A Vancouver-raised author who was shortlisted for the Giller Prize will share insights into storytelling in a public lecture at UBC. Tsering Yangzom Lama is the Nepal-born author of We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies, which won the GLCA New Writers Award for Fiction and the Banff Mountain Book Award for Fiction & Poetry.
Word Vancouver festival director Bonnie Nish will moderate Lama’s talk at 2 p.m. on February 26 at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (1961 East Mall).
“Whether you’re an aspiring writer or simply curious about writing life, this event promises to be an engaging discussion on craft, perseverance, and artistic vision,” the UBC Library said in a news release.
Lama is the UBC Library writer-in-residence as well as co-founder of Lhakar Diaries. It’s an English-language blog dedicated to the “White Wednesday” non-cooperation movement in Tibet, which employs nonviolence to resist China’s occupation. They do this by supporting Tibetan businesses, speaking the Tibetan language, and embracing Tibetan food and clothing.
“Lhakar Diaries serves as a platform to promote similar actions on the outside, showing our solidarity with Tibetans in Tibet,” the website states. “Each Wednesday we share our personal journeys with our essays, artwork, music and exploration of our shared cultural heritage and identity.”
Lama studied at UBC
Her novel tells the story of a Tibetan family’s 50 years in exile. Two sisters, Lhamo and Tenkyi, flee to a refugee camp in Nepal following China’s invasion of their homeland, surviving a trek across the Himalayas. Many years later, the sisters are separated, with Tenkyi living with her niece in Toronto.
Lama moved to Vancouver with her family when she was 12. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and international relations from UBC. She also has an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. Over the years, she has written for many publications, including the Globe and Mail, the Malahat Review, and Grain.
In addition to the honours listed at the beginning of this article, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies was shortlisted for the Émile Guime Prize for Asian Literature and the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, along others. It was also included in the Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books for May of 2022, Booklist‘s Top 10 Historical Fiction Debuts 2022, and the New York Times Book Review Summer Reads Pick.
UBC Library will present an afternoon with its writer-in-residence, Tsering Yangzom Lama, in partnership with Word Vancouver. It will take place at 2 p.m. on February 26 in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. For further information and to register, visit the UBC Library website.
Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia, Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social, and Instagram @PancouverMedia. Also follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social.
