Joy Kogawa’s Birthday – June 6th
What a wonderful advance birthday present it will be for Joy to see that her childhood home is bought by The Land Conservancy and turned into a Writing Centre, with a writers-in-residence program.
There are gifts to the world to be given and shared. Hopefully the Joy Kogawa Writing Centre will be able to share and give to the world as much as Joy has done.
June 6th will be a time to celebrate!
Excerpt from ABC Bookworld
https://abcbookworld.com/writer/kogawa-joy/
In 2005, Vancouver city council formally consented to preserve the house as a heritage site if sufficient funds could be raised for its purchase from the owner. On November 3, 2005. the City of Vancouver granted a 120-day delay on the demolition permit for the house, effective November 30. In early December, the Land Conservancy of British Columbia announced they would spearhead the campaign to raise the $1.25 million needed to acquire the house, restore it and set up an endowment to secure its protection in perpetuity as a symbol of Canada’s cultural heritage. The original deadline for funding was March 30, 2006. It was extended to the end of April. In late April the Land Conservancy of British Columbia announced it was moving forward with the purchase of the house to prevent demolition. “While we still need to raise more funds to purchase and operate the house, our ‘option to purchase’ expires this weekend,”; explained TLC Executive Director Bill Turner. “We are out of time. So TLC has decided to step forward, and take out a mortgage if necessary, to make sure that this important piece of our country’s heritage will not be lost.”