Ellen Chang-Richardson is an emerging poet, writer and editor of
Taiwanese and Cambodian-Chinese descent who splits her time between the
nation’s capital and her previous home of Toronto. Winner of the 2019 Vallum
Award for Poetry, Ellen’s writing has appeared in Ricepaper, Hart House
Review, Bywords.ca, and more. She is the author of Unlucky Fours (Anstruther
Press, 2020) and the founder of Little Birds
Poetry – a series of editing workshops for
poets and creative writers. Follow her on Twitter @ehjchang and read a
selection of her published works at ehjchang.com.
Q: How long have you been in Ottawa, and what first brought you
here?
I moved to Ottawa in August 2019. Truthfully, love brought me here
(as well as a contract position at the University of Ottawa) but I like to tell
people that I moved here for work. I’m a poet, you see, and Ottawa has one of
the strongest poetry communities in this country.
Q: How did you first get involved in writing, and subsequently,
the writing community here?
I started writing seriously in April 2019. That’s not a very long
time ago, I know. Winter 2018-2019 brought its fair share of personal hardships.
My mum fell critically ill (she’s doing much better now thanks to the
incredible health professionals at Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto) and I
realized that life is way too short to not pursue a dream. Subsequently, I
suppose I slid into the Ottawa writing community the same way I slid into
Toronto’s. Straight into some DMs, some select launch parties and one or two reading
series to boot. The rest is history.
Q: What do you see happening here that you don’t see anywhere
else? What does Ottawa provide, or allow?
Ottawa is a city of possibility. The poetry, and by extension, the
writing community here is welcoming, warm, and incredibly supportive. It is a
place where community takes precedence over competition. VERSEFest, Canada’s
premiere poetry festival, takes place right here. The Ottawa International
Writers Festival, too. It’s a hop-skip away from Québec and because of that, is
saturated in both Francophone and Anglophone culture. I truly believe that
Ottawa allows the space to grow and create. Writers in this town (award-winning
and emerging alike) are genuinely interested in being your peers.
Q: Have any of your projects responded directly to your
engagements here? How have the city and its community, if at all, changed the
way you approached your work?
Have my projects responded directly to my engagements here? Absolutely.
I am the founder of Little Birds Poetry – a series of editing workshops for
poets and creative writers. I started the series while living in Toronto and
brought it with me to Ottawa when I relocated here. This city, and its
community, has allowed LBP to thrive. Workshops are consistently sold out
(though they’re 100% free so maybe this is a misnomer) and waitlists are one to
two months in advance. The popularity of these workshops and the beautiful partnership
of Black Squirrel Books have definitely affected the way that I exist as a poet
in Canada. I am interested and invested in lifting my fellow writers. It’s
about community, not competition.
Living in close walking proximity to Parliament Hill and the National Gallery
of Canada has also affected the way I approach my own writing. I am much more
politically engaged and informed, in comparison to when I lived in Toronto.
This is reflected in my newest poetic works.
Q: What are you working on now?
My first book-length collection of poetry. Oh, and Riverbed Reading Series, a quarterly literature/performance series in collaboration with nina jane drystek. Out first event is May 20th, 2020 and will take place via ZOOM due to COVID19. Register today and enjoy some kick-ass poetry, prose and music; stay for the open mic. GoFundMe.
