Rachel Phan: That Asian Girl Is a Problem
About the event
In a world that tells women of colour they are either too much or not enough, what if being a “problem” is actually the point? Rachel Phan 's new book That Asian Girl Is a Problem explores what it means to live as a racialized woman in spaces that were never built for you. Drawing from her own experiences, Phan dives into the contradictions of being the “problem” woman in the workplace, in family, in faith, in marriage and even in her own body, and exposes the absurdity of a society that demands gratitude, silence and smallness from women of colour—and explores what happens when they finally refuse. Rachel will appear in conversation with award-winning author Liann Zhang. – Rachel Phan is a Chinese Canadian author. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Master of Journalism program, she and her work have been featured on CBC, Huffpost, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star, the National Post, Chatelaine, and Maclean’s. Her instant national bestselling book, Restaurant Kid, was named one of CBC Books’ Best Books of 2025 and longlisted for Canada Reads in 2026. She lives in Toronto. Liann Zhang is an award winning and internationally bestselling Chinese Canadian author. After a short stint as a skincare content creator, she graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in psychology and criminology. Her debut novel, Julie Chan Is Dead, won the Libby Award for best thriller, was nominated for an Anthony Award, a Trillium Award, a Barry Award, an ITW Award, a Kobo Award, and was longlisted for Canada Reads. Her work has been translated and published in ten languages. She splits her time between Vancouver and Toronto where she lives with her two cats, Juice and Bean. – Accessibility: VPL is committed to making our programs accessible for all. If you have an access need that we have not addressed here, please email us at programs@vpl.ca. Level 8 is accessible via the main elevators. The Montalbano Family Theatre has three wheelchair accessible spaces in the front row. The theatre offers cinema-style seating, with limited space between seats. For more information on physical access, view the Accessibility information on the Central Library page.
