Welcome to Historic Joy Kogawa House

Historic Joy Kogawa House hosts Kurdish writer-in-exile

Thursday, May 9, 2013, marked the second anniversary of the hanging of Farzad Kamanagar, a 32-year-old Kurdish teacher and poet who was executed by the government of Iran for his human rights activities.

Kurdish Iranian author Ava Homa, a PEN Canada Writer-in-Exile and the 2013 writer-in-residence at Vancouver’s Historic Joy Kogawa House, memorialized Kamangar with publication on that date of a short story based on this young teacher’s letters from prison. That story “Lullaby” is available at Novel Rights, an e-publication house promoting human rights literature – writing based in the belief that literature has enormous power to drive social change. Ava Homa’s short story is excerpted here.

Ava Homa exiled from Kurdistan-Iran in 2007 leaving her family and friends behind her. She is among the few Kurdish female authors who write about the Kurdish community and history. Her three-month residency, funded by the Canada Council Residency Program and the British Columbia Arts Council, began on May 1, 2013, and focuses on writing, research, and community programs.

While in residence, Ms. Homa will supervise creative writing workshops, consult with emerging writers, and use the time to complete a novel about immigration, displacement, and culture shock – themes relevant to the fiction of Joy Kogawa and to the mandate of the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society.

Born and educated in Iran, Ava Homa holds an MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Tehran and an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Windsor. In 2010 TSAR Publications published her debut collection of short stories, Echoes from the Other Land, which was nominated for 2011 Frank O’Conner International Short Story Prize and was chosen as one of ten People’s Choice finalists in the 2011 Readers’ Choice Award running concurrently with Giller Prize.

Homa’s short fiction and translations have appeared in several English and Farsi journals and newspapers, including the Literary Review of Canada, Rabble, Windsor Review, and the Toronto Star. Homa has been a member of PEN Canada’s Writers-in-Exile network since 2011 and was the 2012 PEN Lecturer-in-Residence at George Brown College.

To consult with Ava Homa as a writer, to interview Ms. Homa about her work and about living and working at Historic Joy Kogawa House, to volunteer to assist with these community programs, and for further information, please email Ann-Marie Metten, Executive Director, Historic Joy Kogawa House.

NAOMI'S ROAD opera One more day to purchase a ticket! $12.50 7pm Tuesday, April 23, 2013 Italian Cultural Centre - 3075 Slocan St. @ Grandview Hwy. coffee and desserts will be served afterwards (by donation) special speakers about Italian and Japanese Canadian WW2 internment camps: Mr. Akira Horii & Mr. Ray Culos Naomi's Road is performed by Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble, as part of the Vancouver Opera in Schools program. This is one of the last performances for the general public. I saw the performance on Friday at West Vancouver Public Library. It's great! I would see it again... just like the 5 times I saw it in 2005/06. Proceeds to Historic Joy Kogawa House, if we meet our audience numbers... http://italianculturalcentre.ca/highlights/naomis-road/

When: Saturday, April 6, to Sunday, April 21
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue

Features work from many of the 50 international textile artists represented in four previous exhibitions

Saturdays/Sundays, 12 noon to 4:00pm
Wednesdays/Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00pm

Literary Readings, Saturdays, 2:00 to 4:00pm
Textile Demonstrations, Sundays, 2:00 to 4:00pm

Co-sponsored by the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts and Historic Joy Kogawa House Society, and held in conjunction with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

The exhibit combines a beautiful display of art with a three-part public reading series:

Ricepaper launch
Saturday, April 6, 2:00 to 4:00pm, will feature writers published in the new issue of Ricepaper magazine: Carrie Calvo, Michelle Sylliboy, Russell Wallace, Wanda John Kehewin, Elaine Woo and Jonina Kirton.

"Sushi and Samosas" Family Reading Event
Saturday, April 13, 2:00 to 4:00pm, Joy Kogawa House will host a family reading with Jacqueline Pearce, author of The Reunion. A Sikh girl and her Japanese friend have a fight, and before they can make up, all the Japanese-Canadians are taken away. Years later, two modern girls hope it’s not too late to repair the old friendship. For ages 8 to 11. Event includes a reading from this chapter book and a related craft activity.

Planet Earth Anthology launch
Saturday, April 20, 2:00 to 4:00pm, will showcase a group of poets from The Planet Earth Anthology, published by Leaf Press: Karen Shklanka, Susan McCaslin, Barbara Pelman, Daniela Elza, Ray McGinnins, Jen Currin, Bren Simmers, Owain Nicholson, Daniel Scott, Susan Telfer, and more.

These readings take place at Historic Joy Kogawa House as a complement to the Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation fibre art exhibit on display in conjunction with the Vancouver Fibre Arts Guild. Admission by donation ($5 suggested). The Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver is also exhibiting new artwork in Cherry Blossom: A Textile Translation. As an expression of the changing season from winter to spring, artists from Canada, United States, and Japan come together to display the range of inspiring art on silks, sculptures, books, and clothing. The exhibit is open until April 21.

You are invited to our "Special Double Issue: Aboriginal & Asian Canadian Writers" launch party!

The Historic Joy Kogawa House is hosting our launch party for the current issue. The event will coincide with the opening reception for the Text/Textiles exhibit, featuring collections from international textile artists.

The Ricepaper launch party will also include featured writers published in the current issue: Carrie Calvo, Michelle Sylliboy, Russell Wallace, Wanda John Kehewin, Elaine Woo and Jonina Kirton.

Date: Saturday April 6, 2013
Time: 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver

To all young writers who like to have fun: Come and play with words and rhythms. Explore any genre you like — fiction, drama, poetry, spoken word, or nonfiction. Or do it all if you want; the sky’s the limit! You could even make up a new form. Plus learn how to make your own chapbook and participate in a reading to launch your writing. Join us at Kogawa House where writing blooms.

Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
When: 4:00 to 6:00 pm on Sundays April 7, 14, 21, and 28
How Much: $100, includes supplies for 3 chapbooks. This registration fee supports our writer-in-residence program
How to Apply: Please email with an expression of interest to kogawahouse@yahoo.ca

Who Is Leading:
Lenore Rowntree lives in Vancouver British Columbia. Her short stories and fiction have appeared in many magazines and journals, as well as in the anthologies Best Canadian Poetry and Poet to Poet. Her play The Woods at Tender Creek was produced at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre in 2010. And her non-fiction has been shortlisted for a CBC literary award and has been included in the anthology of personal narratives Hidden Lives: coming out on mental illness, which she also co-edited. She has an MFA in creative writing from UBC, and she has led many teen writing workshops.

Allie Quelch is a young writer who has yet to settle in any particular genre because she loves it all. She also loves boats, trees, very simple games and adventures. She is a recent graduate from Capilano University’s writing program and has worked with multiple literary magazines, including The Capilano Review.

When: Saturday, April 6, to Sunday, April 21
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue

Opening Reception, Saturday, April 6, 12 noon to 4:00pm

Features work from many of the 50 international textile artists represented in four previous exhibitions

Saturdays/Sundays, 12 noon to 4:00pm
Wednesdays/Thursdays, 6:00 to 8:00pm

Literary Readings, Saturdays, 2:00 to 4:00pm
Textile Demonstrations, Sundays, 2:00 to 4:00pm

Co-sponsored by the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts and Historic Joy Kogawa House Society

Held in conjunction with the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival

Childhood Regained

A workshop to suggest to writers ways of reflecting on their childhoods as source material or inspiration for poetry or other writing. With George Stanley.

When: Saturday, March 2, 1:00 to 4:00pm
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $85

To register, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.

George Stanley is an award-winning American-Canadian poet associated with the San Francisco Renaissance in his early years and later a resident of British Columbia. He has published several books of poetry. One of his best-known poems is “Veracruz.”

Monday, February 11, 7:30 to 9:00pm

Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Admission by donation, but seating is limited

Please join Jovanni Sy, artistic director of the Gateway Theatre, in conversation with playwright Simon Johnston about Simon’s new play, Sisters.

Set in 1936, two Russian sisters live in a massive house in a Chinese town. As they struggle to make ends meet and maintain the illusion of their former privileged lives, their Chinese sister-in-law begins to take over the house, one room at a time. Sisters is a beautifully written tale inspired by Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters.

Simon Johnston will read from his play, now in performance on the Gateway Theatre’s Mainstage in Richmond, January 31 to February 16, 2013.

Admission to this event includes $5 discount on tickets to Gateway Theatre’s Sisters.

Representatives of Japanese and Chinese Canadian communities along with other concerned Canadians call for truth, reconciliation, and understanding in an effort to collaborate and move forward in a grassroots peace action.

Sunday, December 9, more than 60 people crowded into the tiny living room at Historic Joy Kogawa House to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre and to start a historic roundtable discussion.

The roundtable included the following discussants:
− Joy Kogawa of Historic Joy Kogawa House
− Theka Lit of BC Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA)
− Judy Hanazawa and Tatsuo Kage of the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association Human Rights Committee
− Satoko Norimatsu of Peace Philosophy Centre and Vancouver Save Article 9 Group
− Bill Chu of Canadians for Reconciliation Society
− Ellen Woodsworth, former Vancouver City Councillor

The goodwill expressed called for ongoing cooperation and understanding between Japanese and Chinese Canadians to overcome the tension between their home countries. The Japanese captured the Chinese city of Nanjing in December 1937. The Nanjing Massacre on December 13, 1937, led to the death of 250,000 to 300,000 people and the rape of 20,000 to 80,000 women and girls. The atrocity and unhealed historical wounds contributed to the longstanding tension between Japan and China, which flared recently over disputed ownership of islands in the East China Sea.

“It is urgent that people of the world overcome old animosities in order to address dangers our planet faces today,” said Joy Kogawa. “Canada is a space where this can be demonstrated.”

“We need to be educated about and observe events like the Nanjing Massacre to honour those who were victimized, to call for justice for this inhumanity which affects us all, and most of all, to learn by working together, to create a world which will no longer allow this,” said Judy Hanazawa of the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Cultural Association.

“We have to work harder to help make the Nanjing Massacre penetrate into public consciousness,” stated Thekla Lit, president of BC Association for Learning and Preserving the History of WWII in Asia (ALPHA). “As Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking, reminded us that unless we truly understand how these atrocities can happen, we can't be certain that it won’t happen again.”

Satoko Norimatsu of the Peace Philosophy Centre said, “In Japan, unfortunately, Nanjing Massacre has been largely ignored, downplayed, or even negated. If there is any attention, it is often about the debate on how many people were killed. I believe on this commemorative day, we should simply put aside the debate and humbly and solemnly remember and reach our hearts to the victims of the horrendous crime.”

“It is agonizing to see post-WW2 Japan being so misled by self-interests as to deny its WWII atrocities committed in Nanjing, China,” said Bill Chu of Canadians for Reconciliation Society. “As Christmas signifies peace and hope, let us try to seek liberation from untruths and reconciliation with neighbours, for the sake of our shared humanity.”

The gathering at Historic Joy Kogawa House on December 9 was but one of numerous commemoration events to be held across the country. Toronto City Council has unanimously voted for a week of education around this historic event, proclaiming this to be Nanking Massacre Awareness Week.

Participants at the gathering called for the public to observe the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre on Thursday, December 13.

For more information, or to interview Joy Kogawa, Judy Hanazawa, or Thekla Lit or any of the discussants listed above, please email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.

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Note 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 fundraised in a well-publicized national campaign, and with the help of TLC, The Land Conservancy of BC, a non-profit land trust, managed to purchase the house in 2006. The Historic Joy Kogawa House Society hosts a writer-in-residence for three months each year and sponsors writing workshops, educational tours, and reconciliation events.

Contact: Historic Joy Kogawa House Society: Ann-Marie Metten / kogawahouse@yahoo.ca

2. Information on JCCA Human Rights Committee
The Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens Association is a non-profit organization representing the Japanese Canadian community in Vancouver and the surrounding area. Established in 1990 as a standing committee of the JCCA, the Human Rights Committee has been dealing with human rights, race relations, and discrimination related issues.

Contact:
JCCA Human Rights Committee: Judy Hanazawa / jhanazawa@shaw.ca

3. Information on Peace Philosophy Centre

Peace Philosophy Centre was established on January 1, 2007, to promote the creation of peace by peaceful means, invites people with diverse opinions to enter into open dialogue and equal participation. It facilitates personal growth and leadership, and connects like-minded people locally, and around the world.

Contact:
Peace Philosophy Centre: Satoko Oka Norimatsu / info@peacephilosophy.com

  4. Information on BC Alpha

B.C. ALPHA (Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WW II in Asia) was established in January 1997 and works alongside other chapters of ALPHA across Canada to foster understanding, redress, and reconciliation related to the tragedies of World War II in Asia.

Contact:
BC Alpha: Thekla Lit / bcalpha@alpha-canada.org

5. Information on Canadians For Reconciliation Society

Canadians For Reconciliation Society is a non-profit with a focus to reconcile the relationship between Canadians and Indigenous People, as well as the history between Canadians and Chinese. Its work with City of New Westminster resulted in the first formal apology to the Chinese community from a Canadian city for its past discriminatory policies.

Contact:
Canadians For Reconciliation Society: Bill Chu / ccia@shaw.ca

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Today more than 60 people crowded into the tiny living room at Historic Joy Kogawa House to call for a public demonstration and candlelight vigil on Thursday, December 13, at 5:30pm to observe the 75th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre. Details to come.