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Let books transform you this April
KEEP
TORONTO
READING
FESTIVAL 2011
April 1-30
keeptorontoreading.ca
Program and
One Book Reader’s Guide
presented by Toronto Public Library
keeptorontoreading.ca
one
COMMUNITY READ 2011
Join the library’s city-wide book club and read
BOOK
Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates.
one
COMMUNITY READ 2011
BOOK

Welcome to keep toronto Reading 2011
Welcome from the Mayor
Welcome from the City Librarian & the Board Chair
Welcome to the sixth
year of Keep Toronto
Reading! Every April,
this great festival
presented by Toronto
Public Library invites all
Torontonians to share
their love of reading
through a wide array of
events and activities for
all ages.
Please join me this
spring in celebrating the
joy of reading and in
supporting this city-wide
festival.
Mayor Rob Ford
City of Toronto
Toronto Public Library thanks all of our 2011 Keep Toronto Reading sponsors and partners.
Supporting partner:
This year’s Keep
Toronto Reading
Festival is all about the
transformative power
of books. Readers know
that books can change
everything, from the
way we look at our
breakfast to the way we
navigate our lives.
journals or taking part
in one of our online
activities. As always,
there’s something
for everyone, with
author readings, panel
discussions, storytelling,
performances and
hands-on activities for
kids.
Chinese girl growing up
in small town Ontario.
We think Midnight is a
perfect community read
for our richly diverse
city, and we invite you
all to read the book
and discuss it with other
Torontonians at one
of our many One Book
events.
Come to the library and
let books transform you
this April.
Media Sponsors:
During this sixth edition
of our annual festival,
we invite you to share
the books that have
transformed you, by
coming to events,
writing in our travelling
Our One Book
Community Read is also
back. Our selection this
year is Midnight at the
Dragon Café by Judy
Fong Bates, a wonderful
story about a young
Jane Pyper,
City Librarian
Matthew Church,
Library Board Chair
Program Partners:
indie
coffee
passport
NEW FOR 2011 — SCANLIFE
1. Download the free ScanLife application
with your smartphone at 2dscan.com.
2. Use your mobile to scan 2D barcodes in this
guide and around the city.
3. The codes will direct your mobile browser
to relevant content at keeptorontoreading.ca
All library
communications
are printed on FSC
certified paper.
2 3

KEEP
TORONTO
READING
FESTIVAL 2011
April 1-30
keeptorontoreading.ca
Toronto Public Library celebrates the
books that transform us. This April,
join us for a month-long celebration of the
transformative power of reading with free
special events all over town.
4
Come to great Events
• Meet authors including Howard Jacobson, Alexander McCall Smith,
Alissa York, David Bezmozgis and Donna Leon
• Come to a graphic novel workshop, or try your hand at memoir writing
• Plus storytelling, food tastings, poetry, and more!
Share the Books You Love
• We’re scattering red Books
We Love journals all over
Toronto. If you find one,
pick it up, write about
a book you love, and
pass it on! You can also
find journals on our
Bookmobiles and at select
coffee shops and bookstores.
• Update your
Facebook status with
a review of an all-time
fave. Or tell us three
titles you love, and
we’ll recommend one more.
• Use Twitter to tweet about a
transformative book (use hash tag
#keeptorontoreading).
• Make a one-minute
video review about
a book you love.
Post it on YouTube
and tag it with Keep
Toronto Reading.
• Bring a book you love but are
willing to part with to our book
swap at the Appel Salon, and get
ready to swap reads!
Books Transform Kids, Too
• Manga with artists Eric Kim and
Tory Woollcroft
• Turn books into art with Art
Garage art workshops
• Plus dub poetry, storytelling and
much more
• And
an all day celebration of Canadian
children’s writers and illustrators
everybody’s reading one book
one
Join our city-wide
book club this
COMMUNITY READ 2011 April and read
Midnight at the Dragon Café,
by Judy Fong Bates. Then come
out to our events and share your
thoughts.
• Meet Judy Fong Bates at our
kickoff event, April 1, and hear
some Chinese opera
• Come to a “Dragon Café” dinner
at Spadina Garden restaurant
BOOK
• Plus a public lecture at U of T,
a panel discussion on children
of immigrants, memoir writing
workshops and much more

free special events, all over town
From book swaps to readings,
cooking demos to crafts,
we’ve got something for
everyone with more than 80
events around the city.
The eh List Author Series
Meet the Canadian
writers everyone’s
reading — Alissa York,
David Bezmozgis,
Johanna Skibsrud and
Michael Winter — at
branches all around
the city.
RETURN TO THE
DRAGON CAFÉ
The Dragon Café comes to
Toronto’s Spadina Garden for an
evening of food
and literature.
Shape of Memory with
Judy Fong Bates
Judy Fong Bates discusses
memoir writing at
Runnymede.
Anime North
Teens cosplay at the
library… really — at
the Library! After the
costume play at North
York Central, watch
the sci fi romance
anime, Summer Wars.
Book Bash!
An all-day celebration of Canada’s
best loved children’s authors and
illustrators including Barbara Reid,
Cary Fagan, Kari-Lynn Winters,
Marthe Jocelyn, Richard Scrimger,
Ruth Ohi, Shane Peacock and
Sharon Jennings at Northern
District Branch.
diaspora dialogues
Three evenings of Toronto's
diverse literary voices. Toronto
Reference Library.
6 7

adult and youth programs
One Book Kickoff with Judy Fong
Bates and the Starlight Opera
Join us for the launch of Keep
Toronto Reading’s One Book
program. Meet author Judy Fong
Bates and sample an aria from The
White Snake with the Starlight
Cantonese Opera company. Hosted
by CBC’s Laura DiBattista.
Fri April 1, 7 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling
at the Festival
Part of Toronto’s legendary longrunning
adult storytelling series,
this night is co-sponsored with
Storytelling Toronto.
Fri April 1, 7:30 pm
North York Central, Auditorium
Your Life as a Book — A Writing
Workshop
Join this creative writing workshop
with Judie Oron, veteran journalist
and adoptive mother of the heroine
of her book, Cry of the Giraffe. Ages
16 and older.
Sat April 2, 2 pm • Fairview
Ten Women who have Changed the
World
Author of Fearless Female
Journalists, Joy Crysdale shares
stories of amazing women who
made a difference through the
pursuit of the truth. Teens welcome.
Mon April 4, 1 pm • Downsview
National Poetry Month Launch
Join Toronto Public Library and
the League of Canadian Poets for
a celebration of National Poetry
Month. Cocktails, followed by
readings with bill bissett and
shortlisted League prize winners.
Mon April 4, 5:30 pm • Lillian H. Smith
Between Two Worlds: A Panel
Discussion
Join One Book author Judy Fong
Bates, Antanas Sileika and Nino Ricci
for a conversation about being the
family interpreter of language and
culture. Hosted by CBC’s Anne-Marie
Mediwake.
Mon April 4, 7 pm • Palmerston
Novellas at Deer Park with John Calabro
Join John Calabro, president of
Quattro Books, as he discusses his
erotic novella, The Cousin, set in Sicily.
Tues April 5, 2 pm • Deer Park
Howard Jacobson
On humour, loss, the Booker Prize
and The Finkler Question. With
Michael Enright.
Tues April 5, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm)
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Note: This event requires a free ticket.
torontopubliclibrary.ca/appelsalon
The White Snake Cantonese Opera
Join us for a demonstration of this
famous opera with the Starlight
Cantonese Opera Company.
Tues April 5, 7 pm
Burrows Hall / Chinese Cultural
Centre of Greater Toronto,
5183 Sheppard Ave. East
An Afternoon with Rosemary Aubert
Mystery writer Rosemary Aubert
reads from her new novel.
Wed April 6, 2 pm • Albert Campbell
Eh List: James Bartleman
The former Lieutenant-Governor
of Ontario, James Bartleman talks
about his new book, As Long As the
Rivers Flow.
Wed April 6, 7 pm
North York Central, Auditorium
Eating Chinese: From Ginger Beef
to the Dragon Café with Lily Cho
Lily Cho, author of Eating Chinese;
Culture on the Menu in Small Town
Canada, guides us through the
history of the cuisine which North
America calls Chinese.
Wed April 6, 7 pm • Riverdale
Eh List: Alissa York
Life in the Don Valley is more
abundant and more varied than
anyone might suspect in York’s
newest novel, Fauna.
Thur April 7, 12:30 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
Living Memories, Part 1
A two-part personal storytelling
workshop presented by Chinese
Canadian storyteller Bernice Hune,
encouraging older adults to craft
stories of their journey to Canada.
Thur April 7, 1:30 pm • Malvern
Vicki Delany
Delany discusses her two mystery
series: the Constable Molly Smith
series and the Fiona MacGillivray
Klondike historical mysteries.
Thur April 7, 2 pm • Wychwood
Sarah Selecky
Selecky reads from her Giller Prize
nominated collection of short stories,
This Cake is for the Party.
Thur April 7, 6:30 pm • High Park
Book Exchange
Bring a book you love, and prepare
to swap with celebrities and other
readers. With Misha Glouberman.
Thur April 7, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm)
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall
Local author Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall
reads from his new novel, Ghosted.
Thur April 7, 7 pm • Lillian H. Smith
8 One Book programs 9

Glenn Grant
Canadian sci-fi writer Glenn Grant
reads and answers questions about
selling fiction to anthologies.
Fri April 8, 7 pm
Lillian H. Smith,
Merril Collection, 3rd floor
Diaspora Dialogues
An evening of readings and
performance by several of Toronto’s
diverse literary voices, including
Rupinder Gill and Ian Kamau. Hosted
by Dalton Higgins.
Fri April 8, 7 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
Celebrate Poetry Month
Join poets Ann E. Carson, Allan
Briesmaster, Holly Briesmaster, Kent
Bowman and Julie McNeill for a
multimedia celebration of poetry
that concludes with an open mic.
Sat April 9, 2 pm • Beaches
One Book Lecture: Dancing
Between Identities: The Boston Cream
Pie and Negotiating ‘Home’
A talk on our One Book’s theme
of duelling identities, by U of T
Canadian Studies professor, Dr. Julie
Mehta. Book sale and signing by
Judy Fong Bates after the lecture.
Mon April 11, 6 pm
University College,
15 King’s College Circle, Room 140
Chinese Gong-Fu Tea Ceremony
An introduction to Chinese tea
culture and the art of making a Yi
Xing tea pot. Audience members
will be invited to model traditional
Chinese dress from the Tang
Dynasty or Zhuang periods. An
intergenerational program. Register
in person or call 416-395-5980.
Tues April 12, 1:30 pm
York Woods Theatre & Lobby
Andrew Pyper
Join Andrew Pyper, author of The
Guardians, for an afternoon of
thrilling mystery!
Tues April 12, 2 pm • Gerrard/Ashdale
Novellas at Deer Park with Amela Marin
Join Amela Marin, author of The Sea,
as she explores war through the eyes
of a mother and her two children.
Tues April 12, 2 pm • Deer Park
Shape of Memory with Judy Fong
Bates
Judy Fong Bates, author of Midnight
at the Dragon Café and The Year
of Finding Memory, discusses the
art of memoir writing. Registration
required: 416-393-7697.
Tues April 12, 2 pm • Runnymede
Chinese Dumplings Made Easy
Learn how to make your own delicious
Chinese dumplings, followed by a
tasting. Registration required: 416-393-
7692. Intergenerational event.
Tues April 12, 7 pm • Annette Street
Alexander McCall Smith
On the wit and wisdom of lady
detectives.
Tues April 12, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm)
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Note: This event is part of the Globe
Open House and requires a paid ticket.
openhousefestival.ca
Deirdre Kelly
Journalist, critic and author Deirdre
Kelly discusses her memoir, Paris
Times Eight.
Tues April 12, 7 pm • Morningside
Eh List: Steven Hayward
Hayward reads from his latest darkly
comic novel, Don’t Be Afraid, the story
of Jim Morrison, whose life changes
utterly when the library explodes.
Tues April 12, 7 pm • Taylor Memorial
Discover Calcutta’s Chinatown
Chinese-Indian author Kwai-Yun
Li reads from The Palm Leaf Fan
about growing up in Calcutta’s
Chinatown. Screening of The Legend
of Fat Mama: Stories from Calcutta’s
Melting Wok to follow.
Wed April 13, 2 pm • Taylor Memorial
From Chop Suey to Peking Duck:
The Evolution of Chinese Food in Toronto
Author Arlene Chan, who grew up
working in her parents' downtown
Chinese restaurant, describes how
Chinese food has been a staple since
the first Toronto Chinese restaurant
in 1901. Tasty samples.
Wed April 13, 7 pm • Pape/Danforth
Return to the Dragon Café: An
Evening at Spadina Garden
Spadina Garden restaurant
celebrates our One Book with an
evening of tasty food and literary
company. Judy Fong Bates reads
from Midnight at the Dragon Café.
Call: 416-977-3413/4 for reservations.
Wed April 13
Cocktails at 6:30 pm, dinner at 7 pm
Spadina Garden, 116 Dundas St. West
Eh List: Sylvia Tyson
Singer/songwriter Sylvia Tyson turns
her hand to fiction in her first novel,
Joyner’s Dream.
Thur April 14, 12:30 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
The Changing Book: A Panel Discussion
for Writers and Readers
Join Toronto Public Library Writer-in-
Residence Elizabeth Ruth and other
guest panellists for a discussion of
the future of the book.
Thur April 14, 6:30 pm
North York Central, Auditorium
10 One Book programs 11

Donna Leon
The Mystic and The Minstrel
Eh List: Gail Bowen
Eh List: Sheila Heti
On Venice, murder and Inspector
Brunetti. With the Globe’s Margaret
Cannon.
Fri April 15, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm)
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Note: This event requires a free ticket.
torontopubliclibrary.ca/appelsalon
Diaspora Dialogues
An evening of readings and
performance by several of Toronto’s
diverse literary voices, including
James Bartleman and Allyson Blood.
Hosted by Dalton Higgins.
Fri April 15, 7 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
Graphically Speaking: Biographical and
Historical Comics
Scott Chantler (Two Generals)
and Zach Worton (The Klondike)
on documenting history and
autobiography through graphic
novels. Moderated by The Beguiling’s
Christopher Butcher. Presented with
Toronto Comic Arts Festival.
Sat April 16, 1 to 2:30 pm
North York Central Library, Auditorium
The Art Garage Inc.
Come make your own board game
with the awesome team at Art
Garage.
Sat April 16, 2 pm • Centennial
An interaction of poetry, prose and
music by author and guitarist Mark
Battenberg.
Sat April 16, 2 pm • Main Street
Anime North at the Library
Anime cosplay… at the library! Plus a
screening of the sci-fi romance anime
Summer Wars. Come in costume and
be eligible to win passes to Anime
North. Presented with Anime North.
Sat April 16, 3 pm
North York Central Library,
Auditorium
Tim Flannery
On our place in nature, and how to live
Here on Earth. With TVO’s Allan Gregg.
Mon April 18, 7 pm (doors open 6 pm)
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Note: This event requires a free ticket.
torontopubliclibrary.ca/appelsalon
Novellas at Deer Park with Carole
Giangrande
Giangrande on her novella, A
Gardener on the Moon.
Tues April 19, 2 pm • Deer Park
Eh List: Alison Pick
The story of Pavel and Anneliese
Bauer, Czech Jews who, at the onset
of World War II, have Far to Go.
Tues April 19, 7 pm • Barbara Frum
Bowen reads from her latest Joanne
Kilbourn mystery, The Nesting Dolls.
Tues April 19, 7 pm • S. Walter Stewart
Wed April 20, 7 pm • Northern District
Living Giants: The Trees of Toronto
Vincenzo Pietropaolo discusses the
transformative power of nature and
why Toronto trees make our city
special.
Wed April 20, 2 pm • Spadina Road
Kim Moritsugu on Food & Fiction
Author and food blogger Kim
Moritsugu on plot, food and her new
mystery novelette, And Everything
Nice.
Wed April 20, 6:30 pm
Danforth/Coxwell
Eh List: Michael Winter
Based on a real-life St. John’s
tragedy and trial, The Death of
Donna Whalen is a chilling and
provocative novel which goes where
documentary never can.
Wed April 20, 7 pm • Runnymede
Celebrate Poetry Month: Reading by
Robert Priest
Robert Priest, poet, playwright and
musician, is an electrifying performer
of “rants, raves and reveries,” most
recently in Reading the Bible
Backwards.
From the internationally acclaimed
author, a bold examination of the
notion of a beautiful life in How
Should a Person Be?
Thur April 21, 12:30 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
Living Memories, Part 2
Second in a two-part workshop
presented by Chinese Canadian
storyteller Bernice Hune, encouraging
older adults to craft personal stories of
their journey to Canada.
Thur April 21, 1:30 pm • Malvern
The Long Dash
A evening of poetry featuring poets
Clara Blackwood, Merle Nudelman,
John Oughton, Mary Lou Soutar-
Hynes, Sheila Stewart and Elana
Wolff. Sponsored by the League of
Canadian Poets.
Thur April 21, 7 pm • Parkdale
Eh List: David Bezmozgis
On aspiration, exile and writing in
The Free World.
Thurs April 21, 7 pm
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Note: This event requires a free ticket.
torontopubliclibrary.ca/appelsalon
Wed April 20, 7:15 pm • Pape/Danforth
12 One Book programs 13

ktr for kids
Novellas at Deer Park with Zoe Garnett
As We Were in Toronto’s Chinatown
Robin Muller
The Art Garage Inc.
Join Zoe Garnett as she negotiates the
rocky terrain between money and art.
Tues April 26, 2 pm • Deer Park
The Boneshaker Reading Series
Meet authors David McFadden and Paul
Vermeersch at this local reading series.
Tues April 26, 6:30 pm
St. Clair/Silverthorn
Book Club with Judy
Our One Book author leads a discussion
of Midnight at the Dragon Café.
Tues April 26, 7 pm
North York Central, Room 2
Toronto Star Short Story Contest
Celebration
Meet the winners of Canada’s
biggest short story contest.
Wed April 27, 6 pm
Toronto Reference Library,
Appel Salon
Celebrate National Poetry Month
Readings by Ken Babstock, Sharon
Thesen and Matt Rader of House of
Anansi Press.
Wed April 27, 7 pm • Locke
Eh List: Antanas Sileika
Sileika reads from his newest book,
Underground, an engaging literary
thriller and love story.
Wed April 27, 7 pm
North York Central, Auditorium
Author Arlene Chan, who grew
up and worked at her parents’
restaurant in Chinatown, describes
life as it was in the early Chinese
community.
Wed April 27, 7 pm • Beaches
A Celebration of the Hakka Chinese
Culture in India
Come learn about the history and
culture of the Hakka Chinese in India
and taste authentic Hakka food.
Registration required: 416-396-8939
Thur April 28, 7 pm • Taylor Memorial
Jacqueline Guest
Jacqueline Guest, Métis author of
War Games, discusses her youthoriented
books with local students.
Fri April 29, 9 am • Pleasant View
Diaspora Dialogues
An evening of readings and
performance by several of Toronto’s
diverse literary voices, including
Jacob McArthur Mooney and
Rebecca Applebaum. Hosted by
Dalton Higgins.
Fri April 29, 7 pm
Toronto Reference Library, Atrium
How did author/illustrator Robin
Muller become a children’s book
star? Come find out!
Fri April 1, 1:30 pm • Albert Campbell
The Art Garage Inc.
Have fun making your own
Masterpiece Pop-Up Book Theatre.
Limited to 30 children. Registration
required: phone 393-7732.
Sat April 2, 2 pm • Davenport
Paul Yee
Join us for a special visit from author
Paul Yee and get a sneak peek at his
next book, The Secret Keepers. Ages
8 to 12.
Wed April 6, 2 pm • Parkdale
Paul Yee
Learn about the life of the Chinese
rail workers who helped build the
Canadian Pacific Railway. Ages 8 to 12.
Thur April 7, 1:30 pm
North York Central, Auditorium
Helaine Becker
Love the book Boredom Blasters?
Come meet the author! Ages 5 to 10.
Wed April 6, 2 pm • Dawes Road
Get Creative with Robin Muller
Wanna be an author or illustrator?
Get the ins and outs of the creative
process from a pro. Ages 6 to 12.
Sat April 9, 12:30 pm • Fairview
Have fun making your own
Masterpiece Pop-Up Book Theatre.
Limited to 30 children. Registration
required: 416-393-7732.
Sat April 9, 2 pm • Cliffcrest
Have Fun with Poetry!
Poetry is fun to hear, read, learn and
write. Come join in. Ages 7 to 12.
Sat April 9, 2 pm • Bendale
Celia Barker Lottridge
Amazing storyteller Celia Barker
Lottridge reads from her new book,
The Listening Tree. Ages 8 to 12.
Mon April 11, 10:30 am • Palmerston
From Whence Came Dub Poetry
Come enjoy the rhythm and beauty
of the spoken word.
Wed April 13, 1:30 pm • Amesbury Park
Barbara Reid’s Book Magic
Barbara Reid reveals how she creates
her colourful picture books, using
plasticine!
Thur April 14, 10 am
Lillian H. Smith, Osborne Collection
14 One Book programs 15

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COMMUNITY READ 2011
BOOK
Reader’s Guide
Graphically Speaking for Kids
Make manga with the pros, Eric
Kim and Tory Woollcott. For kids
ages 9 to 12. Call 416-395-5630 to
register. Presented with Toronto
Comics Arts Festival.
Sat April 16, 1 pm
North York Central Library,
Room 2 and 3
Ian Wallace
Come meet one of your favourite
children’s authors and illustrators, Ian
Wallace.
Mon April 18, 2 pm • Lillian H. Smith
Tues April 19, 10 am • North York
Central, Concourse
Myth Over Magic with Mahtab
Narsimhan
Listen to a reading from The Deadly
Conch, combining myth and magic.
Ages 9 to 12.
Tues April 19, 1:30 pm • Thorncliffe
Zorgamazoo!
Find time to rhyme with Robert Paul
Weston, author of the rhyming novel
Zorgamazoo.
Tues April 26, 1:30 pm
Highland Creek
Robin Baird Lewis
Robin Baird Lewis, illustrator of Red is
Best, creates drawings faster than you
can dream up ideas. Ages 6 to 13.
Fri April 29, 10 am • Victoria Village
Children’s Literature Festival
An all-day celebration of Canada’s
best loved children’s authors and
illustrators. Readings, puppet
shows, storytelling and crafts on
multiple stages throughout
the day.
Barbara Reid ★ Cary Fagan
Kari-Lynn Winters ★ Marthe
Jocelyn ★ Richard Scrimger
Ruth Ohi ★ Shane Peacock
Sharon Jennings
For more information, visit
torontopubliclibrary.ca/bookbash.
Sat April 30, 12:30 - 4 pm
Northern District
Made possible by
the Muller Scholastic
Endowment Fund
for Canadian Children’s
Literature.
EVERYBODY’S READING ONE BOOK THIS APRIL
and it’s Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates.
Join us for author events, book discussions and other
programs that will bring this exceptional book to life.
Use this guide to enhance your
enjoyment of Midnight at the Dragon
Café. Here’s what you’ll find inside:
• An interview with Judy Fong Bates
• An excerpt from Midnight at the
Dragon Café
• Questions for discussion
• An historical essay about Chinese
immigration to Canada
• Related recommended readings
Toronto Public Library thanks all of our 2011 Keep Toronto Reading One Book
sponsors and partners.
Supporting partners:
Program Partners:
Media Sponsors:
Spadina
Garden
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Introducing Midnight at the Dragon Café
SET IN A SMALL ONTARIO TOWN IN THE 1960s, this debut novel by Judy
Fong Bates tells the story of a young Chinese girl and her family — the
owners of the only Chinese restaurant in town. Through Su-Jen’s eyes, the
hard life behind the scenes at the Dragon Café unfolds. As Su-Jen’s father
works continually for a better future, her mother, a beautiful but embittered
woman, settles uneasily into their new life. When Su-Jen’s half-brother
arrives, smouldering under the responsibilities he must bear as the dutiful
Chinese son, he forms an alliance with Su-Jen’s mother, one that will have
devastating consequences. Written in spare, intimate prose, Midnight at the
Dragon Café is a vivid portrait of a childhood divided by two cultures and
touched by unfulfilled longings and unspoken secrets.
Praise for Midnight at the Dragon Café
“Judy Fong Bates slips us past
the front counter into the inner
life of the Dragon Café, as if we
lived there too.…. Her attention
to physical detail is matched by
compassionate understanding, which
gives real weight to the telling of
the submerged, drowning passion
hidden in this household.”
NATIONAL POST
“Wonderfully written and acutely
observed, Midnight at the Dragon
Café is a haunting novel.… As skilled
and original as it is moving.”
LONDON FREE PRESS
“In Midnight at the Dragon Café,
Judy Fong Bates has created a novel
that does what the very best fiction
can do – take us into a world we
could not have otherwise entered,
put us among people we could not
otherwise know. As quintessentially
Canadian as Alice Munro, and
equally delightful to read.”
SHYAM SELVADURAI
1957
Several months before my mother and I came to Canada, my father,
Hing-Wun Chou, and his oldest friend, Doon-Yat Lim, bought
the Dragon Café in the town of Irvine, not far from Toronto. They
considered it a good buy, as it was already a Chinese restaurant, with
woks in the kitchen and a rectangular sign with gold Chinese-style script
above the front window. But most important for them, an enterprise in
a town the size of Irvine cost less money than one in a bigger place. At
the time I didn’t realize that my father’s business was typical of so many
Chinese restaurants in small towns across Canada, often known as the
local greasy spoon, every one of them a lonely family business isolated
from the community it served.
While my mother and I were still in Hong Kong, we visited a tailor;
he made each of us a woollen coat and several cotton dresses. But for
my mother he also made a dark green travelling suit and a beautiful
rose-coloured cheongsam. She packed our new clothes in a large brown
leather suitcase, smoothing them carefully around bolts of material,
folded sweaters, packages of medicinal herbs, small gifts for family, and
our few personal belongings.
As I stood beside her in a long line to board the airplane, it was hard to
believe that the beautiful woman in the lo fon–style suit and black highheeled
shoes was my mother. Until then, I had only seen her in cotton
pyjama suits that fastened up the side or a light dress with a loose skirt.
She had told me that we were going to a country called Gun-ah-dye, a
land that was cold and covered with snow, a place where lo fons lived, a
place where only English was spoken. She had pointed them out to me
in the streets of Hong Kong. “They don’t speak Chinese,” she had said.
“But soon you will learn English, and talk just like the lo fons. I am too
old to learn, but you, Su-Jen, you will be just like them.” I wondered what
English sounded like. I didn’t understand why it would be easy for me
but difficult for my mother.
– excerpt from Midnight at the Dragon Café by Judy Fong Bates
reprinted with permission of the author and McClelland & Stewart.
18 19

About JUDY FONG BATES
Judy Fong Bates came to Canada from China as a young child and grew up
in several small Ontario towns. She is a writer, storyteller and teacher, whose
stories have been broadcast on CBC Radio and published in literary journals
and anthologies. In addition to Midnight at the Dragon Café, she is the
author of the critically acclaimed short-story collection, China Dog and Other
Stories, and a family memoir, The Year of Finding Memory.
An Interview with the Author
In the novel, complications arise
due to tensions often linked to
resentment over personal sacrifices.
This creates terrific narrative tension.
Can you discuss the theme of sacrifice,
and how it comes to eventually
redeem and connect the characters?
Like most children growing up in
immigrant families, Su-Jen is aware
of her position in the family and the
sacrifices her parents have made
for her future. At first she tries hard
to live up to their expectations by
“For an immigrant kid like me, the public library
was one of the primary building blocks in my
love of words and stories. I am deeply indebted
to the library of my youth. And I am thrilled
and honoured that Toronto Public Library, the
premier public library system in North America,
has chosen Midnight at the Dragon Café for its
2011 One Book. I look forward to meeting with
Toronto readers during the month of April.”
JUDY FONG BATES
being a model Chinese daughter:
quiet and obedient. But as Su-Jen
watches the secret alliance between
her mother and her brother deepen,
she becomes increasingly angry, not
just with them, but with her father. It
isn’t until she unwittingly betrays her
family by revealing their secrets that
she begins to understand the many
faces of sacrifice – in the nobility of
her father’s behaviour, in the cost of
this new life on her mother, in her
brother’s inability to escape his own
fate – and become able to forgive.
Su-Jen is the only family member
to have a daily life both within and
beyond the restaurant. She has a foot
in two worlds, and is not entirely
comfortable in either. And while
Su-Jen has formed community ties,
she lacks someone who can relate to
her experiences. Can you discuss this
division within Su-Jen and the effect
on her and her decisions?
As a child growing up in two cultures,
Su-Jen’s search for place is difficult
and circuitous. Although the values
of the two cultures overlap in many
ways, the differences are significant
and there is little understanding
between them. In her desire for
acceptance, Su-Jen makes decisions
that perhaps a more secure child
would not make. And because of her
lack of fluency in the complexities of
her family, she inadvertently betrays
them by speaking the truth out loud.
It is only at the end of the book
when she decides to join her mother
in Toronto that we see a glimpse
of someone beginning to make
sense of her two disparate worlds,
of understanding the uniqueness of
the space she inhabits, and perhaps
ultimately finding comfort in being
neither “fish nor fowl.”
There are characters in your novel
that seem to be pulled in different
directions, caught between
responsibility and desire, or between
traditional and new world ways.
Can you tell us the differences in the
situations of Lee-Kung, the older son,
and Su-Jen, the young daughter?
The most obvious difference is, of
course, their age. When Lee-Kung
comes to Canada he is already an adult,
raised in China, bound by traditional
values of duty and filial piety. With little
formal education and only some spoken
English, his options in his adopted
country are relatively narrow and his
responsibility is the financial security of
the family. Whereas for Su-Jen, who will
probably go on to higher education,
the possibilities for her future are
limitless. The danger, though for her,
being raised in Western society, is that
her understanding of Chinese traditions
is only partially developed, which
ultimately leads her to confront her
family in a way that a “good Chinese
girl” would never do.
– Used courtesy of McClelland &
Stewart and judyfongbates.com
20 21

The History of Chinese
immigration to Canada
Chinese immigration to Canada
began in the second half of the
nineteenth century. Natural
disasters, wars and population
expansion led many peasants from
south-eastern China to seek their
fortune in the New World, which
they called “Gold Mountain.”
Many early Chinese male immigrants
to Canada found work either in gold
mining or on the construction of the
Canadian Pacific Railway. After the
Railway was completed in 1885, the
supply of Chinese labour in British
Columbia exceeded demand. The
Canadian government moved to
restrict further Chinese immigration
by imposing a ‘head tax’ of $50 on
most Chinese people seeking entry
into Canada. This tax was increased
to $100 in 1900 and to $500 in 1903.
Finally the Canadian Parliament
passed the Chinese Exclusion Act in
1923 which, with few exceptions,
prevented people of Chinese descent
from immigrating to Canada. The
result was that many Chinese men
working in Canada were unable to
bring their wives and children to
join them, leading to the formation
of a ‘bachelor society.’ Not being
Canadians or British subjects, the
Chinese were denied entry into such
professions as law, teaching and
pharmacy; many worked in small
businesses, such as restaurants and
laundries.
During World War II (1939-1945)
the Chinese in Canada contributed
to the war effort and China itself
fought against the Japanese as an
ally of Canada, the US and Britain.
Chinatown stores were gathering places for the community, 1940. Used with permission from
James Lorimer and Company.
Kingston Road, north side, looking west from Birchmount Road, showing Lem Brotehrs Laundry
(on right), 10 September 1928. Toronto Transit Commission Archives. TTC 6229.
This situation led to the repeal of the
Chinese Exclusion Act in 1947. By the
1950s most of the discriminatory laws
against the Chinese in Canada had
been repealed; wives and children
of Chinese Canadians were able to
join their husbands and fathers and
the Chinese community was able to
participate fully in Canadian life. This
would have been the time that Su-
Jen’s family immigrated to Canada.
After World War II, the Communists
under Chairman Mao took control
of China introducing a series of
reforms, such as collectivization, to
increase industrial and agricultural
production. Then in the 1960s came
the Cultural Revolution. There was
social upheaval as many educated
people were deemed to be antirevolutionary
and removed from
their jobs; the Chinese educational
system was negatively impacted. This
was also the period of the ‘Cold War’
between the Western democracies,
including the US and Canada, and
Communist regimes including the
USSR, Cuba and China; permission to
emigrate from China was difficult to
obtain.
In the second half of the twentieth
century, the largest number of
Chinese immigrants came to Canada
from Hong Kong, a British possession
that was returned to China in 1997.
These immigrants tended to be
wealthier and better educated than
the earlier Chinese immigrants. The
implementation of multiculturalism
in Canada in 1971 provided a
more welcoming environment for
all immigrants; thriving Chinese
communities now exist in many
major Canadian centres, especially
Toronto and Vancouver. In 2006
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
issued an apology in the House of
Commons for the head tax paid
by Chinese immigrants; survivors
or their spouses received symbolic
compensation from the Canadian
government.
22 23

questions for discussion
FURTHER READING
1) Midnight at the Dragon Café is
both quintessentially Canadian
and yet powerfully conveys the
Chinese immigrant perspective.
What makes the novel feel so
Canadian? Consider setting (where
the story unfolds) and character.
2) How does Fong Bates help the
reader fully enter the particular
point of view of a newly settled
Chinese family? How does the
mother, Lai-Jing, view her new
surroundings? How does she feel
about her Irvine neighbours, the lo
fons (white people)?
3) How does Su-Jen see her new
community, including the school,
river, stores, her father’s restaurant
and her schoolmates? Have your
feelings about small-town Canada
been changed by experiencing
it through the eyes of the Chou
family?
4) What overt – and subtle – acts of
racism does Su-Jen endure among
her peers? Consider the school
play: was it realistic or racist for
Su-Jen’s friends to dissuade her
from auditioning for the lead role?
Why? How do name-calling and
racist assumptions affect Su-Jen?
5) In what ways is Su-Jen a child
caught between two cultures?
How does this affect her world
view?
6) By what means do Su-Jen’s father,
mother and uncle keep Chinese
culture alive in Canada?
7) What role do the arts — stories
and music — play in the novel,
particularly in the lives of Hing-
Wun and Su-Jen?
8) Sacrifice is an important theme
in the novel. How does each
character’s understanding of
sacrifice affect their lives? How
does Su-Jen’s own understanding
of sacrifice change over the course
of the novel?
9) How are the events in the story
influenced by the Chou family’s
isolation from the larger urban
Chinese community?
10) What qualities draw Su-Jen to
Charlotte Heighington and her
family, particularly her mother? In
what ways does Mrs. Heighington
differ from Su-Jen’s mother and
what qualities, if any, do the two
women share?
11) A love affair between a married
woman and her stepson is
shocking but what makes it
feel more so in Midnight at the
Dragon Café? How does the
inclusion of their affair allow
the novel to transcend the
category of “immigrant story”?
Do you sympathize with Lai-Jing’s
behaviour and does Hing-Wun
deserve a portion of the blame?
Is Lai-Jing really as trapped as she
feels?
– Used courtesy of McClelland &
Stewart and judyfongbates.com
All titles are available for borrowing from the library; place a hold and have
materials sent to your branch.
Other Books by Judy Fong Bates
The Year of Finding Memory, 2010
As a child, Fong Bates’ parents
told her stories about China but
she longed to be a Canadian girl.
Years later, a trip to China yields
unexpected discoveries.
China Dog and other Stories, 1997
An assortment of stories focussing
on the lives of Chinese immigrants to
Canada, their successes, failures and
the role of home, family and memory
in their lives.
Canadian Chinatowns
The Jade Peony
Wayson Choy, 1995
Kiam-Kim Chen is only three when
his family immigrates to Vancouver’s
Chinatown. As he grows, he finds
himself struggling to balance
Western ideals with the traditional
world view of his grandmother.
Disappearing Moon Café
Sky Lee, 1993
Narrator Kae Ying Woo tells the story
of four generations of the Wong
family who operate the Disappearing
Moon Café in Chinatown.
The End of East
Jen Sookfung Lee, 2007
Spanning the 20 th century, the
despair and conflicts of three
generations of the Chan family in the
streets of Vancouver’s Chinatown are
explored.
Two Chinatowns
Dan Mahoney, 2001
After his fiancée is murdered, Cisco
vows revenge and soon finds himself
entangled in the underworld of
Chinatown gangs in Toronto and
New York.
Fall Guy
Scott Mackay, 2001
Homicide detectives investigating
a murder in Toronto’s vibrant
Chinatown are obstructed by the
secretive and sometimes corrupt
nature of the community.
Chinatowns: Towns within Cities in
Canada
David Chuenyan Lai, 1989
Lai analyzes the physical and cultural
aspects of Canadian Chinatowns in
cities and large towns across the
nation from 1858 to 1988.
Chinatown: An Illustrated History of
the Chinese Communities of Victoria,
Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg,
Toronto, Montreal and Halifax
Paul Yee, 2005
This book offers dozens of historical
images and fascinating details about
the Chinese communities established
in cities across Canada.
Struggle and Hope: The Story of
Chinese Canadians
Paul Yee, 1996
Another book by archivist Paul
Yee, who grew up in Vancouver’s
Chinatown, this title covers the time
period from the 1850s until the late
1990s.
24 25

Show your
love of books.
Support
Toronto’s Library.
The Immigrant Experience
Buying on Time
Antanas Sileika, 1997
A humorous and moving collection
of linked stories about a Lithuanian
immigrant family working to build
a life – and a house – in a Canadian
suburb after World War II.
Banana Boys
Terry Woo, 2000
Not really Chinese and not quite
Canadian, the Banana Boys –
growing up yellow on the outside,
white on the inside – stumble
through situations, exploring
the nature of identity and the
possibilities each character has
within.
The Excluded Wife
Yuen-fong Woon, 1998
For more than 20 years, Sau-Ping
is separated by the Exclusion Act
from her Chinese husband living in
Canada. When finally reunited, she
struggles to rebuild her life with a
husband she barely knows in an alien
culture.
The Land Newly Found: Eyewitness
Accounts of the Canadian Immigrant
Experience
Norman Hillmer, 2006
Drawn from letters, newspapers and
reportage, these vivid first-hand
accounts provide insight into the
lives of immigrants from the18th
century to today.
An Economic Sociology of Immigrant
Life in Canada
Abdolmohammad Kazemipur, 2004
The integration of immigrants into
host societies was once perceived in
simplistic terms of who would learn
the new language and culture; the
past two decades have shown just
how complex this process can be.
Chinese Opera and Poetry
The Moon Opera
Feiyu Bi, 2009
In a fit of diva jealousy, Xiao
Yanqiu, star of The Moon Opera,
disfigures her understudy with
boiling water. Twenty years later,
she is asked to return to her role.
A stunning portrait of women who
are simultaneously revered and
restricted.
Another Way to Dance:
Contemporary Asian Poetry from
Canada and the United States
Cyril Dabydeen, 1996
Some of the most dynamic
contemporary poets writing in
North America have contributed,
reflecting to varying degrees both
ancestral Asian homelands and North
American settings.
More Than Skin Deep: Poetry in
English and Chinese
Lien Chao, 2004
In both English and Chinese, Chao
evokes the lives of Asian Canadians
in all their diversity and depth, as she
reflects on identity, assimilation and
language.
Peony in Love [Large Print]
Lisa See, 2007
Peony’s father is planning a
controversial opera – one which
influences young women to starve
themselves for love. Peony succumbs
only to learn just before death that
the husband her father had picked
for her was the man she loved.
Classical Chinese Folksongs &
Opera [CD]
Wei Li, 1997
A collection of traditional Chinese
folk songs and operas.
Chinese Cooking
Eating Chinese; Culture on the Menu
in Small Town Canada
Lily Cho, 2010
Lily Cho's account of how the
Chinese diaspora in Canada fed
a nation takes a hard look at the
ubiquitous Chinese restaurant
and explores what it means to be
Chinese, and what it means to be
Chinese-Canadian.
Oriental Vegetables: The Complete
Guide for the Gardening Cook
Joy Larkcom, 2008
Larkom presents abundant information
about more than 70 exotic vegetables
that are full of flavor, highly nutritious
and easy to grow – along with more
than 50 delicious recipes.
Helen’s Asian Kitchen: Easy Chinese
Stir-Fries
Helen Chen, 2009
Chen grew up eating stir-fries and
shares a wealth of information on
stir-frying techniques and Asian
cookware.
Buy a book in the
subway
At our TTC subway book sales this
April, buy a used book for just $1
each. Spend $5 or more and get a
new book free. All proceeds go to
Toronto Public Library Foundation.
• Monday, April 4 and 18,
Yonge-Bloor station
• Monday, April 11,
Finch station
All events noon to 6 pm.
Presented with Friends of Toronto
Public Library and Toronto Transit
Commission. Special thanks to
Random House of Canada and
Tundra Books for donating new
books.
Your Library.
Vital to you. Vital to support.
Donate to Toronto Public Library
Foundation today.
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