Category Archives: Upcoming Events

Koto concert & Art of Taiko upcoming events at Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre

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Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre is presenting a Koto Concert and Art of Taiko.
July 26th and July 30th.

From the press release and website: http://www.nikkeiplace.org/upcoming-events/

The Japanese Canadian National Museum
Koto Concert – Chikako Kanehisa, a benefit concert for the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre
Sunday, July 26, 2009, 3pm

koto_poster


Chikako Kanehisa from Japan will perform a concert to help raise funds
for National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre. This will be a
captivating concert of traditional as well as contemporary and
improvisational music. A special guest musician will also perform.
Tickets $20 adults, $15 seniors & students. Register by phone (604)
777-7000 or by e-mail info@nikkeiplace.org.

  
Nikkei
Place Museum hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11am-5pm at 6688 Southoaks
Cres, Burnaby (Kingsway at Sperling). For more information, call
604-777-7000 or visit www.jcnm.ca.

 
The second event is a taiko demonstration/lecture with
Kenny Endo. I don't have an image, but I do have a press release for
this event which I have also attached. The description is below:
 
National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre
The Art of Taiko with Kenny Endo – lecture/demonstration

Thursday, July 30, 2-4pm, 2009
 
Kenny Endo

Photo credit: Raymond Yuen

Kenny
Endo will perform and speak about the traditions of taiko as well as
demonstrate his original work for this ancient instrument. He’ll
explain about the instruments, show how taiko is learned and
performance pieces are memorized. The historical and cultural context
of taiko will be discussed. The odaiko (large drum), taiko set,
tsuzumi, fue (bamboo flute) and various traditional percussion
instruments will be featured. Minimum donation of $10 per person.
Please register by phone 604.777.7000 or email info@nikkeiplace.org

 
For more information please call Nikkei Place, 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby 604-777-7000
www.NikkeiPlace.org

 

Gung Haggis Fat Choy team prepares for last practice before the Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festiival June 20/21

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It's the last practice before the race: Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team

2009_June_Dragonboats 012 by Toddish McWong.

Gung Haggis team line up at the Dragon Zone regatta on June 6th – photo Todd Wong

The Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival is the largest in North America. Dragon boat racing began in Vancouver BC, when the Hong Kong pavillion at Expo 86 donated 4 teak boats to the City of Vancouver.  I started attending the festivals for the great entertainment and shows.  It wasn't until 1993 that I first joined a team and started paddling.

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team has been racing at Alcan Dragon Boat Festival since 2002.  Prior to that I coached and paddled on many different teams at the novice, recreation and competitive levels.  The Gung Haggis team emphasizes fun, fitness and multiculturalism.  That's why we wear our kilts while paddling a Chinese dragon boat tradition.

We have been asked to participate in two film documentaries.  One is a feature film titled “In the Same Boat”, directed by Alfonso Chin and produced by Jacqueline Liu for Rosetta Entertainment.  Alfonso used to paddle for the CC Riders team, and our paddler/drummer Keng Graal used to be one of his teachers.

2009_June_Dragonboats 007 by Toddish McWong Katie, rookie Gung Haggis paddler is interviewed for “In the Same Boat” dragon boat documentary film – photo T.Wong

The second film is a multi-part series called “Chinatown Canada” produced by Kerri Beattie of Image Pacific.  They will be interviewing me about Vancouver Chinatown, and filming our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team in action, as one of the cultural off shoots of Chinatown.

We are having our final pre-race practice tonight  5:45 to 7:30pm at
Dragon Zone (50 paces south of Science World – at the Green Trailer
Building).

We will be working out our final race strategies, and finalizing seating arrangements.  Some of the paddlers have been away, but have returned just in time.  We have four brand new paddlers who raced their first races ever in May and June.  We have two more brand new paddlers who have yet to experience a full race with 7 or more boats. 

Our core veterans have been with the team for 4 years or more.  We have added some paddlers who have experience with other teams.  This could be the best Gung Haggis team ever.  But our roles at drummer and steers are not settled yet, and we might be rotating people.

Tonight after a debriefing… we are having a team social at “The Clubhouse
Restaurant” on West 2nd – across from City TV, and on the same block as
Bazzaar Novelty.

There is a dvd machine in the upstairs party room.
I will be showing documentary footage of the team from
France 3 “Thalassa” 2005
CBC Generations: The Chan Legacy 2006
ZDF “From Toronto to Vancouver by Train” 2007
but not from the 2008 Global News “Best of BC”


Vancouver Storytelling at Main St. Car Free Days – with Toddish McWong

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Photo Library - 2614 by you.

Toddish McWong, telling stories at 2008 Celtic Fest for the Battle of the Bards, and reading Robert Burns poetry – photo D. Martin.

Vancouver Storytelling at Main St. Car Free Days, with Todd Wong

I have been asked by Vancouver Storytellers, to give a storytelling performance

Location: located on the West Side at 18th.; on a grassy
island set back from Main Street.  We are beside a tiny mall with
a Pizza Hut.

It is Car Free Days starts at 12 noon at the following locations.
Commercial Drive (between Venables and 1st Ave.)
Denman St. (between Davie and Robson)
Main St. (between 12th and 25th)
Kitsilano (various neighborhood block parties)
http://www.carfreevancouver.org/


I will tell stories of early Chinese & Scottish pioneers in BC,

I will look down Main Street towards Chinatown and tell stories about my
great-great-grandfather Rev. Chan Yu Tan, who came to Canada in 1896 as a lay preacher for
the Chinese Methodist Church….  

I will tell stories about how James Douglas was born in Guyana to a Scottish father and a Creole mother, and came to BC to become the first governor of BC.

I will look south to the Fraser River, and recount how Simon Fraser was born in the United States, came to Canada with his Loyalist mother, and travelled through Western Canada, to explore this Westernmost land and named it New Caledonia.

I will the origins of Gung Haggis Fat Choy: 

  • in 1993, when I first wore a kilt for the SFU, Robbie Burns Day celebrations
  • in 1998, with a small private dinner for 16 people in a living room
  • how it has grown into an annual Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner serving 550 people
  • and spun off a CBC TV performance special
  • The SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival, by SFU Recreation department.

Standing Up for Community: Readings and presentations by Shirley Chan, Hayne Wai and Larry Wong for Eastside Stories

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Eastside Stories is an offshoot of the Heart of the City Festival,
3 community leaders will speak at Carnegie Centre June 21st at 3pm. 
Shirley Chan, Hayne Wai and Larry Wong

eastside_stories

Event 3. Standing up for Community with Shirley Chan, Hayne Wai and Larry Wong, Sun June 21, 3pm Carnegie 3rd floor (see below and http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com/news/eastside-stories/

Shirley, Hayne and Larry are contributors to the book EATING STORIES: A Chinese Canadian and Aboriginal Potluck

All three helped to fight against the freeway proposal that would have knocked a swath through Chinatown in the 1960's.

Shirley and her mother helped lead the protests against freeway development in Vancouver Chintown in the 1960's, and were the topic of the documentary film Mary Lee Chan takes on City Hall. Mother Tongue | chinese community

http://www.mothertongue.ca/community.php?id=1093574665

Hayne
has been involved with many anti-racism programs, and has served on the boards of Chinese Cultural Centre and Dr. Sun Yat Sen
Gardens, and Saltwater City Vancouver Centennial Exhibition.  He founding member of Chinese
Canadian Historical Society of BC.  Hayne is also my cousin, role model, and one of
my inspirations in creating Gung Haggis Fat Choy

Larry
Wong is curator of the Chinese Canadian Military Museum, at the Chinese
Cultural Centre Museum and Archives.  He is also childhood friend of
Wayson Choy, and founding member of Chinese Canadian Historical Society
of BC.

Final event for Montreal poet John Asfour at Kogawa House, with Gary Geddes and Ann Eriksson

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MONTREAL POET WRAPS UP RESIDENCY THIS WEEKEND

 

Historic Joy Kogawa House celebrates success of its first writer-in-residence

 

2009_April_Kogawa 060 by you.
On April 20, inaugural Kogawa House writer-in-residence John Afour welcomed Shelagh Rogers, Jean Baird, George Bowering and George Stanley to Kogawa House for a joint Purdy Party with three BC Book Prize Poetry nominees Daphne Marlatt, George Stanly and Nilofar Shidmehr – photo Todd Wong

Kogawa House writer-in-residence John Asfour leaves a trail of inspiration behind as he packs his bags to return to Montreal on Sunday, May 31.

Final reading with Gary Geddes and Ann Eriksson on Saturday, May 30th.

During
his residency in Vancouver Asfour has hosted a number of writers for
readings at the house, including Judy Rebick, Ann Diamond, and Daphne
Marlatt, George Stanley, and Nilofar Shidmehr—three poets nominated for
this year’s Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. On Saturday, May 30, Gary
Geddes and Ann Eriksson join him for a final reading.

 

Asfour
has also welcomed visits from writing classes and he has coached
numerous individual writers. Following an evening class at the house,
SFU Writers’ Studio lyric poetry instructor Rachel Rose wrote: “John
has been so generous with his time, meeting many students for
individual consults.” Another writer said: “I had a very good,
productive meeting with John and learned more in meeting with him than
I had learned in a whole year studying creative writing at university.
He taught me how to edit.”

 

Asfour’s frequent writing consultations did not keep him completing a book of poems entitled Blindfold,
which is partly autobiographical—born in Lebanon, Asfour was blinded at
age 13 during the Civil War in 1958. His poems explore feelings of loss
and displacement and suggest that the disabled often feel like
foreigners in their own land, hampered by prejudice (sometimes
well-meaning), communications barriers and the sense of “limited
personality” that characterizes the immigrant experience.

 

2009_May_KogawaHouse 005 by you.
John Asfour was featured at the Vancouver Public Library on May 19th with Neworld Theatre's Marcus Youssef and Adrienne Wong read his poems in English – photo Todd Wong

While
in Vancouver Asfour also presented poetry readings to a variety of
audiences, including the Canadian National Institute for the Blind,
Christianne’s Lyceum of Art and Literature, the BC Muslim School and in
collaboration with Neworld Theatre at the Vancouver Public Library. On
Thursday, 58 students from Killarney Secondary School will practice
their creative writing while scattered over the lawns, patio, and deck
at Kogawa house.

 

Asfour
is the author of four books of poetry in English and two in Arabic. He
translated the poetry of Muhammad al-Maghut into English under the title Joy Is Not My Profession (Véhicule Press), and he selected, edited and introduced the landmark anthology When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry, 1945–1987 (Cormorant Books).

 

Further information can be found on the website of the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society at www.kogawahouse.com or by calling (604) 263-6586.

 

ends/more

 

Contacts:

Kogawa House Society: Ann-Marie Metten (604) 263-6586

 

Notes to Editors:

1. Information on Historic Joy Kogawa House

 

Historic
Joy Kogawa House is the former home of the Canadian author Joy Kogawa
(born 1935). It stands as a cultural and historical reminder of the
expropriation of property that all Canadians of Japanese descent
experienced after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Between 2003 and
2006, a grassroots committee fund raised in a well-publicized national
campaign, and with the help of The Land Conservancy of BC, a non-profit
land trust, managed to purchase the house in 2006.

 

Together
with Joy Kogawa, the various groups decided that the wisest and best
use of the property would be to establish it as a place where writers
could live and work. Following the models of the writer-in-residence
programs in place at the Berton House Writers’ Retreat in Dawson City ,
Yukon , and Roderick Haig-Brown House in Campbell River , BC , the
Historic Joy Kogawa House writer-in-residence program brings
well-regarded professional writers in touch with a local community of
writers, readers, editors, and librarians. While in residence, the
writer works to enrich the literary community around him or her and to
foster an appreciation for Canadian writing through programs that
involve students, other writers and members of the general public.

Beginning
in March 2009, as a partner with TLC, the Historic Joy Kogawa Society
will begin hosting writers to live and work in the house on a paid
basis. Funding is provided through the Michael Audain Foundation for
the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Canada Council and through donations
from the general public.

VACT CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY OF RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN MUSICAL WITH AN ALL-ASIAN CAST

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Is “Flower Drum Song” an Asian-American version of “Sound of Music” by Rodgers & Hammerstein?

Just as the Von Trapp family hiked over the mountains for a chance of freedom from Nazi tyranny, the characters of Flower Drum Song find happiness in the pursuit of the “American Dream” both as immigrants coming to a new country, and as Americans finding their place.  The Flower Drum Wong musical (1958) was based on the book by C.Y. Lee (1957), and a movie version directed by Gene Kelly came out in 1961.

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein had previously written musicals with Asian themes such as South Pacific (1949) and The King & I (1951).  Watching the movie versions as I grew up, I was always interested because they had Asian characters and actors.  The original musical and movie of Flower Drum Song became considered full of racist stereotypes during the American Civil Rights movement, but like the 1910 song “Chinatown My Chinatown” penned by Jerome & Schartz, it has an affectionate place in the hearts of many North American Asians.

About  year ago, I watched the movie version on dvd, and was amazed by the commentary from playwright David Henry Hwang, who re-wrote Flower Drum Song for a post-colonial America and stated, “I tried to write the book that Oscar Hammerstein would have written if he were Asian-American.” 

Check out Nancy Kwan's “I Enjoy Being a Girl” on youtube
I Enjoy Being A Girl Flower Drum Song Movie

I really enjoyed watching the original movie.  There are great highlights such as Nancy Kwan singing “I Enjoy Being a Girl”, “A Hundred Million Miracles” performed by Miyoshi Umeki.  Most fantastic is the jazz dance sequence of the song “Chop Suey” is addresses the melting pot/cultural fusion of Asian America.  My friend Dan Seto always says that the song “Grant Avenue” is famous, and was very happy on his first visit to San Francisco to actually stand on Grant Avenue in Chinatown.  It would be as if Rodgers & Hammerstein had set the story in Vancouver Chinatown and wrote a song about “Pender Street.”

Check out this press release from Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and buy your tickets!


VACT
CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY OF RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN MUSICAL

WITH
AN ALL-ASIAN CAST

Rodgers
& Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG * May 29
to
June
14, 2009

 

 

 

VANCOUVER,
BC (April 2, 2009) – Continuing to celebrate 10 successful years as the city’s
premiere Asian Canadian theatre company, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (VACT)
is excited to announce that it will be staging Rodgers & Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM
SONG from May 29 to June 14 at
The Waterfront Theatre on Granville
Island.

 

This
is the very first time that this Tony award-winning Broadway musical will be
presented in Vancouver
as a full production, during this, the 50th anniversary of the play.
Another milestone for Vancouver
theatre will be the all-Asian-Canadian
cast, along with an Asian Canadian
production team that includes director Rick Tae, choreographer Raphael Wong, set designer Janice Chiu, costumer designers Joyce Chung, Jeannine Sheares-Moon and producer Joyce Lam. Rounding out the team will
include musical director Christopher
King and lighting designer Darren
Hales.

 

Other
notable highlights include actor and former Vancouver
city councillor BC Lee and local
Asian comedian Tom Chin, in a cast
of eighteen that stars Issac Kwok as
young and impressionable Wang Ta, Rosie
Simon as shy pre-arranged bride Mei Li, Jimmy Yi as hipster nightclub owner
Sammy Fong and Lannette New as
ready-for-the-altar showgirl Linda Low.

 

And
adding to the experience, VACT will include the use of sur-titles – Chinese text that’s
displayed above the stage so that non-English speaking Chinese members of the
audience will be able to follow along with the lyrics and the dialogue. This is
the second time that VACT has decided to use this visual aid to welcome as many
members of the local Asian community as possible – the first time being VACT’s
successful run last summer of the Asian version of Neil Simon’s THE ODD
COUPLE.

 

Rodgers
& Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG, set in San
Francisco’s
Chinatown
of the late 50’s, takes a “colourful” approach to the age-old conflict that
affects even the traditional immigrant family – the Generation Gap. Sammy’s
folks have arranged a bride for him from
China,
hoping to sever his relationship with showgirl Linda. Mei Li arrives shy and
naive – totally wrong for the modernized Sammy. But, she just may be the ticket
for Sammy’s buddy Ta, whose dad is trying to prevent his kids from discovering
rock ‘n roll, baseball, sports cars – a losing battle. However, Ta is smitten
with the sexy Linda – because she “enjoys
being a girl.” Suddenly Sammy has to figure out how to get Ta and Mei
together so he can be with Linda. Of course, singing and dancing
ensues.

 

FLOWER
DRUM SONG, first performed on Broadway in 1958, is seeing a revival lately. It
had fallen out of favour over the years as diversity awareness redefined how
minorities should be portrayed in the media. However, VACT’s production will
keep all of the original language of the play and attitudes of the day intact.
“Doing this, our audience will be able to
see the distinction in how far we’ve come and also be able to reminisce about
the past with a satirical sense of humour, “ says director Rick Tae. “It’s just amazing how far we’ve come,”
adds producer and VACT founder
Joyce Lam.  “We have 18 terrific actors and singers in
this cast. I remember clearly 10 years ago how we struggled to find 3
experienced Asian actors in all of Vancouver
for our first play.”

 

For
more information, including cast and crew bios, please visit http://www.vact.ca.

 

Event
Details

Rodgers &
Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG

@
The Waterfront Theatre

1412
Cartwright Street,
Granville
Island,
Vancouver

May
28: Preview

May
29, 30, 31, June 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

 

Tickets
Details

Purchase in
Advance:

By
phone (604) 684-2787 with a $2.50 service charge

By
online www.vact.ca or
wwww.ticketstonight.ca

Group Rates,
please call (778) 885-1973

 

*Preview
performance Thursday May 28 at 8pm – $20

(only available
online at www.vact.ca or cash-only at
door)

*All
Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday evening performances at
8pm –

$29 in
advance/$35 cash-only at door

*Saturday/Sunday
matinees at 2pm (except
Wednesday June 3 matinee at 1pm) –

$24 in
advance/$30 cash-only at door

 

*Limited
Rush Tickets: $17.50 cash-only at the door (max 2 per person)

*Students
and Seniors (65+): $20 cash-only at door

(not
available Friday or Saturday evening performances)

Poet John Asfour, Kogawa House writer-in-residence joins Neworld Theatre May 19th at Vancouver Public Library

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2009_April_Kogawa 018 by you.

John Asfour with “Joy Kogawa” and Judy Rebick at the April event for Historic Joy Kogawa House inaugural writer-in-residence programming. – photo Todd Wong

Two more events with John Asfour
will round out his third and final month in residence.

Tuesday,
May  19 at 7:30 p.m., John presents an evening of Arabic poetry in
translation. John performs on the oud, or Arabic lute, as actors
Adrienne Wong and Marcus Youssef of Neworld Theatre read his poems and those of
Syrian poet Muhammad al-Maghut and Mahmoud Darwish, Palestine’s national poet.
This event will take place in the Alma VanDusen and Peter Kaye rooms on the
Lower Level of the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library, 350 West
Georgia Street. Admission is free.

Back at Kogawa house on
Saturday, May 30, at 7:30 p.m.—the final
evening of John's residency with us—he welcomes Gary Geddes
and Ann Eriksson for readings in celebration of John's residency. Gary Geddes
has written and edited more than 35 books and won a dozen national and
international literary awards, including the Gabriela Mistral Prize and, most
recently, the Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence in BC. He will
read from Falsework about the collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge in
Vancouver. Ann Eriksson’s new novel, In the Hands of Anubis, has been
described by the critics as wise, wicked, touching and funny. It ranges from
Cairo to Calgary to Ucluelet and has a cast of coyotes, tractors and dog-headed
gods. Her novel, Decomposing Maggie, appeared on bestseller lists in
2003. This event takes place at Kogawa house and seating is limited. To
reserve a seat, please respond to this message. 

I look forward to seeing you at one or both
events,

Ann-Marie Metten
Executive
Director

       
       
Contact
Information

Telephone:  604-263-6586
Email:  
kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
       
       
Historic
Joy Kogawa House |  1450 West 64th Avenue |  Vancouver  | BC
|  V6P 2N4 |
Canada

Terry Glavin wins Lt. Governor's Award for Literary Excellence

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image

 

 

 

Terry Glavin named recipient of
the sixth annual Lieutenant Governor’s Award
for Literary Excellence

image

Okay…. it was author Terry Glavin who partly inspired me to create a “writer's speaking series” on the 2007 strike line of CUPE 391 Vancouver Library Workers.   Terry called me up for some reason or another, maybe to admit he was a big fan of my Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, and somehow I asked him to give a reading on our strike line.  And that's how it started!  After Terry came many other authors such as Stan Persky, Hiromi Goto, Daniel Gawthrop, Rita Wong, Tom Sandborn, Chuck Davis….  but it started with Terry! http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2007/8/15/3160687.htm

IMG_1743 by you.

Author, jounalist Terry Glavin speaks to the CUPE 391 Vancouver library workers – giving support – photo Todd Wong

We since became friends and look for reasons to go for a pint of Guinness at the Irish Times Pub in Victoria, or host a Gung Haggis house party at his place… but the only thing we manage to do is leave comments and links to each other blogs. 

Terry has written amazing books, and is very big on diversity – both cultural and environmental and bio-diversity.  Moreover, I think we recognize in each other a deep respect for First Nations culture and history, the ability to laugh and poke fun at mainstream institutions, and the necessity of shaking up the world a little now and then.

But on this Saturday, I will be able to have a drink and toast to my rabble rousing “outspoken voice” as he is feted by the BC literati.  In the mean time he says he “Vows To Resist The Urge To Cash The Cheque And Head Straight For The Track”

http://transmontanus.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-vow-to-resist-urge-to-cash-cheque-and.html

CIMG0247

At last year's BC Book Prizes, I got to hang out a bit with Gary Geddes, the 2008 winner of the Lt. Gov's Award for Literary Excellence. 
Rita Wong and Gary Geddes big winners at BC Book Prizes Gala http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2008/4/29/3666200.html

Terry and Gary are friends, so Terry won't mind if I put Gary's picture in here…

Check out the official BC Book Prize website…

and what they have to say about Terry:

Vancouver, BC
– The West Coast Book Prize Society is proud to recognize Terry Glavin as the
recipient of the sixth annual Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Literary
Excellence.

British
Columbia’s Lieutenant Governor,
the Honourable Steven Point, will present
the award at the
Lieutenant Governor’s BC Book Prize Gala to be held at
the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel in
Vancouver on April 25, 2009.

The event will be hosted
by BC BookWorld publisher and
author Alan Twigg .

“Terry Glavin,
author and journalist, has been an outspoken voice in
British Columbia as a conservationist and
nature writer. He is known for his passionate commitment to
British Columbia ’s First Nations and
for his deep understanding of how First Nation culture and way of life are
bound up with the province’s
natural history and our future as a just and sustainable society.
 

In addition to his books,
Glavin’s many articles on social and political issues are evidence of his
strong journalistic ability to marshal facts and his unwillingness to go with
the accepted wisdom of either
the right or the
left. In his role as an iconoclast, he is a critical voice in
the dialogue that sustains a civil society.

As editor, Glavin has also
brought us the innovative and
courageous Transmontanus series, published by New Star Books. Established in
1992 with the aim of exploring
the relationships between landscape and imagination,
this innovative series of 16 titles has given voice to authors and
the mes that might o the rwise
have been lost to us.

Glavin offers an
extraordinarily holistic vision that does not focus on single issues, but
instead in everything he writes shows us a world where culture and nature,
human aspiration, natural beauty, language, history and social justice are
inextricably intertwined.
 

Terry Glavin has won many
awards for his work as a journalist, as a science and technology writer, for
his editorial innovation and for his powerful essays. We are privileged to
honour him with the Lieutenant
Governor’s Award for Literary Excellence in 2009, for his contribution to
life and letters in British Columbia
and for his willingness to show us how to see our world more deeply, more fully
and more truthfully.”

– Jury member Ellen Godfrey

The jury for this year’s Lieutenant
Governor’s Award: Ellen Godfrey, author and former literary publisher;
David Hill, Manager of Munro’s Books, Victoria; and Sheryl Mac
Kay , host of CBC’s North by Northwest.

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

 

Al Purdy Party at Joy Kogawa House features 3 poets nominated for BC Book Prize

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JOY KOGAWA HOUSE TO HOST AL PURDY PARTY

This is going to be an exciting event, created for BC Book and Magazine Week.

4 poets in an intimate setting with special host Shelagh Rogers.  Innaugural Kogawa House writerinresidence John Asfour has invited  3 nominated poets for the BC Book Prizes Dorothy Livesay Poetry Award: George Stanley, Nilofar Shimehr and Daphne Marlatt.

Shelagh Rogers did the last public  interview Purdy at the Eden Mills Writers' Festival. Shelagh says “He was awesome,” and will share her Al Purdy memories with the audience.
www.cbc.ca/wordsatlarge/blog/2008/05/al_purdy_an_uncommon_poet_memo.html

This will be also be a fundraiser for Save the Al Purdy A Frame… in the Joy
Kogawa childhood home, a house that was saved from demolition to be
turned into a writer in residence program and a historical/literary
landmark for all of Canada

April 21 is National Al Purdy Day.
http://www.poetrymap.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=35

from www.kogawahouse.com

Shelagh Rogers, host of “The Next Chapter” on CBC Radio, to emcee

with John Asfour – inaugural writer in residence at Joy Kogawa House, George Stanley, Nilofar Shidmehr and Daphne Marlatt

George Stanley (Vancouver: A Poem), Nilofar Shidmehr (Shirin and Salt Man) and Daphne Marlatt

When: 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 20

Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver

Admission by donation. Space is limited. To secure a seat, please RSVP kogawahouse@yahoo.ca  

Three
BC Book Prize-nominated poets—George Stanley, Nilofar Shidmehr and
Daphne Marlatt—have accepted an invitation from writer-in-residence
John Asfour to read at Historic Joy Kogawa House on Monday, April 20,
as part of BC Book and Magazine Week. 

Asfour,
a Montreal poet, is the first writer-in-residence at Kogawa House and
will present poetry readings to a variety of audiences, in
collaboration with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Simon
Fraser University’s Writers Studio, Christianne’s Lyceum of Literature
and Art and the Vancouver Public Library. 

Asfour
is the author of four books of poetry in English and two in Arabic. He
translated the poetry of Muhammad al-Maghut into English under the
title Joy Is Not My Profession (Véhicule Press), and he selected, edited and introduced the landmark anthology When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry, 1945–1987 (Cormorant Books). 

CBC
Radio host Shelagh Rogers will emcee the event, which is a
co-presentation of Historic Joy Kogawa House and the West Coast Book
Prize Society. George Stanley (Vancouver: A Poem), Nilofar Shidmehr (Shirin and Salt Man) and Daphne Marlatt (The Given) are finalists for the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize. 

The
event takes place the evening before National Al Purdy Day, and the
League of Canadian Poets has invited all Canadian poets and lovers of
Canadian poetry to host a Purdy party to raise funds for the Al Purdy
A-Frame Project—Purdy’s former home on Roblin Lake, Ontario—and to
create a poet-in-residence program there that is similar to the
writer-in-residence program now under way in the childhood home of the
author Joy Kogawa. 

This
poetry reading will be held at 7:30 pm at Historic Joy Kogawa House,
located at 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver. Entrance by donation.
Space is limited. To secure a seat, please RSVP kogawahouse@yahoo.ca 

Judy Rebick comes to Joy Kogawa House

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Meet Judy Rebick

Special guest at Historic Joy Kogawa House
with writer-in-residence John Asfour

from www.kogawahouse.com

When: 5 p.m., Friday, April 17
Where: 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver

Admission by donation. Space is limited.

To reserve a seat, please RSVP kogawahouse@yahoo.ca

Writer-in-residence
John Asfour welcomes Judy Rebick to Historic Joy Kogawa House on
Friday, April 17. Rebick is a veteran activist, former host of CBC
Newsworld, chair of Social Justice and Democracy at Ryerson University
and former publisher of www.rabble.ca. Come join us on Friday, April 17, as Judy Rebick speaks about her new book Transforming Power.

One
reader commented that Transforming Power “[is] a powerful, inspiring
treatise on a paradigm shift in social action that is taking place from
around the world. It offers new pathways to change making that are
critically needed in this time of crisis, and is an exciting window
into stories of hope and possibility around the world.” To attend this
event, please RSVP kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.