Gillian Chan Dundas Author of Young Adult Novels

Gillian Chan is a Dundas resident and author of many short stories and books for young adults. Gillian was an engaging speaker who clearly loves words and can both write and speak with eloquence. She gave us insight into how she became a writer. Her experience was that first she loved reading (no TV)  and made use of the local libraries. She loved making up stories from a young age and listening to those of her father with his WW2 experiences, as well as her mother's South African/Irish life events. Like an athlete she noted that writing takes discipline and practice. Mornings are spent asking questions, and writing, while afternoons are for research on the questions, and many times, tearing up previous work and starting over.  Gillian noted that stories are an innate part of being human and that we all create stories in our conversations. Stories help us make sense of the world as we may see the world in different time frames or settings, but always from the shared human perspective. Gillian's works include books set in historical contexts as varied as France,  Cootes Paradise, L'anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland, and Vancouver - each with a different focus of time, place and history but always with a focus on the story of the lives of her characters. Check out her website www.gillianchan.com