Dr. Lien Chao

Arts & Expression, East Asian, Literature

Lien Chao is an award-winning Canadian critic and creative writer. Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, she came to Canada in 1984 to pursue her graduate studies at York University in Toronto. She completed her MA in 1986 and her PhD in English in 1995. Her groundbreaking PhD thesis, Beyond Silence: Chinese Canadian Literature in English was published in 1997 and won the Gabrielle Roy Award for Canadian Criticism.

She writes in both English and Chinese in various genres and fields including literary criticism, art criticism, creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.

She is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada; a Director for the Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario).

Her publications include:

Salt in My Life (Poetry in English and Chinese), 2019.
The Chinese Knot and Other Stories. TSAR Publications, 2008.
Peng Ma: Chinese Brush Painting. TSAR Publications, 2008.
Wang Dehui: Oil and Chinese Brush Paintings. TSAR Publications, 2008.
China-Canada Friendship Sculpture Garden. Beijing Foreign Language Press, 2004
More Than Skin Deep. TSAR Publications, 2004.
Strike the Wok: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Canadian Fiction. With Jim Wong-Chu; with a preface by Lien Chao. TSAR Publications, 2003.
Tiger Girl (Hu Nu): A Creative Memoir. TSAR Publications, 2001.
Maples and the Stream: A Narrative Poem. TSAR Publications, 1999.
A Collection of Ma Peng's Chinese Brush Paintings. Taiwan Dynasty, 1997.
Beyond Silence: Chinese Canadian Literature in English. TSAR Publications, 1997