Ray Hsu

Dr. Ray Hsu (they/them/their) is an award-winning poet and teacher. In Ray’s almost 20 years of teaching, they have taught at the Writer’s Studio at SFU, the UBC Creative Writing Program, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the UBC Social Justice Institute and in a U.S. prison.

Throughout Ray’s teaching career, they have always placed special importance in helping writers achieve their creative and professional goals. Ray has advised them through the process of publishing with nationally recognized publishers, and writers they have worked with have gone on to win some of Canada’s top honours, including being inducted into the Royal Society of Canada and receiving the $65,000 Griffin Poetry Prize.

Ray has also mentored writers and artists as they navigate their academic careers from gaining acceptance into graduate programs (MFA and PhD) to achieving tenure. Along the way, Ray has helped people secure funding from granting agencies like the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and win the prestigious $180,000 Trudeau Fellowship.

Ray received a PhD in Literary Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MA and Honours BA from the University of Toronto. Their books of poetry include Anthropy (winner of the Gerald Lampert Award) and Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon (winner of the Alcuin Award).