POET | TROMBONE & VOCALS | GOLDEN ROD READING COLLECTIVE
Jacqueline Chia is a queer Southeast Asian poet who calls Toronto home. She is returning to her love for poetry after spending more than a decade steeped in academic literary perspectives, and currently indulging in a slow but enriching creative process with writing. She draws from memories and recollections of Southeast Asian folklore, creation myths, and superstition passed down from her family as ways to explore themes of migration, diaspora, childhood, grief, and love.
In 2023, Jacqueline published the poem, “Self-Portrait,” in a collaborative project called I See You with Kyoto-Seita University in Japan and a small group of Toronto’s queer community. Over the last few years, she has been reading her work in various poetry showcases and is currently editing a full-length manuscript, The Garden of Good Bones for publication. Jacqueline is also a jazz musician and enthusiastic gardener who is into plant identification, food sovereignty, and foraging.
This is where the magic happens 