Vancouver, B.C.
“The Radical Centre” with C.E. Gatchalian
November 9 @ 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Free
‘I’ve never had a strong sense of self, and it’s still something I’m working on. This lack of self has manifested itself in a number of ways. As extreme shyness. As narcissism. As obsessive-compulsive disorder. As uncritical obeisance.
Recognizing the role heteronormative white supremacy has played in this struggle has helped me make better sense of it all. Both my early desire to be white and my later hatred of all things white were manifestations of the same dis-ease: internalized racism.”
“In this lecture I will talk about swinging wildly from one extreme of the internalized racism spectrum to the other, and how I’ve arrived at where I currently am, “the radical centre.” A place where I am “centred” in my cultural hybridity, and “rooted” in both the trauma and joy I’ve inherited from my ancestors.”
This event will take place in the Peña Room (Room 301) of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. Presented by UBC Library’s EDI Scholar-in-Residence Program. Learn more: https://about.library.ubc.ca/edischolars
About C.E. Gatchalian:
Born, raised and based on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Musqueam, Squamish and Tseil-Waututh, C.E. Gatchalian is a queer Filipinx-Canadian author. The author of six books and co-editor of two anthologies, he is a three-time Lambda Literary Award finalist and the recipient of two Jessie Richardson Awards for his work as a theatre artist and producer. In 2013 he received the Dayne Ogilvie Prize in 2013, awarded annually by The Writers’ Trust of Canada to an outstanding emerging LGBTQI+ writer. He has been Playwright-in-Residence at the Firehall Arts Centre and the Vancouver Playhouse, Artist-in-Residence at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Education, and Writer-in-Residence at Historic Joy Kogawa House (Vancouver) and Berton House (Dawson City, YT). Formerly Artistic Producer of the frank theatre company, Vancouver’s professional queer theatre company, his plays have been produced locally, nationally and internationally. His memoir, Double Melancholy: Art, Beauty and the Making of a Brown Queer Man, was recently published by Arsenal Pulp Press.
Gatchalian was recently honoured with the BC Lieutenant Governor’s Arts and Music Awards. He doubles is time between Toronto and Vancouver where he is adjunct professor of Creative Writing at UBC. He is currently working on a soon-to-be published ‘Magdaragat: An Anthology of Filipino Canadian Writing with co-editors Teodoro ‘Ted’ Alcuitas and Patty Rivera.