and is funded by donation to the Langara College Foundation.

About Evelyn Lau, Langara’s 2024 Writer in Residence 

Evelyn Lau is a lifelong Vancouverite who has authored 14 books – two bestselling memoirs, a novel, two short story collections and nine volumes of poetry. Her memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid (1989), published when she was 18, was made into a CBC movie starring Sandra Oh in her first major role. Evelyn's prose books have been translated into a dozen languages worldwide; her poetry has received the Milton Acorn People's Poet Award, the Pat Lowther Award for best book of poetry by a Canadian woman, and a National Magazine Award, as well as being shortlisted for the Governor-General's Award and a BC Book Prize. From 2011–2014, Evelyn served as Vancouver's Poet Laureate. Her most recent collection, Cactus Gardens (2022) was named one of CBC's Top 20 poetry books, and was shortlisted for the Vancouver Book Award.

Evelyn has worked with emerging writers/students for decades at SFU Continuing Studies, as well as through previous writer-in-residencies at UBC, University of Calgary, Kwantlen University and Vancouver Community College. She has served on many local and national literary prize juries, and published in over a hundred journals and anthologies over the course of her writing life.

Help cultivate a love for reading and writing by contributing to bringing in a new Writer in Residence for 2025. Donate now.