To Write Is to Resist panel discussion
When: Monday, October 3, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where: Canucks Family Education Centre (Britannia Community Centre)
Cost: Free admission
In their writing, Wanda John-Kehewis, Carmen Aguirre, and Rita Wong unmask and decry these forces and the impact they have had on the environment and people’s lives: cultural genocide, state repression, systemic racism, displacement, and the pillage of natural resources, to name a few. But in doing so, they also chart journeys of human dignity, courage, love of life, beauty, and activism. Theirs is a literature of denunciation and hope. For them, To Write Is to Resist. To Write Is to ReCreate. In partnership with the Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre.
Gently to Nagasaki: Joy Kogawa in Conversation with Kathryn Gretsinger
When: Friday, October 21, 1:00–2:30pm
Where: Waterfront Theatre
Cost: $17
Joy Kogawa published her first novel, Obasan, in 1981. The story of the internment of Japanese Canadians during World War II won the Books in Canada First Novel award and became essential reading for our nation. Drawing closely from her own life and experiences, Kogawa has written poetry and novels, is a member of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of the Rising Sun in Japan for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history. Now 82, Kogawa has published Gently to Nagasaki, a memoir she has been working on for years. This is a rare opportunity to hear a Canadian icon whose life has been a tireless search for healing and restoration, personally and for her community. A Vancouver International Writers Festival event.
Japanese Poets North of the 49th: Kogawa House welcomes Takiya Kuwahara
We are thrilled to announce Japanese poet Takiya Kuwahara (The Indifferent Poet) will be in Vancouver to collaborate and perform the first two weeks of October. As the host of Shuntaro Tanikawa’s slam poetry event Shundoku, and host of the legendary tamatogi open mic event in Tokyo, there isn’t anyone in the Japanese poetry scene who doesn’t know Takiya Kuwahara.
In fact, just before his arrival in Vancouver, he will be attending a celebration of his 30 years of influence and impact on the Tokyo poetry scene. This is his first-ever visit to Canada.
While in Vancouver, Kuwahara will write a poem for one of the buildings in the 200–400 block of Powell Street formerly owned by Japanese Canadians. The poem will be based on historical narratives shared by collaborators Soramaru Takayama and Steve Frost of the Vancouver-based Tasai Collective. Kuwahara’s poem will be the first in a collection that addresses the dispossession and removal of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, as understood and written about by poets visiting from Japan. While in Vancouver, the poet will live in residence at Historic Joy Kogawa House.
Takiya from Japan. Steve from Canada. Sora linking Japan and Canada. All three backgrounds inspire each other, providing audiences the opportunity to experience new bilingual forms of poetry in the readings and workshops to be presented.
Japanese poetry performances with live English subtitles
- Takiya Kuwahara & Soramaru Takayama Poetry Performance
When: Thursday, October 6, 8:00pm
Where: Visual Space Gallery, 3352 Dunbar Street, Vancouver
- Takiya Kuwahara & Soramaru Takayama Poetry Performance
When: Saturday, October 8, 3:00-5:00pm
Where: Vancouver Japanese Language School, 487 Alexander Street, Vancouver
- Takiya Kuwahara & Soramaru Takayama Poetry Performance
When: Friday, October 13, 7:00pm
Where: Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre, 6688 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby
Artist Talk
Reception: An Intimate Evening with Takiya Kuwahara
When: Tuesday, October 11, 7:00pm
Where: Historic Joy Kogawa House, 1450 West 64th Avenue, Vancouver
Workshop
Poems for Powell Street: Powell Street District Art + Poem Performance (In partnership with the Powell Street Festival Society and Tasai Artists’ Collective.)
When: October 15, 2016 / 19:00
Where: Groundswell Café, 566 Powell Street, Vancouver