Aaron Chan is an award-winning writer, educator, filmmaker and musician who was raised and lives on the unceded Coast Salish territory, Vancouver, BC. He holds a BFA from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in creative writing from the University of California Riverside. Chan is the 2026 Writer-In-Residence for the City of Richmond, and was named one of the 2026 Writers’ Trust of Canada Rising Stars.
Fiction (Juvenile, Picture book)
The Broken Heart
Illustrated by Josian Vlitos.
New York: Rocky Pond Books / Penguin, 2019.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From the Penguin Random House Canada website)
A younger sister tries to put her brother’s heart back together after his boyfriend breaks up with him—a touching story of how to support a loved one who’s grieving.
Stephanie loves to fix broken things, but when her older brother Cody walks in and says his heart is broken, she’s not sure how to fix it. All the pieces of his heart are spread out, Cody tells her. So Stephanie sets off to track them down by going to Cody’s high school, the movie theater, the beach—all places that were special to Cody and his ex-boyfriend. Still, even with all the pieces, Stephanie’s not sure she can fix Cody’s broken heart—but maybe she can help him heal.
Non-fiction (Memoir)
Hong Kong: Signal 8, 2019.
Synopsis (From the author’s website)
This City is a Minefield is a collection of reflective memoir and personal essays told from a genuine and unique voice about growing up and coming of age as a young gay Chinese man in Vancouver. Thoughtful and honest, the stories and essays recounted are unafraid of analyzing and criticizing the status quo, whether it be Chinese culture’s unfavourable view of homosexuality, or the gay community’s ill-addressed, rampant sexual racism. At the same time an intimate, tender love letter to Vancouver filled with mixed emotions – joy, nostalgia, sadness – Chan weaves together poignant, heartbreaking experiences of navigating and reconciling conflicting cultural and queer identities, complicated romantic relationships, sex and trauma, and overwhelming loneliness that coalesce to form a rounded portrait of a quiet soul on a search for love and belonging. This City is a Minefield serves as a marker of life as a young queer person of colour in this modern age.