Vancouver Public Library’s 2023 writer in residence is Vancouver author Aren X. Tulchinsky, the writer formerly known as Karen X. Tulchinsky.
Tulchinsky is a novelist, screenwriter, video editor and writing mentor, and an out and proud member of the LGBTQ2S+ community. He is the recipient of awards such as the One Book One Vancouver Prize and Vancity Book Prize for his written works, which include The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky, In Her Nature, Love Ruins Everything and Love and Other Ruins.
He has also written for and edited on numerous television series, including The Nature of Things for CBC. His short film, Ms. Thing, has screened internationally in more than 50 film festivals and won the Audience Choice Award at the Queer Fruits Film Festival in Australia.
“My passion has always been to tell stories, especially stories set in communities that have been historically underrepresented in Canadian literature,” said Tulchinsky. “I am Jewish from a working-class background. I came out as a lesbian as a teenager, and now identify as a transgender man. As a member of several marginalized communities, I have always written from the heart and I welcome the opportunity to mentor emerging writers on their own journeys – especially those from underrepresented communities, such as BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ writers.”
This fall, Tulchinsky will work directly with aspiring writers through a series of writing workshops, individual consults and special events at the library. He’ll also be working on a new novel, Second Son, which follows a transgender man who is grieving the premature death of his father, coming to terms with the loss of his only brother 10 years earlier, and learning to love himself in the process.
Find out more at vpl.ca/writer.
– Courtesy Vancouver Public Library