Calendar Boy

On the edge of adulthood, self-discovery, coming out; in university towns, Europe, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, the protagonists of the short stories in Calendar Boy unravel cultural heritage, community, identity on the road to - they hope - love, happiness and self-acceptance. Set around the globe, fifteen adventurous stories weave fictions with real-life smarts, guts and oomph underpinning them. In "How to Cook Chinese Rice," a recipe format - 10 Percent called it "the gay Like Water for Chocolate" - yields insight into what it's like to be young, Asian and queer in Canadian society. "Higher Learning" pitches a hormone-fuelled, Vancouver-bred, first-year university student into the alternate universe of a small Ontario community. A love triangle of sorts anchors "Maintenance," a story heavy with the ache of jealousy and unrequited desire. Throughout, Quan shifts gears effortlessly from street-smart colloquial voice to rapid-fire monologue to the bemused, exhilarated tone of immigrants new to Canada or to gay male culture. With one foot in urban Canadian life and the other in the global village, Calendar Boy will hit home even as it makes you see the world in new ways.

Andy Quan co-edited Swallowing Clouds, Canada's first anthology of Chinese-Canadian poetry. His short stories have appeared in eleven anthologies, including Queeries, Quickies, Carnal Nation, and Circa 2000: Gay Fiction at the Millennium. His first collection of poetry, Slant, is published by Nightwood Editions. Born in Vancouver, he lives in Sydney, Australia.