Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li

Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li is a queer writer, musician, and interdisciplinary artist. Her writing is forthcoming or published in The New Quarterly, The Massachusetts Review, The Fiddlehead, and CV2, among others. Most recently, she was a Finalist for the Kenyon Review Short Nonfiction Contest, Shortlisted for the Peter Hinchcliffe Short Fiction Award, and Longlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. Her debut short musical dramedy premiered at the 26th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and her debut chapbook, Someday I Promise, I’ll Love You, was published by 845 Press. She has directed for the Or Festival and the Brave New Play Rites Festival. Her full-length play, The Unknown, My Child, which explored three women of successive generations descending into a realm based on the Chinese Underworld, fighting against spirits and addressing their repressed wounds—had its first staged reading with Arts Club Theatre in mid-May. Her creative works engage with themes of Chinese-Canadian identity, mental health, and social justice. She is an editor for Augur and can be reached @vivianlicreates.