joy kogawa
AUTHOR DEBORAH WILLIS NOW IN RESIDENCE
Thu, 2012-02-02 08:59 — Ann-Marie Metten
Historic Joy Kogawa House brings writing into the community
Historic Joy Kogawa House proudly announces Victoria author Deborah Willis as our 2012 writer-in-residence.
Deborah Willis was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta. Her short fiction has appeared in Grain, Event, Prism International, and The Walrus. Her first book, Vanishing and Other Stories, was named one of the Globe and Mail’s Best Books of 2009, and was nominated for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize in British Columbia and the Governor General’s Award. Willis resides in Victoria, B.C., but will live and work at Historic Joy Kogawa House from January 15 to April 15, 2012.
“I’m so pleased to have the chance to live in the Joy Kogawa House,” says Willis, who will work on her second collection of stories during her residency. The mandate of the house states that writers-in-residence will spend sixty percent of their time writing and forty percent on community outreach. “The personal, private work of writing is balanced by time spent on community programs. It’s a wonderful way for me to experience living in Vancouver.”
Willis will work with three community groups, offering a four-week writing program for teens from local high schools, a reading program for newcomers to Canada in partnership with the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Centre, and co-facilitating writing workshops for sex workers and former sex workers in partnership with Aaron Golbeck of Downtown Eastside Studio Society. She will also run a writing workshop for children, with Sarah Maitland, in the KidSafe Writers’ Room at Queen Alexandra Elementary School.
Willis will take writing into the community in a public program that creates new audiences for Canadian literature and encourages new writers to contribute their stories to our literary canon.
To interview Deborah Willis 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 visit www.kogawahouse.com.
We acknowledge the Canada Council and the B.C. Arts Council for their financial support of this project.
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.
The Historic Joy Kogawa House writer-in-residence program brings well-regarded professional writers in touch with a local community of writers, readers, editors, publishers, booksellers, 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 established and emerging writers and members of the general public.
Since 2009, as a partner with TLC, the Historic Joy Kogawa Society has hosted four writers to live and work in the house on a paid basis. Funding is provided through the Canada Council, the BC Arts Council, and through donations from the general public.
Contact:
Kogawa House Society: Ann-Marie Metten / kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
2. Information about the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society
The TCCS provides settlement services hoping to help newcomers enjoy a smooth transition to Canada and plays an important role in promoting mutual understanding and cultural harmony between Taiwanese and other ethnic groups in Canada.
Contact:
Kogawa House Society: Cecilia Chueh / cecilia@tccs.ca
3. Information about Downtown Eastside Studio Society
Downtown Eastside Studio Society is a non-profit arts workshop and publishing house in Vancouver. We provide support for people facing social barriers such as mental illness, addictions, and homelessness to undertake creative writing projects and publish their work into books.
Contact:
Downtown Eastside Studio Society: Aaron Golbeck / info@studiosociety.ca
4. Information on the KidSafe Writers’ Room
In partnership with the Vancouver School Board’s Community School Team and the York House School, the KidSafe Writers’ Room offers an after-school tutoring program for students in grades 1 through 7. Writers’ Room tutors also help with KidSafe’s school-break literacy programming. When a child is given the opportunity to work one-on-one with a tutor, he or she can complete projects to the best of his or her ability, and boost literacy skills and self-esteem.
Contact:
KidSafe Writers’ Room: Sarah Maitland / writersroom@kidsafe.ca
Writing Non-Fiction: Writing Life Workshop
Wed, 2011-11-02 22:57 — Ann-Marie Metten
When: Saturday, November 19, 10am to 3pm
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Please join writer-in-residence Susan Crean for a writing workshop with a total of 5 participants.
This workshop is directed at writers with some experience who are writing memoir, biography, history, or a combination of these. We will focus on story development, including research techniques and interviewing.
Together we will answer the following questions:
Cost: $125 (includes lunch)
To register, please email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Please join writer-in-residence Susan Crean for a writing workshop with a total of 5 participants.
This workshop is directed at writers with some experience who are writing memoir, biography, history, or a combination of these. We will focus on story development, including research techniques and interviewing.
Together we will answer the following questions:
- What are the pitfalls in writing about someone very different from me?
- How do I know what to research?
Cost: $125 (includes lunch)
To register, please email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
Joy Remembers: A Vancouver Heritage Success Story
Wed, 2011-05-18 10:33 — Ann-Marie Metten
Time: 7pm to 9pm, Thursday, May 26
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Ave, Vancouver
Who: Co-presented by the Heritage Vancouver Society and The Land Conservancy of BC
Admission: $75 TLC and Heritage Vancouver members; $100 non-members (tax receipt will be issued; this event is a fundraiser for renovations to expand the living-room of the house to make room for public events)
Ticket information: www.heritagevancouver.org
Event: Join Canadian author Joy Kogawa and heritage consultant Donald Luxton for an evening of story telling, and celebration of a significant Vancouver Heritage Success Story. This is a unique opportunity to experience Joy in conversation with Donald as she reminisces about her childhood memories of living at 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver. Joy and Donald will also take you on guided tours of the house and garden and you will have the opportunity to discover The Land Conservancy’s restoration plans for the site. The event is a fundraiser in support of the restoration of the house and of Heritage Vancouver’s heritage conservation initiatives.
Background: The Historic Joy Kogawa House was featured on Heritage Vancouver’s 2005 Top Ten Endangered Sites at a time when demolition of the building seemed inevitable. Thanks to the efforts of The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC) and a grassroots organization of community activists, donations were received from more than 500 people across Canada and the house was purchased in 2006. The Kogawa House has special literary significance as the childhood home of acclaimed Canadian author Joy Kogawa, and now operates as a writer’s centre that regularly hosts literary events and an annual writer-in-residence program. The Land Conservancy is about to embark on restoration of this important Vancouver landmark house. It has been identified as one of Heritage Vancouver’s Success Stories.
Tickets available using PayPal at www.heritagevancouver.org.
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Ave, Vancouver
Who: Co-presented by the Heritage Vancouver Society and The Land Conservancy of BC
Admission: $75 TLC and Heritage Vancouver members; $100 non-members (tax receipt will be issued; this event is a fundraiser for renovations to expand the living-room of the house to make room for public events)
Ticket information: www.heritagevancouver.org
Event: Join Canadian author Joy Kogawa and heritage consultant Donald Luxton for an evening of story telling, and celebration of a significant Vancouver Heritage Success Story. This is a unique opportunity to experience Joy in conversation with Donald as she reminisces about her childhood memories of living at 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver. Joy and Donald will also take you on guided tours of the house and garden and you will have the opportunity to discover The Land Conservancy’s restoration plans for the site. The event is a fundraiser in support of the restoration of the house and of Heritage Vancouver’s heritage conservation initiatives.
Background: The Historic Joy Kogawa House was featured on Heritage Vancouver’s 2005 Top Ten Endangered Sites at a time when demolition of the building seemed inevitable. Thanks to the efforts of The Land Conservancy of BC (TLC) and a grassroots organization of community activists, donations were received from more than 500 people across Canada and the house was purchased in 2006. The Kogawa House has special literary significance as the childhood home of acclaimed Canadian author Joy Kogawa, and now operates as a writer’s centre that regularly hosts literary events and an annual writer-in-residence program. The Land Conservancy is about to embark on restoration of this important Vancouver landmark house. It has been identified as one of Heritage Vancouver’s Success Stories.
Tickets available using PayPal at www.heritagevancouver.org.
Upcoming Events
Thu, 2011-04-28 10:01 — Ann-Marie Metten
This spring, Historic Joy Kogawa House will host a number of exciting events. Thanks for sharing this information with your friends, and for joining us on any or all of these occasions:
1. Mothers and Others Tea and Reading, 2 to 4pm, Saturday, May 7
2. Jumpstart Your Engines Poetry Workshop with Jericho Brown, 11am to 1pm, Sunday, May 15
3. Haiku Myths and Realities Workshop with Michael Dylan Welch, 1:30 to 5:30pm, Sunday, May 15
4. Joy Kogawa Remembers, 6 to 8pm, Thursday, May 26
5. Point of View Workshop with Zsuzsi Gartner, 10am to 3pm, Sunday, June 5
Mother’s Day Tea “On Mums and Our Other Mothers”
When: 2 to 4pm, Saturday, May 7
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Suggested Donation: $10 (includes tea and goodies)
Mother’s Day is a great time to celebrate your Mum. It’s also a great time to look back and think about all the women who have touched your life, almost like “other mothers.” Readings by Mette Bach, Shana Myara, Maddy Van Beek, Lorrie Miller, Cathleen With, and Fiona Tinwei Lam celebrate women supporting women. To reserve a space for you and your mum or other mother, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Jumpstart Your Engines Poetry Workshop with Jericho Brown
When: 11am to 1pm, Sunday, May 15
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $35
In the Jumpstart Your Engines Poetry Workshop, Jericho Brown helps students generate new work through a set of unconventional exercises that keep our ears open and our fingers moving. The workshop engenders new ideas about writing, and as there is a profound relationship between reading poetry and writing it, we participants read, discuss, and even recite the work of several poets whose examples might lead us to a further honing of our craft.
Jericho Brown worked as the speechwriter for the Mayor of New Orleans before receiving his PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. The recipient of the Whiting Writers Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Krakow Poetry Seminar in Poland, Brown is an Assistant Professor at the University of San Diego. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies, including 100 Best African American Poems. His first book, PLEASE (New Issues), won the American Book Award.
Jericho Brown will read from his work at the Cross-Border Pollination Reading Series on Saturday, May 14. Find out more at rachelrose.com.
To register for this workshop, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Haiku Myths and Realities Workshop with Michael Dylan Welch
When: 1:30 to 5:30pm, Sunday, May 15
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $45 or $20 for Vancouver Haiku Group members
haiku are easy
but sometimes they don’t make sense
refrigerator
Is this a haiku? Actually, no—not by a long shot. Yet many people think it is. Join Haiku Society of America Vice-President Michael Dylan Welch for an in-depth exploration of the myths and realities of haiku as a literary art, including key techniques such as kigo and kireji (season word and cutting word), objective sensory imagery, and more. You’ll learn a brief history of Japanese and English-language haiku, hear classic poems by Japanese masters, participate in writing exercises and critique, and receive copious handouts. Come learn the one thing the preceding poem gets right—and no, the 5-7-5 form isn’t one of them!
This hands-on workshop also explores how haiku techniques can help you improve your longer poetry or fiction. We’ll begin by discussing sample poems in English and build a list of characteristics we observe—these are the possible “targets” that haiku can aim for. We’ll also cover organizations and websites, and touch on related Japanese poetic forms, including senryu, haibun, haiga, renga/renku, and tanka. You’ll come away with an enlarged appreciation for the discipline and benefits of haiku writing, learn to make your haiku hit the target, and maybe even develop the haiku habit.
Michael Dylan Welch is vice-president of the Haiku Society of America and director of the Haiku North America conference (coming to Seattle, August 3–7, 2011). He’s published numerous poetry books, including anthologies and translations, and judged and won numerous haiku contests. He also founded NaHaiWriMo (National Haiku Writing Month). His website is graceguts.com.
Michael Dylan Welch will read from his work at the Cross-Border Pollination Reading Series on Saturday, May 14. Find out more at rachelrose.com.
To register for this workshop, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Joy Kogawa Remembers
When: 6 to 8pm, Thursday, May 26
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: TBD
Joy Kogawa, in conversation with heritage architect Don Luxton, reminisces about her childhood memories of living at 1450 West 64th Avenue. This event is co-presented with Heritage Vancouver and TLC The Land Conservancy of BC, and is a fundraiser for renovations to the house. Find out more at email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
A Short-Story Writing Workshop with Zsuzsi Gartner
Inviting the Reader In and the Power of Point of View
When: 10am to 3pm, Sunday, June 5
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $135 (includes lunch)
To register, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Short fiction’s possibilities are delightful, startling and seemingly endless. Of the vital mechanics of the form (including structure, timeframe and tense choices, narrative momentum, dialogue, character) the single-most important choice you can make in writing short fiction is deciding on what point of view (or points of view) a story should be told from. Your POV choice (together with the more elusive quality of Voice) will dictate HOW you will write WHAT you want to write.
Beginning and emerging writers often adhere unconsciously to a particular POV ― what I call the default mode (and we all have one). During this workshop you’ll discover a multiplicity of POV choices and how a story can radically shift depending on who’s doing the telling or through whose eyes we’re witnessing things from. We’ll also look at The Writer’s Voice and talk about why finding your own voice as a writer is so important.
The second most important decision you need to make is deciding Where and How to begin your story. “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop,” said the king in Alice in Wonderland. We’ll look at why it isn’t that simple when it comes to short fiction.
During this workshop you’ll do writing exercises, as well as read your work out loud and discuss your writing with the class. I will provide a mini course pack that we’ll use for examples and inspiration and that you are welcome to take home with you.
Zsuzsi Gartner is the author of the critically acclaimed story collection All the Anxious Girls on Earth (Key Porter), the just-published Better Living Through Plastic Explosives (April 2011, Hamish Hamilton / Penguin Canada), editor of the BC Book Prize–nominated Darwin’s Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow (Douglas & McIntyre), and the fiction editor of Vancouver Review.
Her fiction has been broadcast on CBC and widely anthologized, most recently in Best Canadian Stories: 2010. A new story appears in the May 2011 Walrus magazine.
She is on faculty this spring with the Banff Centre’s writing program and is an adjunct professor in creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
She lives in East Vancouver, with two men, one tall, one small.
To register, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
1. Mothers and Others Tea and Reading, 2 to 4pm, Saturday, May 7
2. Jumpstart Your Engines Poetry Workshop with Jericho Brown, 11am to 1pm, Sunday, May 15
3. Haiku Myths and Realities Workshop with Michael Dylan Welch, 1:30 to 5:30pm, Sunday, May 15
4. Joy Kogawa Remembers, 6 to 8pm, Thursday, May 26
5. Point of View Workshop with Zsuzsi Gartner, 10am to 3pm, Sunday, June 5
Mother’s Day Tea “On Mums and Our Other Mothers”
When: 2 to 4pm, Saturday, May 7
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Suggested Donation: $10 (includes tea and goodies)
Mother’s Day is a great time to celebrate your Mum. It’s also a great time to look back and think about all the women who have touched your life, almost like “other mothers.” Readings by Mette Bach, Shana Myara, Maddy Van Beek, Lorrie Miller, Cathleen With, and Fiona Tinwei Lam celebrate women supporting women. To reserve a space for you and your mum or other mother, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Jumpstart Your Engines Poetry Workshop with Jericho Brown
When: 11am to 1pm, Sunday, May 15
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $35
In the Jumpstart Your Engines Poetry Workshop, Jericho Brown helps students generate new work through a set of unconventional exercises that keep our ears open and our fingers moving. The workshop engenders new ideas about writing, and as there is a profound relationship between reading poetry and writing it, we participants read, discuss, and even recite the work of several poets whose examples might lead us to a further honing of our craft.
Jericho Brown worked as the speechwriter for the Mayor of New Orleans before receiving his PhD in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Houston. The recipient of the Whiting Writers Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the Krakow Poetry Seminar in Poland, Brown is an Assistant Professor at the University of San Diego. His poems have appeared in journals and anthologies, including 100 Best African American Poems. His first book, PLEASE (New Issues), won the American Book Award.
Jericho Brown will read from his work at the Cross-Border Pollination Reading Series on Saturday, May 14. Find out more at rachelrose.com.
To register for this workshop, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Haiku Myths and Realities Workshop with Michael Dylan Welch
When: 1:30 to 5:30pm, Sunday, May 15
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $45 or $20 for Vancouver Haiku Group members
haiku are easy
but sometimes they don’t make sense
refrigerator
Is this a haiku? Actually, no—not by a long shot. Yet many people think it is. Join Haiku Society of America Vice-President Michael Dylan Welch for an in-depth exploration of the myths and realities of haiku as a literary art, including key techniques such as kigo and kireji (season word and cutting word), objective sensory imagery, and more. You’ll learn a brief history of Japanese and English-language haiku, hear classic poems by Japanese masters, participate in writing exercises and critique, and receive copious handouts. Come learn the one thing the preceding poem gets right—and no, the 5-7-5 form isn’t one of them!
This hands-on workshop also explores how haiku techniques can help you improve your longer poetry or fiction. We’ll begin by discussing sample poems in English and build a list of characteristics we observe—these are the possible “targets” that haiku can aim for. We’ll also cover organizations and websites, and touch on related Japanese poetic forms, including senryu, haibun, haiga, renga/renku, and tanka. You’ll come away with an enlarged appreciation for the discipline and benefits of haiku writing, learn to make your haiku hit the target, and maybe even develop the haiku habit.
Michael Dylan Welch is vice-president of the Haiku Society of America and director of the Haiku North America conference (coming to Seattle, August 3–7, 2011). He’s published numerous poetry books, including anthologies and translations, and judged and won numerous haiku contests. He also founded NaHaiWriMo (National Haiku Writing Month). His website is graceguts.com.
Michael Dylan Welch will read from his work at the Cross-Border Pollination Reading Series on Saturday, May 14. Find out more at rachelrose.com.
To register for this workshop, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Joy Kogawa Remembers
When: 6 to 8pm, Thursday, May 26
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: TBD
Joy Kogawa, in conversation with heritage architect Don Luxton, reminisces about her childhood memories of living at 1450 West 64th Avenue. This event is co-presented with Heritage Vancouver and TLC The Land Conservancy of BC, and is a fundraiser for renovations to the house. Find out more at email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
A Short-Story Writing Workshop with Zsuzsi Gartner
Inviting the Reader In and the Power of Point of View
When: 10am to 3pm, Sunday, June 5
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: $135 (includes lunch)
To register, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Short fiction’s possibilities are delightful, startling and seemingly endless. Of the vital mechanics of the form (including structure, timeframe and tense choices, narrative momentum, dialogue, character) the single-most important choice you can make in writing short fiction is deciding on what point of view (or points of view) a story should be told from. Your POV choice (together with the more elusive quality of Voice) will dictate HOW you will write WHAT you want to write.
Beginning and emerging writers often adhere unconsciously to a particular POV ― what I call the default mode (and we all have one). During this workshop you’ll discover a multiplicity of POV choices and how a story can radically shift depending on who’s doing the telling or through whose eyes we’re witnessing things from. We’ll also look at The Writer’s Voice and talk about why finding your own voice as a writer is so important.
The second most important decision you need to make is deciding Where and How to begin your story. “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop,” said the king in Alice in Wonderland. We’ll look at why it isn’t that simple when it comes to short fiction.
During this workshop you’ll do writing exercises, as well as read your work out loud and discuss your writing with the class. I will provide a mini course pack that we’ll use for examples and inspiration and that you are welcome to take home with you.
Zsuzsi Gartner is the author of the critically acclaimed story collection All the Anxious Girls on Earth (Key Porter), the just-published Better Living Through Plastic Explosives (April 2011, Hamish Hamilton / Penguin Canada), editor of the BC Book Prize–nominated Darwin’s Bastards: Astounding Tales from Tomorrow (Douglas & McIntyre), and the fiction editor of Vancouver Review.
Her fiction has been broadcast on CBC and widely anthologized, most recently in Best Canadian Stories: 2010. A new story appears in the May 2011 Walrus magazine.
She is on faculty this spring with the Banff Centre’s writing program and is an adjunct professor in creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
She lives in East Vancouver, with two men, one tall, one small.
To register, email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Call to All Who Knit or Crochet
Wed, 2011-02-09 11:47 — Ann-Marie Metten
Public art to happen at Historic Joy Kogawa House
Blossoms will arrive early to the beloved cherry tree at Historic Joy Kogawa House in south Vancouver. For the past few weeks, blossoms have burst forth from the needles and crochet hooks of crafters participating in two community knit-ins. They took place in the living room of this literary landmark—the childhood home of Vancouver-born poet and novelist, Joy Kogawa.
Blossoms have also been mailed in by knitters responding to online craft forums such as ravelry.com. “We’ve had blossoms mailed from Bend, Oregon, and as far away as Los Angeles and Montreal,” says Leanne Prain, co-author with Mandy Moore of Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti (Arsenal Pulp Press).
Blossom patterns are available at www.yarnbombing.com, and those who love to knit or crochet are invited to download patterns, find pink yarn, and get going on this new, fun project. Finished blossoms can be mailed to Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N4. Knitting novices are invited to knit six-inch squares in brown yarn.
Some supporters have hosted knitting dinner parties to create piles of buds and flowers for the tree. Dinner guests have had fun imagining the blossoms repurposed to top hatpins, strung together as necklaces, or sewn into bikini tops.
Others are participating in more community knit-ins proposed for the rotunda at Vancouver City Hall. Councillor Andrea Reimer is working to host this craft event and fun-raiser in the generous space there.
On Valentine’s Day, parents and children will knit blossoms at Christianne’s Lyceum, a literary and art centre on Vancouver’s West Side. The day will include an introduction to the life and work of Vancouver author Joy Kogawa and a sharing of her picture book Naomi’s Tree, which tells the story of friendship, forgiveness, remembering, and love. Christianne’s knit-in will also include an introduction to the art of knit graffiti, and knitting lessons for those who don’t already know how.
All blossoms will be stitched in place on the cherry tree at Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, on Sunday, March 6, from 2:00 to 3:30pm. Join Yarn Bombing authors Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, along with writers Nancy Lee, Zsuzsi Gartner, Mary Novik, and June Hutton, among others, as they decorate the Joy Kogawa cherry tree. Drop by to help out or just to watch the magic happen!
The event is organized to raise awareness for the writer-in-residence program that takes place in the house each year, when the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society hosts a celebrated Canadian writer for three-months at a time. This year the Society will host two writers, each for three months. “We’re looking to increase awareness, but more importantly, to increase our membership,” said Ann-Marie Metten, executive director.
Patterns to knit cherry blossoms are available here, and membership forms and a mailing address are available here.
Media are invited to interview the authors before the event. Email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Blossoms will arrive early to the beloved cherry tree at Historic Joy Kogawa House in south Vancouver. For the past few weeks, blossoms have burst forth from the needles and crochet hooks of crafters participating in two community knit-ins. They took place in the living room of this literary landmark—the childhood home of Vancouver-born poet and novelist, Joy Kogawa.
Blossoms have also been mailed in by knitters responding to online craft forums such as ravelry.com. “We’ve had blossoms mailed from Bend, Oregon, and as far away as Los Angeles and Montreal,” says Leanne Prain, co-author with Mandy Moore of Yarn Bombing: The Art of Knit Graffiti (Arsenal Pulp Press).
Blossom patterns are available at www.yarnbombing.com, and those who love to knit or crochet are invited to download patterns, find pink yarn, and get going on this new, fun project. Finished blossoms can be mailed to Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N4. Knitting novices are invited to knit six-inch squares in brown yarn.
Some supporters have hosted knitting dinner parties to create piles of buds and flowers for the tree. Dinner guests have had fun imagining the blossoms repurposed to top hatpins, strung together as necklaces, or sewn into bikini tops.
Others are participating in more community knit-ins proposed for the rotunda at Vancouver City Hall. Councillor Andrea Reimer is working to host this craft event and fun-raiser in the generous space there.
On Valentine’s Day, parents and children will knit blossoms at Christianne’s Lyceum, a literary and art centre on Vancouver’s West Side. The day will include an introduction to the life and work of Vancouver author Joy Kogawa and a sharing of her picture book Naomi’s Tree, which tells the story of friendship, forgiveness, remembering, and love. Christianne’s knit-in will also include an introduction to the art of knit graffiti, and knitting lessons for those who don’t already know how.
All blossoms will be stitched in place on the cherry tree at Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, on Sunday, March 6, from 2:00 to 3:30pm. Join Yarn Bombing authors Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, along with writers Nancy Lee, Zsuzsi Gartner, Mary Novik, and June Hutton, among others, as they decorate the Joy Kogawa cherry tree. Drop by to help out or just to watch the magic happen!
The event is organized to raise awareness for the writer-in-residence program that takes place in the house each year, when the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society hosts a celebrated Canadian writer for three-months at a time. This year the Society will host two writers, each for three months. “We’re looking to increase awareness, but more importantly, to increase our membership,” said Ann-Marie Metten, executive director.
Patterns to knit cherry blossoms are available here, and membership forms and a mailing address are available here.
Media are invited to interview the authors before the event. Email kogawahouse@yahoo.ca.
Yarn Bombing the Joy Kogawa Cherry Tree
Fri, 2011-02-04 14:43 — Ann-Marie MettenHelp writing blossom at Historic Joy Kogawa House! Join Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, co-authors of the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti (Arsenal Pulp Press), as we cover the Joy Kogawa cherry tree in hundreds of knitted blossoms.
You are invited to come and knit or crochet pink cherry blossoms to help cover this historic tree, whose story is told in Joy Kogawa’s Naomi’s Tree, a picture book about friendship. Knitters and crocheters of all levels are welcome to attend these FREE events.
Join one of these two community knit-ins at the Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, on:
Saturday, February 5, 2 to 3:30pm
Or help to stitch all of the cherry blossoms into place at Historic Joy Kogawa House on:
Sunday, March 6, 2 to 3:30pm
Leanne and Mandy will entertain stitchers with daring tales of yarn bombing feats from around the world, books will be available for sale and signing, and refreshments will be served. Yarn and needles will be provided; however, donations of pink yarn are appreciated!
Can’t make it to the event? Mail in your knitted or crocheted cherry blossoms to be added to the tree, as follows:
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N4
Or drop your blossoms in the covered bin you’ll find just down the steps from the sidewalk in front of the house at 1450 West 64th Avenue. Submissions will be accepted up until March 1, 2011. All cherry blossoms should be made out of pink yarn. Patterns to use are available here.
For more information see our Facebook page or visit www.yarnbombing.com
Yarn Bombing at Historic Joy Kogawa House
Tue, 2011-01-04 08:42 — Ann-Marie MettenHelp writing blossom at Historic Joy Kogawa House! Join Leanne Prain and Mandy Moore, co-authors of the book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti (Arsenal Pulp Press), as we cover the Joy Kogawa cherry tree in hundreds of knitted blossoms.
You are invited to come and knit or crochet pink cherry blossoms to help cover this historic tree, whose story is told in Joy Kogawa’s Naomi’s Tree, a picture book about friendship. Knitters and crocheters of all levels are welcome to attend these FREE events.
Join one of these two community knit-ins at the Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver, on:
Sunday, January 23, 2 to 3:30pm
Saturday, February 5, 2 to 3:30pm
Or help to stitch all of the cherry blossoms into place at Historic Joy Kogawa House on:
Sunday, March 6, 2 to 3:30pm
Leanne and Mandy will entertain stitchers with daring tales of yarn bombing feats from around the world, books will be available for sale and signing, and refreshments will be served. Yarn and needles will be provided; however, donations of pink yarn are appreciated!
Can’t make it to the event? Mail in your knitted or crocheted cherry blossoms to be added to the tree, as follows:
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Vancouver, B.C. V6P 2N4
Or drop your blossoms in the covered bin you’ll find just down the steps from the sidewalk in front of the house at 1450 West 64th Avenue. Submissions will be accepted up until March 1, 2011. All cherry blossoms should be made out of pink yarn. Patterns to use are available here.
For more information see our Facebook page or visit www.yarnbombing.com
Karen Connelly in Conversation
Sun, 2010-05-30 14:15 — Ann-Marie MettenDate: Monday, June 14
Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Location: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
When Karen Connelly finds herself in Burma in the late 1990s, she is immersed in a world of students staging mass demonstrations in opposition to Burma’s dictators, revolutionaries fighting an armed insurgency against that same military regime, and refugees living in hellish limbo in Thailand. Connelly first comes to love a wounded, remarkably beautiful country, then a gifted man who has given his life to its struggle for political change. Her new novel Burmese Lessons is illuminated by the sensual language and flashes of humour that have won this author fans around the world.
Please join writer-in-residence Nancy Lee in conversation with Karen Connelly as part of our social justice reading series. To join this event, please RSVP to kogawahouse@yahoo.ca
Joy Kogawa attends 1st AGM for Historic Joy Kogawa House, Dec 11, 2009
Mon, 2008-12-15 02:27 — Todd WongHistoric Joy Kogawa House welcomes Joy Kogawa to 1st Annual General Meeting
The first Annual General Meeting was held for the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society on Dec 11th, 2009. It was a special meeting because writers Hiromi Goto and Caroline Addison were there to give their insight and share their experiences as the Writers in Residence for the Vancouver Public Library for 2007 and 2009.
It was more special because author Joy Kogawa was present, having just flown in from Toronto to spend time with family.
Executive director Ann-Marie Metten had brilliantly organized the evening, and it had a strong exciting buzz as wine and gourmet snacks were served. Books by Kogawa, Goto and Addison were for sale. Board members and guests mingled with authors and the representatives from The Land Conservancy of BC, the owners of the house.
The evening unfolded with a good in depth descriptions of what it was like to be a writer in residence for the Vancouver Public Library. Hiromi Goto and Caroline Addison freely shared their experiences and their expectations as the Historic Joy Kogawa House now prepares for their first writer in residence program to be created with author Madeleine Thien, author of Simple Recipes and Certainty. It is somehow fitting that it is Madeleine who is the first WIR author, as she returns to the city where she not only lived before and wrote about, but also the city where the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop first granted her the ACWW Emerging Writer's Award that was shopped to publishers and became the award winning "Simple Recipes" short story collection. Currently I am president of Joy Kogawa House, and co-president of Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop.
During the AGM part of the evening, Ann-Marie Metten gave an update of the grants applied for and recieved and how the WIR program will unfold with Madeleine.
The Land Conservancy of BC was proud to report that Historic Joy Kogawa House has recieved a Heritage B category from the City of Vancouver, and we can now proceed with the next steps for re-zoning and re-conditioning the house. We hope to restore the house to what it was like when the 6 year old Joy Kogawa, her 10 year old brother Timothy and their parents were living in the house before they were sent to the BC interior to spend the next 10 year living in delapidated buildings and beet farms.
I gave a President's report that recapped events in 2008 that involved Joy Kogawa in BC, and events at Joy Kogawa House.
Here is my report:
On Feb 3rd,
Sharon Butala attended the Vancouver opera production "Voices of the Pacific Rim" with members of the Joy Kogawa House Society, and was introduced to some of the singers who had performed the Naomi's Road opera, based on the children's novel by Joy Kogawa
Sunday Feb 24
Author Sharon Butala mesmerized the packed audience at historic Joy Kogawa House on Friday night. The Order of Canada author talked how she helped established a writer in residence program at Wallace Stegner's childhood home in Eastend, Saskatchewan.
March 2008 - Royal BC Museum
Joy Kogawa is guest of “THE PARTY”: 150 of BC’s most interesting people
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. 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.
April 25th Kogawa House cherry tree planting + recognition of Sen. Nancy Ruth
3pm press conference, introduction of formerly anomnynous $500,000 donor (Sen. Nancy Ruth) + baby cherry tree planting
8pm Music and Poetry with Joy Kogawa and Friends,
Following the music, Joy was presented with the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award from BC Bookworld Publisher Alan Twigg, Vancouver Public Library Community Programs Director Janice Douglas, and historian Jean Barman.
This morning Joy Kogawa sent this email out to our Historic Joy Kogawa House Society
Dear Friends,
For a day of unalloyed happiness --
I have had many many wonderful days in my life -- but this one! It was the happiest. If ever I've felt at home.... Or felt the love that underlies all...
My friend Heather Pawsey, soprano wrote:
Last night was one of the most beautiful and profound evenings of my musical life. Heartfelt thanks to everyone behind Kogawa House. May it continue to rise and spread its wings.
This is the interactive photo display in front of the Royal BC Museum, in Victoria BC, for the "Free Spirit" exhibition celebrating the 150th Anniversary of British Columbia.
Sep 22
Kogawa House cherry tree at Vancouver city hall is given a plaque on the 20th anniversary of the Japanese-Canadian redress.
"Friendship Tree" plaque at Vancouver City Hall for the "Kogawa House cherry tree" graft - photo
Ann-Marie Metten.
Georgia Straight: Joy Kogawa House is "BEST NEW PLACE TO GET WRITING DONE "
Fri, 2008-09-26 16:42 — Todd WongJoy Kogawa House is:
BEST NEW PLACE TO
GET WRITING DONE
Pictures: Joy and brother Tim and Kogawa House circa 1944, chery tree and house 2007, Joy Kogawa and children from Thomsett Elementary School, Joy Kogawa and house photo by Dan Toulget/Vancouver Courier, Joy & brother Tim with school friends circa 1944
When I joined the "Save Kogawa House" campaign in September 2005, I just knew it was something that had to be done. Three years later we now have our first writer-in-residence program with the arrival of Madeleine Thien and a grant from the Canada Council.
The House was purchased by The Land Conservancy of BC in May 2006, and we have since had readings by Ruth Ozeki, Shaena Lambert, Sharon Butala, Heidi Greco, Marion Quednau, and Vancouver’s poet laureate George McWhirter, as well as Joy Kogawa herself. We have also had musical performances by opera soprano Heather Pawsey, flautist Kathryn Cernauskas and pianist Rachel Iwaasa.
It's an amazing story that this house has survived not only the WW2 Internment of its previous owners, but also rising real estate prices and the threat of demolition. It was a vision that we had to create a home for writers, to both recognize the accomplishments and life of Joy Kogawa, as well as to provide a place for them to hone their craft, and hopefully inspire them to their own greatness.
Check out page 77 of the Sept 18-25 / 2008 issue of the Georgia Straight. Kevin Chong writes that "Madeleine Thine will take up residence at a retreat dedicated to Joy Kogawa"
Historic Joy Kogawa House
1450 West 64th Avenue
Now that Joy Kogawa’s childhood home has been purchased and saved from the wrecking ball after years of struggle, it’s set to become a writer’s retreat for visiting authors, starting in 2009. (The first author to arrive in the house, located in leafy, sleepy Marpole, will be Madeleine Thien.) Hopefully, the house, which celebrates the contributions of one of B.C.’s best-known authors while reminding us of a regrettable episode in our nation’s history—the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II—will inspire new books in the years to come. More info is available at www.kogawahouse.com/ .
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