Next Up

Crystal is a writer and editor; she was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Vancouver, and currently lives in Montreal. She thinks writers and artists help us understand one another and ourselves, that they encourage curiosity, compassion, and dissent by telling honest and entertaining stories. She hopes Next Up will teach her how to use her skills and the skills of other creative types for social change. Crystal is passionate about outreach and magnifying good ideas, and likes collaborating with cultural workers, policy-makers, and the business sector.  Environmental justice has attracted Crystal since she was nine, when she wrote her very first essay as an argument against deforestation.  So, the topic that started her whole writing life is ecology. And she continues to love sharing underrepresented or forgotten stories. Crystal volunteers in the arts and, most recently, for Santropol Roulant, which engages communities through food security programs. She’s also an advocate in PEN Canada’s Writers in Prison program, providing moral support for jailed Ethiopian journalist Eskinder Nega.