Welcome to Historic Joy Kogawa House - naomi's road

Georgia Straight: Joy Kogawa House is "BEST NEW PLACE TO GET WRITING DONE "

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:42:26 -0700

Joy 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"

Writers work against city's shifting backdrop

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/ .

Page 77

Cherry Tree planted, Sen. Ruth acknowledged as $ 1/2 Million donor, Joy given Georrge Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 17:18:42 -0700

It was a wonderful busy

busy day of celebration

at Joy Kogawa House

on April 25th.

3pm press conference, introduction of formerly anomnynous $500,000 donor (Sen. Nancy Ruth) + baby cherry tree planting

At 3:40pm, we sat inside the living room of Historic Joy Kogawa House and listened to CBC Radio One's Arts Report by Paul Grant. Paul had interviewed Sen. Nancy Ruth, Bill Turner and Joy Kogawa for his story on how the house was saved, and how Sen. Nancy Ruth's formerly anonymous gift of $500,000 was important. In this picture Hon. Iona Campagnolo, Sen. Nancy Ruth and Joy Kogawa.- photo Todd Wong

Hon. Iona Campagnolo (former BC Lt. Gov. speaks about importance of preserving culture and heritage represented through Historica Joy Kogawa house. She stands next to Joy Kogawa, Bill Turner (TLC executive director), Senator Nancy Ruth, Ujal Dosanjh MP for Vancouver South, Ellen Woodsworth (former Vancouver City councilor) - photo Todd Wong

4pm VIP reception - where we sold 6 baby cherry trees that will be planted at designated public sites (I want to plant one at Government House in Victoria)

Joy Kogawa signs books for MP Ujal Dosanjh and Vancouver councilor Heather Deal - two of the politicians we first contacted in 2005 to find ways to save the house and ensure its heritage designations. - photo Todd Wong

8pm Music and Poetry with Joy Kogawa and Friends, featuring poets George McWhirter, Heidi Greco, Marion Quednau, soprano Heather Pawsey, flautist Kathryn Cernauskas, pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwassa, and composer Leslie Uyeda.

Author Joy Kogawa reads to a packed house in her childhood home. Composer Leslie Uyeda stands 2nd from left. Vancouver Public Library Community Programming director Janice Douglas sits in the front row, 3rd from left. - photo Todd Wong

Following the music, Joy was presented with the George Woodcock Literary Achievement Award from BC Bookworld Publisher Alan Twigg, Vancouver Public Library Community Programs Director Janice Douglas, and historian Jean Barman.

Alan Twigg speaks of Joy's accomplishments Joy Kogawa accepts the award

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.

Pictures and more details to follow.
see:

Kogawa House April 25 2008

Joy Kogawa House, April 25th 2008

Globe & Mail: 'Instead of dying, it's been given a second chance' - story about Joy Kogawa's childhood home and beloved cherry t

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:36:02 -0700

Globe & Mail: 'Instead of dying, it's been given a second chance' - story about Joy Kogawa's childhood home and beloved cherry tree

1) Joy and Timothy @ Kogawa House circa 1939 2) Joy and Timothy with friends circ 1939 3) Rev. Tim Nakayama, Roy Miki, Joy Kogawa and Todd Wong May 2005, at the Obasan Launch for One Book One Vancouver, Vancouver Public Library.

This is truly a miracle story. I remember in the early 1980's shelving "Obasan" on book shelves while I worked at the Vancouver Public Library. Just the existence of the book spoke to me about Asian-Canadian history and identity. I was inspired to learn more about Japanese-Canadian history as part of my own Asian-Canadian history, as part of my own identity as a Canadian.

The very first time I met Joy Kogawa was at Expo 86. She gave a reading, and read a poem titled "Oh Canada," about the sorry and loss of the internment. I introduced myself to her friend Roy Miki and he gave me Joy'
s copy of the poem.

Many years later, I am honoured to call these great Canadians as friends. It is a pleasure to be president of the Historic Joy Kogawa House Society, with so many good-hearted people on our board.

As I told CBC arts reporter Paul Grant, back in 2005 when we had just re-started the Save Kogawa House campaign, "Saving the house is a calling. It's something that has to be done.

Today, we have a literary and historic landmark for not only the City of Vancouver, but for all Canadians. And we still have work to do. We must restore the house to its 1942 qualities when Joy and her brother Tim lived in the house, before they were sent away to the internment camps and beet farms. We must build a writer's-in-residence program for this house.

'Instead of dying, it's been given a second chance'

Celebrated author Joy Kogawa returns to the house her family lost during their wartime internment and revels in its future

ROD MICKLEBURGH

From Friday's Globe and Mail

April 25, 2008 at 5:18 AM EDT

VANCOUVER — As a girl, Joy Nakayama would write from her family's miserable shack in the Alberta sugar beet fields to the new occupants of the comfortable Vancouver home seized from her family during the wartime internment of Japanese Canadians.

She begged the owners for a chance to get the house back. They never replied.

More than 60 years later, in a charming circle of history, Ms. Nakayama, better known as the celebrated writer Joy Kogawa, stood once more in her childhood home this week, eager to guide a visitor through its emotional past.

From her former bedroom window, she gazed again at the famous backyard cherry tree that forms the heart of her memories and so much of her writing.

"It's the tree, more than anything else, that grips me," Ms. Kogawa said. "It's as if it has a message written upon it, that everything we've gone through in life is known. ... When it dies, I feel I will die."

Split in the middle, oozing sap, with many of its limbs missing, the gnarled, ailing tree is nonetheless draped in a glorious display of springtime blossoms, as much a miracle of survival as the house itself.

The modest bungalow in the city's now fashionable Marpole district was just days from destruction when a last-minute, anonymous donation of $500,000 allowed The Land Conservancy to buy it, with hopes of establishing a writers' residence and a tribute to Ms. Kogawa and her award-winning novel Obasan, about the tragedy of internment.

The donor's identity is to be disclosed at a ceremony this afternoon. But The Globe and Mail has learned that the improbably large sum came from Conservative Senator Nancy Ruth, sister of former Ontario lieutenant-governor Henry Jackman.

"Why? Because I have a tremendous fondness for Joy Kogawa," Ms. Ruth explained, adding with a modest chuckle: "And also because of the tax incentives of the Harper government. No capital gains on stock earnings given to charity."

Internment was a shameful act, she said. "I can remember reading Obasan and weeping at the pain."

Yet, Ms. Ruth said, Ms. Kogawa retains a deep sense of faith in humanity, that reconciliation and hope are still possible, even in the face of things that are terrible.

Writers residing in the house in the future will have to deal with that, Ms. Ruth said. "How can you sit at a desk and look out at that cherry tree and not think from whence all that came?"

As for Ms. Kogawa, the six-year-old who once dangled upside down from the tree's low branches is now grey-haired and 72, albeit with undiminished energy and flashing eyes.

She can scarcely comprehend the astounding chain of events that has brought her childhood refuge back after so many years, particularly on a street where many residences were torn down long ago in favour of larger, more expensive dwellings.

"I had given up. I'd gone to the realtors. I pleaded and begged not to let it go. I offered to write books for them, to name characters after their children. It all fell on deaf ears."

Now, she marvelled, "such a strange thing has happened here. It's all a bit surreal, dream-like. I don't know even how to describe it. It's like some movie script, this sense of wonder and delight."

During her tour of the house, Ms. Kogawa indicated how much has changed over the years. New walls, doors and windows replaced, closets ripped out.

"My mother's piano was right there," she said, gesturing toward an empty corner of the living room. "The gramophone was over there, and that's where the goldfish

bowl stood."

She headed into the basement. Suddenly, there were gasps of surprise.

"There they are! The windows and the doors!" She pointed to a pair of fine French doors and old window frames, carefully stacked along a wall. "And there's some of the cedar planks that my father put in. Wouldn't it be great if things could be brought back to the way they were?"

Ms. Kogawa brought back a few family possessions that survived internment. Her brother's toy cars, her mother's Japanese tea set, tattered picture books. "These are the pictures I grew up with." And an old apple crate. "That was saved, because it was useful when we had to move," she said, without bitterness.

It was a good day.

"The story of this house has come to a wonderful place, like a new beginning," she said, groping to find just the right words.

"It had one birth. It lived its life, and then, instead of dying, it's been given a second chance. That's a wonderful, wonderful thing to have.

"It's going to live again. It will breathe. It will bring life to people. It will bring reconciliation. Those are the things this house has been called to do."

Joy Kogawa gives March 30th reading for Alcuin Society at Kogawa House

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:34:56 -0700

Joy Kogawa gives March 30th reading for Alcuin Society at Kogawa House

Seventeen Alcuin Society members and their guests participated in the first of a new series of members-only meetings on March 30th at the historic Joy Kogawa heritage house in Marpole.

Kogawa House Committee member Ann-Marie Metten started the evening by explaining the series of successful steps that were taken to save the historic house from demolition. Future plans are to return the house to its original condition and then to offer the house as a place of retreat for writers of conscience from around the world.

Richard Hopkins then spoke of Joy Kogawa’s considerable literary achievements in the areas of fiction, poetry and children’s literature. Joy’s books were available for members to examine after the presentations.

The definite highlight of the evening, however, was a reading by Joy herself from her award winning novel Obasan. The reading had particular resonance for the audience since Joy continuously referred to places mentioned in the novel that were right before the audience’s eyes.

After the reading she spoke with incredible energy and passion about the Japanese internment during the Second World War and all of the hardship and suffering that that injustice caused so many Japanese families and the Japanese community in Canada as a whole.

Fortunately some reparation for these wrongs have occurred in the form of Federal Government redress and in the saving of the Kogawa house itself. All of the audience members felt at the end of the evening that they had received a rare privilege in being able to hear Joy read and speak her own moving personal experience.

Joy Kogawa House committee to receive Vancouver Heritage Award of Honour

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 02:32:30 -0800

Joy Kogawa House committee

to receive Vancouver Heritage

Award of Honour

A young Joy Kogawa with brother Tim standing beside their childhood home in Marpole prior to 1942 - photo courtesy of Joy Kogawa

On February 19th, at Coastal Church, the City of Vancouver Heritage Awards will give the Heritage Award of Honour jointly to Joy Kogawa House Committee and The Land Conservancy of BC.

Joy Kogawa House was the childhood home of award winning author Joy Kogawa, which she was forced to leave in 1942, at age six, when Japanese-Canadians were "evacuated" from the BC Coast and sent to internment camps during World War 2. The Canadian government subsequently confiscated all their remaining property and auctioned it off, supposedly to help pay for the cost of internment.

She and her mother always dreamed of returning to the house, but their family was sent to live in Alberta as part of the Japanese Canadian dispersal program, in an effort to keep Japanese Canadians from returning to the Coast, and trying to reclaim their confiscated property.

Obasan (1981), is the award winning book that is a fictional memoir about the internment of the Japanese-Canadians. It is considered one of Canada's most important 100 books ever written according to the Literary Review of Canada. It is the second most studied book in Canadian schools and universities.

I am one of the committee members for the Joy Kogawa House committee along with Ann-Marie Metten, David Kogawa, Anton Wagner, Ellen Crowe-Swords, Richard Hopkins, Jen Kato, Joan Young and Sabina Harpe. We have all put in incredible hours of volunteer work to help realize this project.

It was only 17 short months ago, when Ann-Marie Metten contacted me for help when she learned that a demolition inquiry for 1450 West 64th Ave. was being made. In the months to come, we would be asked why it was important to save the childhood home of author Joy Kogawa. We would also be told that there was little chance to save it.

The 3rd week of September 2005, was a roller coaster for Joy Kogawa. She learned of the demolition plans in the same week that saw: 1) excerpts from the Naomi's Road opera performed at Vancouver Arts Awards; 2) she received the Community Builder's Award from Asian Canadian Writer's Workshop; and 3) the final event of One Book One Vancouver "Obasan" program where she gave a reading at Word On The Street book and magazine festival.

In December 2005, The Land Conservancy of BC stepped in to become a joint partner in our project to save the house. They became the chief fundraiser and eventually purchased the house in full in May 2006.

Joy with Richmond elementary students who wanted to save Kogawa House - photo Joan Young

We are ecstatic and honoured to receive the Award of Honour, for projects demonstrating an outstanding contribution to heritage conservation.

Nominations were accepted for:

Restoration, rehabilitation, adaptive re-use or continued maintenance of a heritage building, a significant interior of a heritage building, or characteristic features of a heritage building;
Use of innovative engineering techniques or restoration/conservation methods in upgrading a heritage building which may include seismic upgrading;
Preservation of a heritage landscape;
Heritage advocacy of a group or individual in the preservation of a heritage site or increasing public awareness of heritage issues;
Publication, education or exhibit that promotes heritage conservation;
Efforts in community or neighbourhood revitalization.

Click here to see past Heritage Award winners

CBC: Reprieved Kogawa House opens to public

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 19:46:43 -0700

Here's a story on CBC about Kogawa House, and the open house event on Sunday.
I will be there with my accordion, and also volunteering.

Repreived Kogawa House

opens to public

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/09/15/kogawa-house.html

Last Updated Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:59:45 EDT

CBC Arts

Joy Kogawa's house, which received a last-minute reprieve from demolition when it was bought by a Vancouver heritage agency this spring, will open to the public this Sunday.

The modest wood-frame house in Marpole is featured in Obasan, Kogawa's much loved novel about the internment of Japanese Canadians, and her children's book, Naomi's Road.

The Land Conservancy of British Columbia bought the house in May and plans to turn it into a residence for writers and an education centre about the Japanese internment during the Second World War.

But the public is being given a one-day chance to see the bungalow before restoration work begins.

Kogawa will be there for a scheduled book signing and the desk and typewriter that she used to write Obasan will be on display.

The event is a fund-raiser to help pay for restoration of the house, which could cost an estimated $500,000.

The house itself was saved from a wrecking ball through the intervention of the Land Conservancy, which led a campaign to save it, working with writers' groups and heritage groups.

The campaign drew donations from 550 people from around the world and a last-minute corporate donation of $500,000 helped with the purchase price.

A developer who owned the property wanted more than $700,000 for the house, which has been neglected over the years.

Kogawa lived in the house with her family from 1937 to 1942, when it was confiscated by the government.

The house has national significance as a symbol of the racial discrimination experienced by Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.

The house is one of the few residences left in Vancouver that is identified as having been sold by the Canadian government without the lawful owner's permission.

The house is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Todd visits Kogawa House - inside and out

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:14:14 -0700

Todd visits Kogawa House

- inside and out

The 1915 house is modest, and now seems out of place beside the new larger homes built on either side of it. There is a tall cedar tree and a tall pine tree, and rhododendron bushes in the front yard, shielding the house, as if it is hiding it from the street trying not to be noticed. It is really a wonder that such a small house has survived until now, with all the redevelopment in the Marpole neighborhood.

I looked carefully at the house that I have visited many times in the past year, always veiwing from the outside. The front door was open. Inside was a planning meeting organized by The Land Conservancy of BC - the new owners of the historic house. We would be planning the open house event on September 17th as the first public event at Kogawa House.

Attending the meeting were staff and board members of The Land Conservancy of BC. Heather Skydt and Tamsin have been working with us since December 2nd of last year when the TLC officially stepped in to lead the fundraising to purchase Kogawa House. Ann-Marie Metten is my colleague and friend on the Kogawa House committee. Fran is the event chair. Janet is a member. Rich Kenney is staff.

We are planning an afternoon that will include:

- book signings by Joy
- musical entertainment
- historical displays
- history of the house
- food and drinks

The house is in pretty good structural shape. Past owners have renovated the house at different times. An addition was created. But it looks like the original wood floor and panels in some areas. Joy's desk from Toronto and typewriter that she used to write Obasan is now sitting in her former bedroom. A door from her childhood bedroom was created into what used to be her parents bedroom, next door. Her older brother Timothy slept downstairs.

It is a modest house, but a house that you could imagine a Canadian family celebrating Christmas in during the 1940's. The father telling the children that his sister will come look after them, while their mother has to go to Japan to look after her mother. You can imagine the scenes from the Naomi's Road opera happening in this house.

It is a house that a six year old would dream about in the years to come, pining that she could return, after being shuffled from temporary house to temporary house, in internment camps, and sugar beet farms where they were forced to live and work because the Canadian government had deemed this "Born in Canada" family "too dangerous" to live on the Pacific Coast.

In the past year, I have written much about the need to save this house on this website, and even started up a new website www.kogawahouse.com. I wrote up 20 Reasons to Save Kogawa House from Demolition on Oct 19th.

It had been September 22nd, 2005 when Ann-Marie Metten informed me that an architect was inquiring about a demolition permit for 1450 West 64th Ave. Kogawa House. Anne-Marie and I had spoken earlier in February, 2005 when I first wrote 20 Reasons why Joy Kogawa's Obasan is the perfect nomination choice for One Book One Vancouver 2005 program at VPL.

Later that same day, on Sept. 22nd Ann-Marie and I had sent out the following press release:

Kogawa Homestead threatened by Demolition Permit Application
- same week as Joy Kogawa is celebrated throughout Vancouver

This week, notice was received that an application for demolition was made to Vancouver City Hall by the owner of the Kogawa homestead. It is a house celebrated by the award winning novel "Obasan," and the childhood home of famed writer Joy Kogawa.

Kogawa's reaction has been of shock and dispair, as she knew that efforts were being made to save the beloved cherry tree in the back yard which figures prominently in the novel. Vancouver city councillor Jim Green is a founding member of the "Save the Kogawa Homestead" committee.

This is a weekend when Joy Kogawa is being celebrated all across Vancouver... at the Vancouver Public Library for One Book One Vancouver, at a Sep 24th dinnner celbebration for the Rice Paper Magazine 10th Anniversary Celebration, on Sunday for the Word on the Street Book and Magazine Fair, and next week for the Vancouver Opera Premiere for "Naomi's Road."

A movement to buy the house, and to apply for heritage designation was aborted 2 years ago because of high costs to buy the house and resistance from the new owner to sell. The owner at the time said that she liked the house and did not intend to demolish it.

Now more than ever, it is important to preserve this house for the cultural heritage of Vancouver. There is not another house in Vancouver that is recognized for being confiscated during a dark time in Canada's history.

No other house in Vancouver could be turned into a bright spot on our cultural landscape as a writer's retreat, celebrating the work of a writer which has been called the most influential Canadian novel of the past 20 years. There is no other writer whose work helped fuel the Japanese-Canadian Redress movement, and has also received the Order of Canada.

In May, the Vancouver Public Library selected Obasan as the book chosen for all Vancouverites to read, as part of their award winning "city wide book club." Earlier this summer, during One Book One Vancouver events Joy Kogawa held up a graft of the cherry tree that held such a revered place in the novel Obasan - studied by so many Canadians in high schools and universities across Canada. Both the novel and the homestead have a proven place in Vancouver’s literary history.

By the next day we had a call from Alexandra Gill of the Globe & Mail, who put a small article in that weekend's edition.

Also on the Friday night, highlights from the upcoming Vancouver Opera production of Naomi's Road were performed by at the 2nd Annual Vancouver Arts Awards. I bumped into then city councillor Jim Green and mayor Larry Campbell. They asked me about the state of the house, and I informed them. Both Green and Campbell announced to the packed audience of Vancouver's cultural movers and shakers that they were distraught to hear that Joy Kogawa's childhood home was threatened, especially when city council had just passed a motion to plant a cherry tree graft from the house at city hall.

On Saturday night, Joy Kogawa was celebrated with a Community Builder's Award by the Asian Canadian Writer's Workshop at the 10th Anniversary Rice Paper dinner. Joy asked me to speak about the campaign to save the house.

On Sunday afternoon, Joy Kogawa read from her novel Obasan, at the closing event for the 2005 One Book One Vancouver program for the Vancouver Public Library, held during the Word on the Street Book and Magazine Fair.

It was a busy weekend - but the word was out - Joy's childhood home was in danger of demolition. Who people be willing to help save it?

It is now a year later. So much has happened.

Here are some of the highlights:

May, 2005 - Obasan named as the One Book One Vancouver 2005 selection by the Vancouver Public Library. Joy also is reunited with her brother Rev. Timothy Nakayama, whom she hasn't seen in 10 years.

September 27th,
Asian Canadian Writer's Workshop / Ricepaper magazine 10th Anniversary dinner honouring Joy Kogawa as a Community Builder

(left photo courtesy of Jessica Cheung - right photo courtesy of Vancouver Opera)

September 30 - Oct 2.
Naomi's Road (review) opens at Norman Rothstein Theatre. Commisioned by Vancouver Opera for the Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble, it will go on to perform at schools throughout BC, plus Alberta and Washington State.

November 1st,
Obasan Cherry Tree Day, declared by Vancouver City Hall. Event is presided over by then Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell, and attended by Paul Whitney (City Librarian), and James Wright (Vancouver Opera General Director).

November 3rd,
Vancouver City Council votes to delay processing demolition permit for 120 day, effective November 30th. 120 days given to Kogawa House, as demolition timeline extended

November 2005

Joy Kogawa is one of Almanac's 100 Greatest British Columbians

December 1st,
The Land Cconservancy joins community efforts to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home

December 26th,
Joy Kogawa featured on CBC Radio's "Sounds Like Canada"
interview by Kathryn Gretzinger

January 22, 2006
Joy Kogawa is the featured poet/author at 2006 Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner. Kogawa House is included as a recipient from annual fundraising dinner.

February 8th, 2006
Joy Kogawa House named to Heritage Vancouver's 2006 Top Ten list of endangered buildings.

February 11
Joy Kogawa & Friends - Emotionally and Truthful reading at Chapters on Robson, Saturday Feb 11
Joy is joined by Daphne Marlatt, Ellen Crowe-Swords and Roy Miki.

February 15,
Joy Kogawa is keynote speaker for the Canadian Club's annual "Order of Canada / Flag Day" luncheon - welcoming BC's newest recipients of the Order of Canada. Joy recieved the Order of Canada in 1986.

February 27th,
"Emily Kato" Book launch at Vancouver Public Libary - it is a rewritten version of Itsuka, the sequel to Obasan and focusses on the Japanese Canadian redress process.

March 9th,
Joy Kogawa fundraiser in Toronto, at Church of the Holy Trinity.
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2006/3/11/1816004.html
http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com/blog/_archives/2006/3/16/1823641.html

March 26th,

Thomsett Elementary School Children visit Kogawa House with Joy
These Richmond school children also went to City of Vancouver to ask Mayor Sam Sullivan to help save the house.

March 30th,
TLC negotiates a 30 day extension for the demolition permit with the owner of the house.

April 25th,
Joy of Canadian Words - fundraiser event in Vancouver, at Christ Church Cathedral. Special speakers include CBC Radio's Sheryl Mackay, actors Joy Coghill, Doris Chilcott, Hiro Kanagawa, Maiko Bae Yamamoto, Chief Rhonda Larabee. Hosted by Todd Wong (Save Kogawa House Committee) and Bill Turner (The Land Conservancy).

April 30th,
TLC exercises their option to purchase historic Joy Kogawa House.

May 15th
Naomi's Road at Seattle Public Library - seen by Joy Kogawa's brother Rev. Timothy Nakayama

May 18th,
Joy Kogawa named to Order of BC

May 30th,
TLC officially purchases Kogawa House - mortgage free!
TLC becomes proud owner of historic Joy Kogawa House

June 22nd
Joy Kogawa goes to Victoria to recieve Order of BC
http://www.protocol.gov.bc.ca/protocol/prgs/obc/2006/2006_JKogawa.htm

June 23
Gung Haggis Fat JOY KOGAWA HOUSE celebration dinner.
Joy returns from Victoria with Order of BC

Letter of Support from MLA Carole Taylor for Kogawa House

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 15:57:57 -0700

Save Kogawa House Committee

8107 Cartier Street

Vancouver, BC V6P 4T6

Dear Committee Members:

I would like to recognize you, the members of the Land Conservancy of BC, your volunteers and your donors for the successful conclusion to the project you undertook to save the historic Joy Kogawa House in Marpole. In what is really a very short period of time you have ensured that this cultural landmark will be saved to form part of our history, for future generations of British Columbians to benefit from and enjoy.

Congratulations to you all for your dedication and hard work!

Sincerely,

Carole Taylor, MLA

Vancouver - Langara

Joy Kogawa: Personal thoughts about Kogawa House on May 9th, 2006

Tue, 09 May 2006 09:47:29 -0700

What the house means to me -- these days it's a sense of miracle that surrounds me.

The fact of The Land Conservancy coming along and taking this on, the fact that it just happened to be that Naomi's Road was made into an opera at this time, that Vancouver Public Library chose Obasan as the One Book for Vancouver--these were miracles enough, without it all happening at this particular time.

And the amazing miracle of the particular people who were drawn to the work of saving the house -- Anton Wagner, Ann-Marie Metten, Todd Wong. So the house and the cherry tree and all these happenings and people are signs of miracles and fill me with hope.

When we look at the uncaring in our planet, here is evidence that relationships can be rehabilitated, the formerly despised can be embraced. The dream that writers who are presently among the despised of the world, can come and write their stories here, fills me with even more hope.

Racism is a present tragedy in the world, as it has been in the past. Here is one small way that we can say in Canada, that racism can be overcome.

Media Watch for Joy Kogawa House - weekend of April 28 to 30.

Sat, 29 Apr 2006 00:15:04 -0700

Media Watch for Joy Kogawa House

weekend of April 28 to 30.

Busy Busy day for Joy Kogawa and the Save Kogawa House Committee and The Land Conservancy.

Joy Kogawa and Bill Turner took a 7am ferry from Victoria to Vancouver, following the jam-packed reading at Chapters bookstore last night. They went over to CTV and CBC television studios for interviews.

Kevin Griffin of the Vancouver Sun, phoned looking for Joy for a quick comment. He said the story will be running in Saturday's Vancouver Sun.

Check out CBC Radio One 690AM in Vancouver.
Sheryl Mackay, host of "North By Northwest" may have Joy Kogawa on air shortly after 7am.
Sheryl was one of our special guest readers at the April 25th "Joy of Canadian Words" at Christ Church Cathedral.

Joy will be attending the BC Book Prizes Gala on Saturday Night
http://www.bcbookprizes.ca/events06.htm

Joy sent me this message today:

"In haste – on this miraculous day – got to go make supper for grandkids"

Heather Skydt of The Land Conservancy wrote:

Check out CBC Newsworld or The National tonight...:)
CBC Radio also did a blurb about the kogawa announcement on BC Almanac today.
On Sunday, check out Joy on Colour TV (City TV) 6:30pm.
Metro also had an article today, too.
The Vancouver Sun will hopefully have an article in tomorrow's paper.

Kogawa House is beingIt's SAVED! TLC is moving to purchase Kogawa House from the owner!

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:24:57 -0700

It's TRUE! It really is going to happen!

The Land Conservancy is moving forward to exercise their option to purchase Kogawa House from the owner.

Only $230,000 has so far been raised out of a total $1.2 Million goal.

The first step will be to secure a mortgage, then concentrate on continued fundraising to reduced the mortgage on the $700,000 purchase of the house.

Then we will focus on fundraising for an endowment for the running of the Writing Centre, as well as restoration of the house.

Lots of happy people around the world... now to make it REALLY HAPPEN!

It's not over yet.

Todd

The Land Conservancy (TLC) joins community efforts to save Joy Kogawa's Childhood home

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 17:38:41 -0800

TLC Joins Community Efforts to Save Joy Kogawa's Childhood Home

THE CAMPAIGN IS UNDERWAY: "118 DAYS, AND COUNTING"

December 2, 2005

VANCOUVER, BC – Community efforts to save Joy Kogawa’s childhood home from the wrecking ball moved into a new phase today as The Land Conservancy of British Columbia (TLC) has agreed to lead the campaign to acquire the house and secure its protection.

"The Kogawa house is a very important part of British Columbia’s heritage," said TLC’s Executive Director Bill Turner, "and we are determined to see it protected. As of today, we have only 118 days to raise the funds needed to achieve this. We will need to raise $1.25 million to ensure the future of this site, and we’ll be getting to work immediately."

The Kogawa house is located in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver, and was the childhood home of noted Canadian author Joy Kogawa. She and her family were removed from the home in 1942 as part of the Government’s policy of internment of Canadians of Japanese ancestry during World War II." Kogawa’s celebrated novel Obasan is a powerful and heart-rending story of that internment and features the house prominently as part of her childhood recollections. It has been listed by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 100 most important Canadian books ever written.

Inspired by the Save Kogawa House Committee, many community groups such as the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, Heritage Vancouver and the Vancouver Alliance for Arts and Culture and other cultural organizations like the Writers’ Union of Canada and the Federation of BC Writers have come together to support the protection of Kogawa House. On November 3 they were able to convince the City of Vancouver to delay a demolition permit on the house for 120 days (effective November 30) to give the community time to raise the funds to buy it. This followed the symbolic planting at City Hall of a graft from the cherry tree at Kogawa House, as Mayor Larry Campbell proclaimed Obasan Cherry Tree Day on November 1.

"I am so touched by the way the community has rallied to protect this house that holds such symbolic importance for me – and for so many others," said Joy Kogawa. "I just wonder when I'm going to wake up from this dream of miracles."

Committee spokesperson Ann-Marie Metten said "We are delighted that The Land Conservancy is taking on this project. As British Columbia’s National Trust they have the expertise to know what needs to be done and the ability to do it. They have a great record of success in similar projects around the Province and we all believe that by working together we will be successful here too."

TLC’s Turner said that the fundraising campaign is underway. "We are calling on everyone who has been moved by Joy Kogawa’s writing to contribute to saving the house. Your contribution will not only recognize and honour Joy’s accomplishments but will also provide the opportunity for a writers-in-residence program that will enable a new generation of writers to be inspired by her work. We are also calling on everyone who has been touched by Canada’s past treatment of communities such as the Japanese-Canadian community. This house will stand as a symbol of the wrongs that were committed in the past, but also as a symbol of what a community can achieve when it pulls together."

Donations can be made to The Land Conservancy through our website at

www.conservancy.bc.ca, or by calling our Lower Mainland Office at (604) 733-2312 or our Head Office in Victoria at (250) 479-8053.

Contacts:	For TLC	Bill Turner	(250) 213-1090
		Tamsin Baker	(604) 722-2313

	For the Save Kogawa House Committee
		Anne-Marie Metten	(604) 263-6586
		Todd Wong	(604) 240-7090
		Anton Wagner	(416) 863-1209

How important is saving Kogawa House - part II - courtesy of Anton Wagner

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:05:36 -0800

A Writers Literary Landmark and Writers-in-Residence Centre for Vancouver

The following is a message from Anton Wagner, of the Save the Kogawa Homestead Committee:

Dear Todd,

Thank you for the great article "How important is saving Kogawa House? What other literary landmarks are in Vancouver?" on the http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com website.

I totally agree with Alan Twigg's suggestion to Ann-Marie that we also focus our campaign to save Joy's former home on Margaret Atwood's recognition of Vancouver's cultural desert of literary landmarks. As Alan writes in his entry on Pauline Johnson in the BC Bookworld Author Bank, "The Pauline
Johnson memorial in Stanley Park, above Third Beach, is the only literary monument erected in Vancouver for a Canadian writer during the 20th century."

Johnson died in 1913.

Other provinces and much smaller towns have established and supported such literary landmarks and a few writers-in-residence programs:

The Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism maintains the Margaret Laurence House in Neepawa as the Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site No. 25
http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/hrb/prov/p025.html

In St. Boniface the non-profit corporation La Maison Gabrielle Roy Inc. operates the Gabrielle Roy House as a museum for the Franco-Manitoban writer with project grants from the federal, provincial and municipal governments and corporate, foundation and individual donor support. To date 105 women and 37 men have donated $1,000 each to the House.
http://www.maisongabrielleroy.mb.ca

In Eastend, Saskatchewan, the Eastend Arts Council owns and operates the Wallace Stegner House as a writer/artist's residence. Rent is $250 a month, including all utilities. The furnished house, built in 1916, contains a kitchen, dining, living room, study, two bedrooms and a bath and can accommodate two adults and one child. The house is funded in part by the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation, the Writers' Development Trust, provincial, federal and civic government grants, and individual donations.
http://www.dinocountry.com/stegner_house.html

In Dawson City, the Yukon Arts Council and the Klondike Visitor's Association and the Dawson City Libraries Association operate the Berton House Writer's Residence Retreat. Initiated by Pierre Burton in his former boyhood home, the Writer's Residence Retreat enables professional Canadian writers to
write in the remote Northern community free of charge.

One item of great interest in your
http://users.yknet.yk.ca/dcpages/bertonhouse/story.html link is the last April 2001 item on that page, "Canada Council to support Berton House writers." It reports a grant of $100,000 from the Canada Council over a three-year period to the Berton House Writer's Retreat Society to enable four Canadian or
international writers to be in residence in the house for three months each, with a monthly fellowship of $2,000 and travel cost assistance. This would be a great precendent for us in seeking financial operating assistance from the Canada Council.

But again, no such writing centre and literary landmark exists in
Vancouver.The Federation of BC Writers operates a small writing cabin, gifted by George Fetherling, the Horsefly Manor Writers Retreat on Quesnel Lake in the Cariboo.
http://www.bcwriters.com/horsefly/

Lorna Crozier has informed us that the Haig-Brown House in Campbell River, operated by the non-profit conservation organization, the Haig-Brown Institute, has just opened its doors to writers, with Don McKay being the first writer-in-residence. http://www.haigbrowninstitute.org

Vancouver, one of Canada's most dynamic cities and our gateway to the East, needs a writers-in-residence centre as has been proposed for the Joy Kogawa House so that Canadian and international writers can observe and write about the unique evolving multi and intercultural society that is developing
in Canada.

Anton Wagner

How important is saving Kogawa House? What other literary landmarks are in Vancouver?

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 21:03:33 -0800

How important is saving Kogawa House? What other literary landmarks are in Vancouver?

Alan Twigg, author and publisher of BC Book World, says that Vancouver only really has one literary landmark, and that one was controversial and created under protest - the gravesite of poet Pauline Johnson. Ann-Marie Metten, was talking with the author of First Invaders: the literary origins of British Columbia and Aborginality which detail the first writings about British Columbia.

If we can save and preserve the Kogawa Homestead, then we have the real life equivalent of the fictional Anne of Green Gables House. http://greengables.tripod.com/locations.html
With the new Vancouver Opera creation of Naomi's Road, then we now have the West Coast equivalent of the ever popular Anne of Green Gables musical.

The Save the Kogawa Homestead Committee would like to preserve the former Kogawa House as a writer's retreat, where the house could serve as a temporary home for visiting writers, immersing themselves in multicultural Vancouver, while providing a historic landmark to the thousands of Japanese Canadians who once made up the fishing community of Marpole neighborhood, but were uprooted from their homes, branded as enemy aliens, and interened at re-location camps away from the Pacific Coast.

There are few historic houses preserved in BC. Our history is still young, and many of our residents are immigrants with little knowledge of BC's history.

Only a small handful of the homes of Canada's greatest Canadians or writers are preserved or acknowledged. Pierre Berton was born in a cottage in Dawson City, Yukon. Berton spent $50,000 to buy the house to donate it to the Dawson City community where it is now a historic landmark known as Berton House.
http://users.yknet.yk.ca/dcpages/bertonhouse/story.html

Other BC homes have been turned into historic landmarks or museums. But none that I know of are by writers, nor homes that were confiscated from Japanese Canadians during World War 2. In addition to becoming a writers' retreat, Kogawa House would also represent the tragedy of the upheaval and internment of the Japanese-Canadian community and how we overcome our prejudices by recognizing it and turning it into an important community landmark.

Haig-Brown House Education Centre
2250 Campbell River Road,
Campbell River
B.C. V9W 4N7
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/attractions/?id=67

Rodde House Preservation Society
1415 Barclay Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
V6G 1J6
(604) 684-7040
http://www.roeddehouse.org/

Emily Carr House
207 Government Street
Victoria
B.C. V8V 2K3
Telephone: (250) 383-5843
Fax: (250) 356-7796
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/attractions/?id=63

Irving House
302 Royal Avenue,
New Westminster
(604) 521-7656
URL: http://www.city.new-westminster.bc.ca/cityhall/museum/
http://www.discovervancouver.com/articles/irving-house.asp

Vancouver City Hall "Joy Kogawa Cherry Tree Planting" - November 1st

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 20:57:30 -0800

Vancouver City Hall "Joy Kogawa Cherry Tree Planting"

Today, Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell pronounced November 1st as "Obasan Cherry Tree Day." Campbell read the proclamation in celebration of the planting of a cherry tree graft from the childhood home of author Joy Kogawa. Mayor Campbell acknowledged Councillor Jim Green who spearheaded the tree planting initiative, going to the house with Kogawa last year to take the tree clippings that were nurtured for a year for the planting.

Also speaking at the ceremony was Paul Whitney, City Librarian, Vancouver Public Library, and James W. Wright, General Director, Vancouver Opera. Joy's novel Obasan was the 2005 choice for the library's award winning program One Book One Vancouver.

James Wright said that when he came to Vancouver he was given a copy of the book "Great Canadian books of the century" written by Vancouver Public Library (1999) (ISBN 1550547364). He said that he read about Obasan, and it was one of the first books he read after arriving in Vanouver. Next he discovered Kogawa's children story Naomi's Road, and was so moved by it, he commisioned it as an opera.

Joy Kogawa expressed thanks and gratitude to everybody involved. She said she was very happy that these things were happening and it was like a shooting star. She also gave special thanks to Ann-Marie Metten and myself, for the work we are doing with the Save Kogawa House committee.

There was a good sized crowd for the tree planting including media from Globe & Mail, Metro News, CityTV, and Shaw TV. City councillors attending the ceremony included Raymond Louie, Anne Roberts, Ellen Woodsworth, Fred Bass, Tim Stevenson. Vancouver Opera staff who worked on Naomi's Road included Music Director Leslie Uyeda, Artistic Coordinator Hitomi Nunotani.

The following is the text that Mayor Campbell read from and was presented in a program that was handed out:

Joy Kogawa Cherry Tree Planting
In Commemoration of the Japanese-Canadian experience during the Second World War

In 2005, Japanese-Canadian writer Joy Kogawa's novel Obasan was Vancouver Public Library's choice for One Book, One Vancouver, a book club for the entire city. Throughout the summer people read, discussed, and celebrated Kogawa's novel and explored the Japanese-Canadian experience in Canada. This fall, Vancouver Opera presented "Naomi's Road," and opera for young people based on Kogawa's children's book, Naomi's Road.

2005 also marks the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Asia.

Kogawa's book Obasan is one of the most powerful books ever written about the experience of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. The story of Obasan and its message about the consequences of of war and prejudice are as relevant today as they were when the book was first released in 1981.

The house of Obasan still exists in Vancouver with a cherry tree that Joy Kogawa remembers from her childhood as "propped up and bandaged, but still very much alive."

On September 10, 2005, Vancouver City Council adopted a Motion on Notice to plant a cutting of Joy Kogawa's cherry tree on the City Hall campus as a way to commomorate the experience of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

Today, we plant a cutting from Kogawa's cherry tree as a symbol of friendship and to commemorate the experience of Japanese-Canadians during the Second Warld War.

Joy Kogawa with City Librarian Paul Whitney, Oper Managing Director James Wright, and City Councillor Jim Green - photo Deb Martin