Category Archives: Literary Events

Odd Couple – Friendship with an Asian style twist on the Neil Simon play

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Oscar Madison and Felix Unger come alive on stage at the Richmond Cultural Centre – but in Asian bodies?

The Odd Couple
Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre
Directed by Raugi Yu
Produced by Joyce Lam

July 17-27, 2008
Richmond cultural Centre, Richmond

August 13-21, 2008
Roundhouse Performance Centre, Vancouver

I swear I could hear the voices and body actions of the famous and acclaimed actors Tony Randall or Jack Lemmon as Felix, or Jack Klugman or Walter Matthau as Oscar in the well-loved play or tv show.  But holy cow, they are in Asian bodies on stage!

“The script and the writing is very strong,” says director Raugi Yu, when I asked him if he or the actors had studied the movie or videos of the play or TV show.  “The actors are wonderful in it…. at one point I asked them if they wanted to go with accents, and they really got into it.  It just flowed.”

Five Asian men and one Caucasian man speak in New York accents, playing a Neil Simon play for a Vancouver audience.  Felix is played as a new immigrant to North America and represents more traditional Asian traditions vs Oscar the multi-generational North American born Asian who is more North American and consequently the slob.

It's a bold vision put forward by producer Joyce Lam, who actually
called Neil Simon's lawyers to ask if they could translate the classic
play into Chinese language for sur-titles and change some of the words
to fit the transposed Asian immigrant theme. 

“They didn't care that we were translating it, but they wouldn't let us
change the words.” said Lam who is very proud of this production.

They boys meet regularly for their poker game, and it is in this setting that the drama unfolds.  Heck, it could be almost be mah jong… but then they would have too many for a foursome.  As each character walks on stage, a different type of Asian music announces their arrival.  Traditional Chinese for Felix, Japanese pop for Oscar.  Bad Asian karaoke for another character.  Rock 'n' Roll for the White guy.  It's a different twist, but it helps to add character layers and remind the audience that a very different “Odd Couple” is being presented.

The acting is solid by Ron Yamauchi as Oscar, and Jimmy Yi as Felix.  These actors have the skills to perform the characters, but Asian actors never get to play such roles because traditionally they are not cast for traditionally “white” characters.  But if you live in North America, most of the roles become supporting characters or stereotyped cliches of Asians.  Bravo to Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre for purposely taking a classica Broadway play and re-visioning it for a potentially large pan-Asian audience in Metro-Vancouver.

Carmine Bernhardt and Lissa Neptuno play the sexy English neighbors upstairs, named Gwendolyn and Cecily Pigeon.  These two characters help create tension between Oscar and Felix and highlight the different attitudes not only between traditional and multi-generational values towards dating, but also between marriage and divorce.  Bernhardt and Neptuno bring a vital energy to their performances with their flirtations and silly giggles.  They act coy and suggestively in a way that no man could resist.  You almost wish you could be on stage with them, with the attention they pay to Oscar and Felix.

Bravo to Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre for pushing the racial boundaries of Vancouver theatre once again.  With limited resources, VACT is saying “Why can't we do this?” and turning colour blind casting and perceptions on it's head.

I look forward to VACT's future presentation of Rogers & Hammerstein's musical set in San Francisco's Chinatown, “Flower Drum Song”, which broke down racial stereotypes about Asians while reinforcing others.

Check out the latest trailer for The Odd Couple on YouTube, filmed during rehearsals for the upcoming Richmond production. 

www.vact.ca

Joy Kogawa House cited as example as campaign to save Al Purdy cabin in Eastern Ontario starts up

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Joy Kogawa House cited as example as campaign to save Al Purdy cabin in Eastern Ontario starts up.

How important was it to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home?

Joy Kogawa House was recently cited in a Globe & Mail article about then endangered home of Al Purdy in an article by Patrick White titled: The house where Al Purdy lived is on the block

There may still be time to save it. But any effort would take a great
deal of cash and organization, says Don Oravec, executive director of
the Writers' Trust of Canada, which runs Pierre Berton's childhood home
in Dawson City, Yukon, as a retreat, and raised funds to purchase the
Vancouver house where novelist Joy Kogawa grew up. “The trick is not
just buying the house.” Oravec says. “It's also creating an endowment
to maintain the place.

Canadian literature is an important part to our Canadian identity. Sustaining and supporting our writers has long been a struggle and an issue.  White writes that the house played an important role in Purdy's development as a poet.

The move soon paid off creatively, inspiring what is perhaps the most
famous metamorphosis in Canadian literary history. Once a struggling
writer of tortured romantic verse, Purdy and his work changed forever
along the shores of Roblin Lake.

“It was really when they left Montreal and built that house that Al
went into a kind of hibernation and came of age as a poet,” says Purdy
friend, poet and House of Anansi co-founder Dennis Lee, who first
visited Ameliasburgh in the sixties to ink a book deal with Purdy.

Al Purdy, his wife Eurithe and their house also played a role in the development of author Michael Ondaatje and other writers by offering them refuge and support.

Michael Ondaatje, Tom Marshall and David Helwig hadn't published a
single book between them when “Al and Eurithe simply invited us in,”
writes Ondaatje in the foreword to Purdy's collected works. “And why?
Because we were poets! Not well-known writers or newspaper celebrities.
… These visits became essential to our lives. We weren't there for
gossip, certainly not to discuss royalties and publishers. We were
there to talk about poetry. Read poems aloud. Argue over them. Complain
about prosody.”

Read the entire article at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080712.ALPURDY12/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Ontario/

Madeline Thien is reading at UBC Thursday!

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Madeleine Thien, author of Certainty,  gives reading Thursday at UBC,

Thien burst onto the literary scene with her short story collection Simple Recipes.  It was nominated for Vancouver Book Award, and many others.  She had a wonderful little children's story, The Chinese Violin, that was also turned into a short animated film.  Her latest work Certainty, has also received many accolades.  Great for her first novel!

I first met Maddy a few years ago in 2002, when we recognized her as a past winner of the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop Emerging Writer Award, at our first ACWW Community Builder's Dinner which honoured Roy Mah, Paul Yee and Wayson Choy.

There's going to be a Madeleine Thien reading at UBC this Thursday July
17 at 3:00-4:30pm.   Besides UBC staff and students, various community
groups will be joining us for this reading, too.  CCHS will be one of
them.  I hope you can join us!

When:
Thursday, July 17, 2008 – 3:00pm – 4:30pm

Where:
The Lillooet Room (301), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre

Admission:
FREE

The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre is located at
1961 East Mall, Vancouver BC
at the University
of British Columbia.

THREE EVENING EVENTS at “Tracing the Lines: A Symposium on Contemporary Poetics and Cultural Politics to Honour Roy Miki”

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THREE EVENING EVENTS at 
“Tracing the Lines: A Symposium on Contemporary Poetics 
and Cultural Politics to Honour Roy Miki”:

Wednesday May 28: 7:30 PM: 
Reading by Roy Miki
Reception to follow 
@ Studio 41, CBC Building 775 Cambie Street (at Georgia)

 Note:
 1) seating is limited at this venue (because of fire laws)
 2) sign-in is necessary
 3) if you have not pre-registered for tracing the lines, it is a good idea to arrive early to
 ensure that you get a seat

Thursday, May 29, 8:00 PM: 
Gala launch/reading of West Coast Line,
 
The Roy Miki issue. Readings by Marie Annharte Baker, George Bowering, Colin Browne, 
Jeff Derksen, Louis Cabri, Roger Farr, David Fujino, Daphne Marlatt, Nicole Markotic, 
Garry Thomas Morse, Kim Minkus, Mark Nakada, Baco Ohama, Renee Rodin, Jacqueline Turner, 
and Jonathon Wilcke
 @ The Anza Club, 3 West 8th (between Main and Cambie)

Saturday, May 31, 7:30 PM: 
Talk by Smaro Kamboureli. 
“‘i have  altered the tactics to reflect the new era’: Intellectuals,  Accountability, and Politics.”
 @ St. John’s College, 2111 Lower Mall, University of BC

  All evening events are free and open to the public

 See http://tracingthelines.net  for more information.

Rita Wong and Gary Geddes big winners at BC Book Prizes Gala

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Rita Wong and Gary Geddes big winners at BC Book Prizes Gala

April 26, 2008, Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, Vancouver

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Children's author finalist Meg Tilly and Poetry Prize
winner Rita Wong shared a story about reading one of Rita's poems
together during the BC Book Prize tour in the Kootenays – photo Todd
Wong

The winners of seven BC Book Prizes, as well as the recipient of the fifth annual Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence, were feted before an audience of authors, publishers, media and friends.

Todd Wong and Leanne Riding, co-presidents of Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop attended the ceremonies. ACWW secretary Ann-Marie Metten is also on the board of the BC Book Prizes.

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Todd Wong with Gary Geddes, winner of the Lt. Gov. Lifetime Achievement Award. Only just a few days earlier at Government House in Victoria, Gary and Todd had celebrated Todd becoming a recipient of the BC Community Achievement Award. – photo Leanne Riding

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ACWW/Ricepaper gang
Marisa Alps, Megan Lau, Rita Wong, Walter
Lew, Todd Wong, Leanne Riding.

Todd and Leanne celebrated with friends and winners, Gary Geddes,
recipient of the 5th annual Lt. Gov. Lifetime Achievement Award.

Meg Tilly, finalist for children's literature
George McWhirter, finalist for poetry
Shaena Lambert, finalist for fiction
Patricial Roy, finalist for non-fiction

Brian Lam, publisher of Arsenal Pulp Press
Howard White, publisher of Harbour Publishing
Marisa Alps, editor Harbour Publishing

For a full list of winners see: http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/winners

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Todd Wong – where's your kilt? Todd poses with kilt wearers Bill Horne, a book layout specialist from Wells BC, and Pipe Major John Mager. 

“Where's your kilt” asked the Lt.Gov. Stephen Point to me at the BC Book Awards. Sometimes people just don't recognize me if I am not wearing a kilt.  Funnily, It had taken Lt. Gov. Stephen Point a moment to recognize me after presenting me with the certificate for the BC Community Achievement Award a few days before on Wednesday in Government House.

see more pictures from Todd's Flickr site:

BC Book Prizes Gala

BC Book Prizes Gala

Raymond Louie hosts Wayson Choy reading

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Wayson Choy Reads for Raymond Louie

Raymond Louie is hosting celebrated author Wayson Choy for a special reading in support of Raymond’s campaign for mayor.

When: April 28, 7-9PM
Where: Mekong Restaurant, 1414 Commercial Dr.
Admission: Free

I have known both Wayson Choy and Raymond Louie for a number of years.  I find them both very genuine people, dedicated to their communities.  I first met Wayson while I was on the inaugural One Book One Vancouver committee.  I first met Raymond while his wife was on the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society.  And we all worked wonderfully together.

The Mekong Restaurant plays a special role in Wayson's forthcoming new book, “Not Yet.”  It will be the sequel to his first critically acclaimed memoirs book “Paper Shadows.”

Wayson says this about Raymond Louie:

“Raymond emerges from the world I’ve described in my stories. His
parents came here with next to nothing, and he worked his way up and
proved himself again and again. He understands the struggles immigrants
face because he’s been there. His success is an amazing Canadian story.
Fortunately, there are still chapters yet to be written, and I would
trust Raymond to invest his integrity and his wisdom of the past to
secure in those pages a just and equal future for all.

Wayson Choy, author of “The Jade Peony”

BC Book Prizes Soiree: meeting authors

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Saturday Night in Vancouver…. what to do

We went to the BC Book Prizes Soiree, held this year at the swanky Metropolitan Hotel, home to Diva Restaurant.  All the nominated authors for the 2008 BC Book Prizes were there, and it was announced that Gary Geddes was being awarded the 5th Annual Lt. Governorès Award for Literary Achievement.  Gary wasnèt there as he lives outside of Victoria and will be there next week for the BC Book Prizes Gala.  But attending were other award nominees such as Meg Tilly and Mike McCardle.

Upon arrival, I quickly found myself saying greetings to authors Rita Wong and Hiromi Goto.  Rita is nominated for the poetry prize for her work Forage, published by Nightwood.  Hiromi was recently the writer in resident for the Vancouver Public Library.

I quickly spotted my girlfriend Deb, and we went over to say hello to author Shaena Lambert, nominated for her novel Radiance, and George McWhirter – still the current Vancouver Poet Laureate.  It was a pleasure to see Lorna, who is Shaenaès Aunt, whom I have met at events for the PAL Vancouver.  Shaena had read at the November 10th event for Joy Kogawa House, and George will be reading a Joy Kogawa House this coming Friday on April 25th.

Jas Jhooty is the new marketing coordinator for Ricepaper Magazine, and Leanne Riding is the new co-president (with me), for Asian Canadian Writers Workshop.  I introduced them to a few people such as Ray of Vancouver Co-Op Books.  I picked up Soucouyant by David Chariandy, nominated for fiction prize. 

I introduced Jas and Leanne to Rita Wong, she pointed out David Chariandy, so I went over to say hello.  I introduced myself, as I asked if Soucouyant dealt with inter-racial relationships, and I explained how I write about intercultural topics on my blog www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com.  Both David and his wife Sophie, who both exclaimed that they were fans of Gung Haggis Fat Choy – the concept.  David is of Caribbean and South Asian descent and said that many Caribbeans are very mixed.  Sophie, who is of Scottish ancestry, said that Davidès grandmother had some Chinese ancestry.

Ann-Marie Metten came by holding up the brand new copy of Ricepaper Magazine.  Ann-Marie is on the board for BC Book Prizes, as well as ACWW and the executive director for Joy Kogawa House.  I had made a big push for Ricepaper Magazine staffers to attend.  Editor Aaron Leaf had come by with a bag of Ricepaper Magazines, giving some to Ann-Marie as an advance copy.  I opened it up, and quickly saw excerpts from Rita Wongès poetry collection.  I dragged Ann-Marie over to introduce her to Rita.   I held up the pages with Ritaès name and poetry on it to show Rita.  She was surprised to see them in Ricepaper and excited! Ann-Marie graciously offered the copies to Rita.

As always there are great silent auction items available for bidding.  I made my way over to the tables where I found author KC Dyer holding up a camera.  She said she was taking pictures for her blog.  I shared with her that I had taken pictures at last yearès BC Book Prizes for my blog, and that BC Book Prizes liked the pictures so much they used them for their website.  KC s face lit up when I told her that my blog was www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com.  We exchanged URLs and I asked her to send me some pictures because I forgot my camera.

There was another wonderful large dragon puppet donated by the BCLA.  I was looking for the bidding sheet when I became involved with a converstation with write Nan Gregory. the author of the wonderful childrenès book How Smudge Came.  Nan quickly found me the bidding sheet.  Later in the evening, I showed her the new green dragon puppet being added to my collection.  Nan sparkles with energy, and I remember meeting her many years ago while I worked at the West Point Grey Library.  Note to self – must remember to call Nan up for a chat.

Poet Gary Geddes recieves 5th annual Lt. Gov's award for Literary Excellence

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Gary Geddes is a facinating man.  He would be a fitting literary figure to speak at a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner event.

image

Gary Geddes is descended from Scottish ancestors from the Northern tip of Scotland. He wrote me: “Just Scots fisherfolk from the north coast who fished in Orkney waters
for herring, until they were all fished out. Then they came over here
and did the same nasty thing to the salmon. The family name comes from
the ged, a North Atlantic sea pike. The people of the geds, totem
animal and all that. Nasty little bite they have, too.”

He also has a fascination with things Asian.  Nevermind the 1421 voyage of Chinese admiral Zheng He  Gary Geddes has written The Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things (HarperCollins, 2005), an entertaining and philosophical travelogue of about the Chinese or Afghan monk named Huishen, who might have reached the west
coast of North America about 1,000 years before Columbus. Geddes traveled to the Himalayas, the Taklamakan Desert and Central
America (where Huishen is most likely to have landed, according Chinese
archives). 

Gary also has written poetry collections titled The Terracotta Army (1985), and
I Didn't Notice the Mountain Growing Dark (Cormorant, 1986)- translations of Li Pai and Tu Fu, with the assistance of George Liang.

Probably the first time I came across his work was his anthology 15 Canadian Poets.  I either shelved it at the Vancouver Public Library or studied it taking poetry or Canadian literature classes at Capilano College.  But it was a few years ago that our paths actually converged.  Gary was writer-in-residence for the Vancouver Public Library, where I was working at the information desk.  Somehow we connected, and we soon were setting appointments to attend events and have a meeting.

Gary shared with me his role in creating Canada's first anthology of Asian-Canadian literature, Many Mouthed Birds.  He had a connection with grants and publishers and shared the connection with Jim Wong-Chu, co-editor of the anthology.

Through his many anthologies, his own writings, and his roles as teacher, mentor and community activist, Gary Geddes  has created his own indelible mark on both BC and Canadian literary landscape.  He has taught at Concordia Univiersity and the Creative Writing School of UBC, as well as being a Distinguised Professor of Candian Culture at Western Washington University in Bellingham Washington.  Last year he received an honourary Doctorate of Laws from Royal Roads University in BC.

Here is the Press Release from BC Book Prizes

imageFOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE  – April
19, 2008 
Vancouver

 

 

Gary Geddes named recipient of the fifth annual

Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary
Excellence

 

Vancouver, BC – The West Coast Book Prize Society is proud to
recognize Gary Geddes as the
recipient of the fifth annual Lieutenant
Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence. British
Columbia ’s Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable
Steve n Point, will present the award at the
Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prizes Gala to be held at the Fairmont
Waterfront Hotel in Vancouver
on April 26, 2008. The event will be hosted by
broadcaster Fanny Kiefer.

 

“From 15 Canadian
Poets to Skookum Wawa
to 20th Century Poetry and Poetics,
Gary Geddes has raised the literary profile of both our province and nation,
and has long been considered one of
Canada ’s most important men
of letters. He has given decades of his life to teaching Canadian literature
and the craft of writing as well as working as a university professor,
writer-in-residence, critic, anthologist, translator, editor, and most
importantly, writer. Gary Geddes’ writings have crossed countries and
continents in performance and translation. He has received numerous awards,
including the E. J. Pratt Medal, a
Canadian Authors Association prize, two Archibald Lampman awards, and the
Gabriela Mistral Prize for service to literature and the people of
Chile .
His work as a poet has been generous in its outward-looking gaze. His poems
bring song and light into darkened corners of the human experience, document
silent and hidden lives, and enter politics through the individual and the
personal. His newest book of poems, Falsework,
explores the 1958 collapse of Vancouver ’s
Second Narrows
Bridge . His meditative
memoir Sailing Home: A Journey Through Time,
Place and Memory (2001) chronicles his return to the West Coast with
a deep sense of awe and gratitude for the beauty, wildness, and history of this
place. In whatever genre he pursues, Gary Geddes writes with eloquence and
intense awareness of mystery within the commonplace, and the single human voice
singing inside the crowd. He tells the truth, in all its rawness and splendour.

 

For the integrity of his creative work, for his active and
generous promotion of other writers, and for the words he has given to help map
the literary geography of British
Columbia , we proudly celebrate Gary Geddes.”

–
Jury member Carla Funk

 

The jury
for this year’s Lieutenant Governor’s Award: Carla
Funk , poet laureate for the city of Victoria;
Margaret Reynolds ,
executive director of the Association of Book Publishers of BC; and Mel Bolen,
owner of Bolen Books, Victoria.

This
prize was established in 2003 by former Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable
Iona Campagnolo, to recognize British
Columbia writers who have contributed to the
development of literary excellence in the province. The recipient receives a
cash award of $5,000 and a commemorative certificate.

 

All BC Book Prizes info at www.bcbookprizes.ca

Media Contact:
Karen Green ,
Rebus Creative: 604.687.2405, ext. 21, karen@rebuscreative.com

 

-30-

 

 

Joy Kogawa reads “Naomi’s Tree” at Vancouver Kidsbooks.

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Joy did a book reading last night at Vancouver Kidsbooks. 

It was a good event for the launch of  Naomi’s Tree.  So good that all the books that had been delivered in advance to Kidsbooks sold out.  We were holding two extra copies, so I passed them on to two people who didn’t have any.  They were both very thankful. 

One of them, an Asian women said she had met me before.  She was a cousin of Joy’s, and we had met once at a dinner, then again at the Church when Joy’s brother Rev. Timothy Nakamura came to speak.  It was nice to see her again, and I am glad that she had a book that Joy could sign for her, and take home with her children.

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When Joy performed her reading, she told the audience of children and adults that she had fallen in love with a tree.  It was a special “Friendship Tree” – a cherry blossom tree. 

She explained that she had a special unbound copy of the Naomi’s Tree.  She could hold it up and show the beautiful pictures by Ruth Ohi, while she read the words on the other side of the page.

Reading a book together with your kids is an excellent way to spend quality time with them. It’s not only a great opportunity to bond and stimulate their imagination but also promotes language development and a love for reading.

Along with fostering their intellectual growth, ensuring that your child is dressed properly and comfortably is important. Providing them with suitable baby girl clothes can enhance their overall experience and ensure their comfort throughout the activity.

It’s a beautiful story that spans across an ocean, beginning in the “Land of Morning” – Japan, and travels over the Pacific Ocean  to the “Land Across the Sea” – Canada.  The story also spans many generations.  And along the way it also briefly tells about the internment of Japanese Canadians during WW2.

But the story is also about forgiveness, remembering and love. 

Joy and Todd

It’s been almost 3 years since I got to know Joy during the May 2005, when One Book One Vancouver chose Obasan to become it’s literary selection for that summer.  It’s been a pleasure becoming friends with Joy, as we have shared the fears of her childhood home being threatened by demolition, and the joys of watching Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble’s production of “Naomi’s Road” – her children’s novel as a mini-opera.  After the reading, Joy signed a copy for me.

Joy writes the the Afterword of the book, and writes

My
brother Tim and I were born in Canada, in Vancouver, B.C.  When I was
six years old in 1942, our family along with the entire
Japanese-Canadian community on the West Coast were classified as enemy
aliens and removed from our homes.  All our property was confiscated. 
Following WW2, the community was destroyed by the government’s
dispersal policy, which scattered us across Canada.

On August
27, 2003, I discovered that my old family home, with the cherry tree
still standing in the backyard, was for sale.  On November 1, 2005,
which was dcalred Obasan Cherry Tree Day, Councilor Jim Green and I
planted a cutting from the cherry tree at Vancouver City Hall.  On June
1, 2006, after a short intense campaign, the Land Conservancy of B.C.,
with the help of the Save Joy Kogawa House Committeee, purchased the
house for a writers’ center.  The cherry tree, sadly was fatally ill,
but a new Friendship Tree grown from a cutting of the old tree was
planted on the property.  To this day, children can visit the
Friendship Trees at Vancouver City Hall and at my childhood home, at
1450 West 64th Avenue.

I
would like to thank with profound appreciation the work of the Save Joy
Kogawa House Committee, the Land Conservancy of B.C., the writers’
organizations, school children, and others too numerous to mention.  Without the initial vision and
heroic labor of Anton Wagner and Chris Kurata in Toronto and Ann-Marie Metten and Todd Wong in Vancouver, the house and tree would not have been saved. 
In particular, I wish to thank members of the Historic Joy Kogawa House
Society for their ongoing commitment.  Finally, I offer my deep
gratitude to my dear friend, Senator Nancy Ruth, whose action made all
the difference.Check out pictures at

Naomi's Tree reading by Joy Kogawa at Kidsbooks

Naomi’s Tree reading by Joy Kogawa at…

Tonight: Joy Kogawa reads her new book “Naomi’s Tree”

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TONIGHT
Joy Kogawa is reading her new book “Naomi’s Tree” at Vancouver Kidsbooks

Naomissm.jpgDate:  Thursday April 10th, 2008
Time:  7:00pm

Kidsbooks: Author and Illustrator Events

Place: Vancouver Kidsbooks – 3083 West Broadway, Vancouver … Please Note: Tickets are fully redeemable toward Joy Kogawa’s books on the night of the event …
www.kidsbooks.ca/kidsbooksevents.htm – 38k – Cached – Similar pages

 

A Musical Evening with Joy Kogawa and Friends
Friday Apr 25, 2008

Tickets: To secure a seat, please email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Vancouver composer Leslie Uyeda presents two song cycles written to accompany five of Joy Kogawa’s most exquisite poems. “Stations of Angels” will be performed by soprano Heather Pawsey and flutist Kathryn Cernauskas, and “Offerings” by Heather Pawsey and pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa. These performances are the world premiere of both song cycles, which were composed especially for these three artists. To complement the musical performance, poets Joy Kogawa, Heidi Greco, Marion Quednau, and Vancouver’s poet laureate George McWhirter will read.

Set
in the Historic Joy Kogawa House, this National Poetry Month event takes place in Joy Kogawa’s childhood home—a place that commemorates both the brightest hopes and the darkest hours of Canadian history. The house, representative of many properties owned by Canadians of Japanese descent, was confiscated during the Second World War when its occupants and 20,000 other Japanese-Canadians were interned. After a hard-fought effort by The Land Conservancy and the Kogawa House Committee to save the house from demolition, it is being restored, and beginning in the spring of 2009, will host a writer-in-residence program.

Event supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the League of Canadian Poets.