The Vancouver Public Library is presenting an online event this Thursday (June 17) to mark World Refugee Day.

The Power of Stories: A Conversation on Refugees and Literature will feature three authors who have helped shape public conversations with their stories.

Writers taking part include Kim Thúy, who was born in Vietnam but fled to Canada with her family and the boat people at the age of 10; and Samra Habib, who was born in Pakistan but fled to Canada with her family, also at age 10, after facing religious persecution.

Thuy's first novel, Ru, won Canada Reads in 2015, while Habib's first book, We Have Always Been Here, won Canada Reads in 2020.

Also taking part in the conversation is Kamal Al-Solaylee, a professor of journalism and literary non-fiction whose memoir Intolerable won the 2013 Toronto Book Award.

The Zoom event starts at 7 pm Pacific time with a proclamation of World Refugee Day by Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart, and you can register here.