Chan Li Shan is a mental health advocate, writer, and researcher. Her community work aims to encourage self-empowerment, through centering and amplifying persons marginalised and disadvantaged. She is the author of three life writing books. The creative biography Searching for Lee Wen was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize 2024, finalist for Best Nonfiction Title at the Singapore Book Awards 2023, and cited by The Straits Times as one of seven books “to look forward to in 2022”. Her memoir A Philosopher’s Madness, an account of “fortitude and resilience”, has been translated into Chinese and distributed in mental health services in Hong Kong. As a person diagnosed with schizophrenia, she brings a lived experience perspective to mental health discussions. Her research in life writing seeks to harness the power of histories and stories to reinterpret dominant narratives in mental health.

Contact: hello@lishanchan.com