![]() ![]() Its important to define yourself according to the context you’re in.”Īnd Quan should know. The problem is if you make the categories simple or leave them undefined. I don’t agree with people who throw up their hands and say ‘Why do we need these labels?’ We have to identify our ways in relation to society. “Third generation Chinese-Canadian, fifth generation Chinese-American, gay, writer, poet, musician, activist. “I like to play with that,” says Quan cheerfully. ![]() Unlike some writers who insist they are a writer first and gay second, Quan doesn’t mind a hyphenated identity. ![]() Both books probe gently, yet incisively, into these issues and are highly readable and enjoyable. “It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” says Quan as though he can’t quite believe it himself.Ĭalendar Boy, a book of short stories, and Slant, a collection of poetry, touch on subjects near and dear to Quan’s heart: identity, race and sexual politics, and what it means to be a gay Asian male in a white-hetero dominated world. Slant, Nightwood Editions, $16.95 / Calendar Boy, New Star Books, $20Īndy Quan celebrated his 32nd birthday the same day of his Vancouver launch for his two new books. Since they deal with both books, I didn’t want to tack them onto the end of the ‘Calendar Boy’ and ‘Slant’ pages, so they get their own page… Cover Boy (from Loop Magazine, August 2001) by Anna Nobile ![]() The following (wonderful) profiles were written at the time of publishing Calendar Boy and Slant. ![]()
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