Category Archives: Literary Events

The Asian Mystique – author Reading by Sheridan Prasso

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From the Vancouver Public Library Website

www.vpl.ca

This event is also co-sponsored by Asian Canadian Writer's Workshop and Rice Paper Magazine
Author Reading
Presentation  The Asian Mystique by Sheridan Prasso
Program highlights  Prize-winning journalist and Asia expert Sheridan Prasso reads from her new book The Asian Mystique: Dragon Ladies, Geisha Girls, & Our Fantasies of the Exotic Orient.
This is a provocative critique of the West's eroticized illusions about
Asia and how profoundly these illusions colour our social, cultural,
business, personal, and political interactions.
Date  Wednesday, June 29th 2005
Time  7:30pm
Location 

Central Library
Alice MacKay room – Lower Level
350 W. Georgia St.
Phone: (604) 331-3603
Admission  Free

Obachan's Garden Film Screening at VPL with director Linda Ohama

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As part of Vancouver Public Library's One Book One Vancouver program, there will be many related events designed to help bring the book Obasan to life.

Obachan's Garden, is the award winning National Film Board documentary about the filmaker Linda Ohama's Grandmother.  Ohama won a 2002 Leo Award for best direction for a documentary.

Check out a review of Obachan's Garden on Culture Vulture

Please see below for the information from the VPL web page.

Obachan's Garden: Film Screening
Thursday, June 23; 7:30 p.m.
Alice MacKay Room (Lower Level), Central Library (350 West Georgia St.)

Join director Linda Ohama for a special screening of Obachan's Garden.

In 1923, Asayo Murakami left Hiroshima and settled in a fishing
village in Steveston, BC. Her family has memories of a happy woman who
sang, danced and nurtured a colourful flower garden, but underneath,
the memory of what she left in Japan haunted her deeply.

Delicately peeling back the layers of her grandmother's life,
filmmaker Linda Ohama discovers a painful, buried past. In poignant
interviews, Asayo, now 103 years old, recalls life in Japan, her
arrival in Canada as a “picture bride,” her determination to marry a
man of her choice, the bombing of Hiroshima and the forced relocation
of her family during World War II.

Beautifully rendered dramatic sequences are merged with an exquisite
collection of memories, feelings, images and voices. Culminating in an
emotional reunion with a long-lost daughter, this film is an intensely
personal reflection of Japanese-Canadian history and a testament to one
woman's incredible endurance and spirit.

Book Launch- SHASHIN: Japanese Canadian Studio Phtography to 1942

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Dear Friends of the Japaense Canadian National Museum,

You are cordially invited to attend:

SHASHIN: JAPANESE CANADIAN STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY TO 1942
Book Launch

Tuesday, June 21, 2005, 7:00 PM

National Nikkei Heritage Centre, 6688 Southoaks Crescent (Kingsway and
Sperling), Burnaby, BC

Contributors Phyllis Senese, Imogene Lim, Grace Eiko Thomson and Jim
Wolf join special guest Bill Jeffries to launch the new publication
“Shashin: Japanese Canadian Studio Photography to 1942”.

Based on the Japanese Canadian National Museum’s touring exhibition of
the same name, the book brings together rare photographs and insight
into the work of
Japanese Canadian studio photographers depicting the vibrant pre-war
Japanese, Chinese and European communities in Cumberland, Vancouver and

New Westminster.

Admission is free.

Information: 604-777-7000, ext. 109, or e-mail: jcnm@nikkeiplace.org .

East Meets West themes in literature: Half and Half

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I work in a library…
I am a board member for Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop
I have always been attracted to books with Asian North American themes or by Asian North American authors.

Here is what caught my attention in the past month:

HALF AND HALF
by Lensey Namioka

A children's novel about a young girl growing up in Seattle WA with
both Scottish and Chinese parentage. Her Scottish-Canadian grandparents
travel from Vancouver BC, with their Scottish Highland Dancing troupe
for the Seattle Folklife Festival. Her Chinese grandmother wants her to
be a nice Chinese Girl. Her red-haired brother wants nothing to do with
the kilt that his grandfather has given him – he just wants to do his
martial arts demo at Folk-life. How to walk the line between cultural
identity, family obligations and following your heart's desires.

I LOVED THIS BOOK! I think I will invite Lensey Namioka to the next Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.

WHITE TIGRESS
by Jade Lee

A romance paperback set in Shanghai 1897. An English Woman sails to the
Orient to meet her fiance, but is drugged, kidnapped and sold to a
brothel. She is next sold to a Chinese man, who seeks to balance his
overactive Yang, by developing her Yin. A peek into the secret
practices of Chinese Sexual Arts, and the Tao of Love. The dynamic
tension arises from culture clashes, a perception that the other race
is barbaric, and that the secret to Tantic and Taoist love practices is
to not waste the Yang seed.

This is the first time I have ever heard of the secret practices of
Dragon/Tigress practices, or of seeking Imortality by Yin and Yang
blending.

From the author's bio:

Children of mixed races have their
own set of rules. As the daughter of a Shanghai native and a staunch
Indiana Hoosier, Jade Lee struggled to find her own identity somewhere
between America and China. Her search took her to Regency England,
where the formality of culture hid a secret sensuality that fascinated
her. But Devil's Bargain was just the beginning –  that same
search adds a mystical element in her Tigress series. In those books,
Jade delves into the hidden sensuality of the Dragon/Tigress sect in
pre-revolutionary China.


At home, her husband and two
daughters try to ignore her stacks of Zen sexual texts. Instead, they
brag about her award-winning humour pseudonym, Katheine Greyle.

This book was very interesting… Now I have a way to blend my Chinese
“Tao of Love” books with the Scottish Highlander Romance paperbacks…
And I thought Mr. Willougby in Diana Galbadon's “Outlander” series was
the only Chinese character in romance fiction. Silly me.

Roy Miki lectures on Redress + Vancouver Opera's version of Naomi's Road by Joy Kogawa – June 13

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Dr.
Roy Miki, between Rev. Tim Nakayama and author Joy Kogawa – at the
Vancouver Public Library premiere for One Book One Vancouver featuring
Joy Kogawa and her novel Obasan – photo Todd Wong

This event should be very interesting.  Roy Miki is a fascinating speaker and I have featured him at readings at the Vancouver Public Library during Asian Heritage Month.  I am really looking forward to hearing Vancouver Opera's songs for their new opera based on Joy Kogawa's children's novel Naomi's Road.  This should be a One Book One Vancouver program at the Vancouver Public Library.  The Chan Centre is always one of my favorite concert or lecture halls.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UBC – LAURIER INSTITUTION MULTICULTURALISM LECTURE
http://services.raincoast.com/scripts/b2b.
wsc/fmp/155192/1551926504.htm
Featuring Guest Lecturer Dr. Roy Miki speaking on Redress: Dealing with Past Injustices

Vancouver Opera opens the evening with scenes from Naomi's Road based on Joy Kogawa's novel

  • Date: Monday, June 13th, 2005
  • Time: Concert starts at 7:00, 7:30 – 9:00 Talk and Q&A session.
  • Place: The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, UBC Campus
  • To reserve a seat call 604-822-1444 or visit multilecture
  • FREE of charge

How can past injustices be recognized by today's generation? In an
evening of dialogue and reflection, Roy Miki explores personal and
collective memories of the 1980's redress movement that saw Japanese
Canadians obtain a settlement with the Canadian government. He
speculates on the continuing importance of redress as a principle of
human rights and democratic governance.

Dr. Roy Miki is a writer, poet, editor and teacher. Born in Winnipeg,
he relocated to the West Coast in the late 1960s. He is the author of Justice in Our Time (co-authored with Cassandra Kobayashi); two books of poems, Saving Face and Random Access File; and a collection of critical essays, Broken Entries: Race, Subjectivity, Writing. He has also edited numerous books, including Pacific Windows: Collected Poems of Roy K. Kiyooka, which won the 1997 Poetry Award from the Association of Asian American Studies, and more recently, Meanwhile: The Critical Writings of bp Nichol. His third book of poems, Surrender, received the Governor General's Award for Poetry. His latest book is Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice. Dr. Miki teaches contemporary literature in the English Department at Simon Fraser University.

About the UBC – Laurier Institution Multiculturalism Lecture:
The annual UBC – Laurier Institution Multiculturalism Lecture was
launched to celebrate Canada's diversity by examining the various
aspects of today's multicultural society. The lecture series, sponsored
by UBC and The Laurier Institution, brings together speakers from many
cultural backgrounds who share their views as Canadians and shed light
on the many threads which make up our mosaic. It is proudly presented
by CBC and will be broadcast on their IDEAS program.

ExplorWORD May 28th, at Our Town Cafe – featuring Joy Kogawa

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l-r Rev. Tim Nakayama, Prof. Roy Miki, Joy Kogawa, ACWW vp Todd Wong

Joy Kogawa was the featured author at ExplorWORD at Our Town cafe, for May 28th.
I MCed the event which featured writers Michelle Wong, Jessica Gin-Jade, Alexis Keinlein and Mishtu Bannerjee.

It was organized by Jim Wong-Chu for the explorASIAN festival, and co-sponsored by Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop and RicePaper Magazine.
Sid Tan of Saltwater City TV, was there to film the evening, which will be broadcast next week hopefully on Shaw Cable.

It was a wonderful reading that featured the insightful writings of
young up and coming writers, and closed with the wise reflections of a
well-respected and honoured literary force. Joy Kogawa used her time to
talk about the recent protests by Chinese descendents in regards to the
selective historial perspective of the Japanese government ommiting WW2
atrocities against China.

Joy told the story of peaceful small island situated between China and
Japan where when China visited, they claimed ownership, and when Japan
visited they claimed ownership. And how the island played host to one
of WW2's bloodiest land battles where the peaceful inhabitants were
almost wiped out. It was the story of Okinawa. On the 50th anniversary
of the Battle of Okinawa, the natives named each of the citizens who
had died, and included the names of Japanese and American soldiers…
honouring every human being that died, in an act of tremendous grace
and forgiveness.
Joy revealed that her ex-husband David Kogawa came from Okinawa, and so
their children are descendents of Okinawan heritage.

Joy closed her time with a reading of a poem “Oh Canada”, from her
novel Obasan. It is a beautiful poem acknowledging the bittersweet
qualities that make up the roots of Canada – both in its physical
environment and the qualities of its people. It's context is that it is
set during the time of internment of Japanese Canadians during WW2.

After Joy's reading, I shared with the Our Town audience, my
conversation with Richard Hopkins, following Joy's reading at the
Vancouver Public Library's One Book One Vancouver
event featuring Joy on May 24th. I had told Richard that Joy inspires
us all to be better Canadians. Richard had corrected me and said that
Joy inspires us all to be better human beings.
In closing, I encouraged everybody to attend the One Book One Vancouver
readings throughout the summer that would be built around the novel
Obasan, and that would continue right to Word On The Street in
September.

I encouraged people to support the drive to save the Kogawa homestead
in Vancouver's Marpole neighborhood, that had been taken from the
Kogawa family during WW2. I recounted that at the VPL reading, I had
asked Joy to name some of her favorite Asian Canadian writers, she had
said “We all love Wayson Choy.”

“But tonight, and for this summer,” I said, “We all love Joy Kogawa.”
pictures of this event by Jim Wong-Chu to follow…. stay tuned….

Joy Kogawa's novel Obasan is the book for all of Vancouver to read

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Joy Kogawa sharing her happiness with the audience that her novel “Obasan” at the premiere event for One Book One Vancouver – photo Todd Wong

A very HAPPY Joy Kogawa shared her pleasure with the audience at the opening event for One Book One Vancouver
at VPL's Central Branch on Tuesday, May 24th.  Obasan is the
novel written about a young girl's journey through the Japanese
Canadian internment camps of WW2, when the Canadian government branded
all Canadians of Japanese descent as aliens, in its misguided efforts
to ensure homeland security.

The title, Obasan, actually means “aunt” in Japanese, and it is to her
aunt that the young character Naomi looks up to.  Obasan is
considered one of the most important Canadin books of the last 30
years, according to Prof. Roy Miki, who along with Kogawa and his
brother Art, worked to secure redress for Japanese Canadians from the
Canadian government.

“I am very happy today,” said Kogawa, as she tried to describe what it
meant to her to have Obasan chosen as the book all Vancouverites should
read.  Kogawa described her conversation earlier in the day with
her friend fellow author Alice Munro who had recieved the Terasen Life
Time Achievment award as part of the VPL Central Library's 10th
Anniverasay celebrations.  “It just keeps getting better and
better, she told me – the recognition and awards.  I guess I will
have to accept it,” Kogawa smiled.


Kogawa said that when she first heard about the Redress settlement from
the Canadian government, she was very happy.  “But it was over so
quickly – the moment passed.  I'm going to savour this one.” 
Throughout the summer, VPL will hold many events based on the themes of
Obasan.  One Book One Vancouver is described as a book club for
the entire city.  The closing event will be at Word On the Street
Festival September 25th.

Kogawa answered many questions after her all too brief talk.  When
I asked her which Asian Canadian writers that she liked personally she
said, “Oh, there are so many now.  When Roy and I started there
weren't very many…. of course we all love Wayson Choy.” she said.

When asked what was happening with the Kogawa homestead
in Vancouver's Marpole neighborhood, Joy replied: “When we rediscovered
it was still there, Tim and I tried to buy it but we didn't have enough
money, so I let the idea go.  When Roy Miki organized the reading
at the house, it was very special.  I was very excited to see the
cheerry tree again.”  Then Joy held up a little plastic bag and
said “
Seeds from the cherry tree,” as she smiled broadly.

Joy speaks very clearly, patiently and perceptively.  She shares
with the audience that Obasan was also just chosen for the One Book
program in Medicine Hat.  She answers questions about what it was
like living in internment camps, as she describes that some readers
have felt that the condtions were so inconcievable that it must have
been fiction.  Joy counted the members of her family, plus her
father's friends that all lived in a chicken coop filled with fleas and
chicken smell. 

“12 of us… after she names each person.”

At the end of the evening many people thank Joy for such an inspiring
talk.  She shared her buddhist philosophy of “letting go” when
asked about dealing with the pain and suffering.  She shared her
perception of American Christians creating a Christian bomb that landed
on the most important Christian Cathedral in Japan. 

“Joy Kogawa teaches us to be better Canadians,” I shared with Richard
Hopkins, professor at the University of BC Library School. 
Richard smiled and said succintly, “Joy Kogawa teaches us to be better
human beings.”

The next Joy Kogawa events are:
Thursday night at the Vancouver Museum for a sampling of the songs from
Vancouver Opera's forthcoming production of Naomi's Road, based on Joy
Kogawa's children's book.

Saturday night at Our Town Cafe for a sampling of Asian Canadian
writers featuring Kogawa, Alexis Keinlein and Gleen Deer. organized by Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop.


Joy Kogawa signing books
with Janice Douglas (VPL Director of Community Programs) and Paul
Whitney (VPL City Librarian) – photo Todd Wong

Joy Kogawa signs a book for VPL Board Member Chrissy George – photo Todd Wong

Relaxing after the reading: Rev. Tim Nakamura (Joy's brother), Prof. Roy Miki, Joy Kogawa, and Todd Wong – photo by David Kogawa