Yesterday, 杏吧原创 was honoured to welcome Canadian author and medical doctor,聽Dr. Vincent Lam.
Dr. Lam spent the day speaking with Columbia students currently enrolled inWriter鈥檚 Craft and ENG4U聽courses. He spoke of his childhood growing up in the Chinese expatriate community in Vietnam, his early writing career, his artistic inspirations, and balancing his life as a doctor and author.
When speaking to the Writer鈥檚 Craft class, Dr. Lam gave the aspiring writers a few of key pieces of advice such as 鈥渞eading is a necessity to writing,鈥� and 鈥渨rite about something you care about.鈥� He also made an interesting comparison between medicine and writing; 鈥渨ith medicine, you鈥檙e dealing with a story. Patients want you to understand their story and have an ending for them.鈥� Dr. Lam further expressed his difficulty in choosing between medicine and writing and believes that each profession compliments the other and helps him be a 鈥渦seful member of society.鈥�
Before concluding his visit, Dr. Lam met with the members of Columbia鈥檚 student newspaper, the Columbia Chronicle, and gave them an exclusive interview.
Guest Author Series Dr. Lam was the fourth author to participate in the English department鈥檚 guest author series which began in 2006. The series gives students the opportunity to connect to the literary works their studying and develop a better understanding of the content. Previous authors included Nino Ricci, Wayson Choy, and Lawrence Hill. Click聽聽to learn more about Dr. Vincent Lam.
Columbia would like to聽thank Dr. Vincent Lam聽for his visit and presentation and聽Ms. Pivniceru聽for organizing another successful guest author event.
