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Joy Kogawa
About JoyJoy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese-Canadian parents. During WWII, Joy and her family were forced to move to Slocan, British Columbia, an injustice Kogawa addresses in her 1981 novel, Obasan. Kogawa has worked to educate Canadians about the history of Japanese Canadians... show more

About JoyJoy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935 to Japanese-Canadian parents. During WWII, Joy and her family were forced to move to Slocan, British Columbia, an injustice Kogawa addresses in her 1981 novel, Obasan. Kogawa has worked to educate Canadians about the history of Japanese Canadians and she was active in the fight for official governmental redress. Kogawa studied at the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan. Her most recent poetic publication is A Garden of Anchors. The long poem, A Song of Lilith, published in 2000 with art by Lilian Broca, retells the story of Lilith, the mythical first partner to Adam.In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada; in 2006, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia. In 2010, the Japanese government honored Kogawa with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history.For Wikipedia article click here.
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Birth date: June 06, 1935
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Community Reviews
A Scottish-Canadian Blethering On About Books
I knew of "Obasan" long before I read it; it wasn't compulsory reading in any of my high school or university courses (as it has since become, so I hear) but it was discussed, and unlike most novels its publication arguably had a material effect on society at large. It's generally acknowledged that ...
allisoninouye
allisoninouye rated it 11 years ago
This was a very difficult book to read, considering my father and his family were sent to the camp at Lemon Creek in British Columbia, where his sister eventually died at a very young age of pneumonia. That has caused me to take a great interest in the lives of Japanese Canadians in World War II, an...
O! what Man will do fore a Rime!
O! what Man will do fore a Rime! rated it 11 years ago
March 3, 1942 Dear Wes: This is just to warn you: Don't you dare come back to B.C., no matter what happens, what reports you read in the papers, whatever details I tell you in letters. You stay out of this province. B.C. is hell. - Muriel Kitagawa Excerpts from This Is My Own "Letters to Wes" O...
Burning Impossibly Bright
Burning Impossibly Bright rated it 13 years ago
I read this one for one of my University classes, and I really enjoyed it! It definitely doesn't cover a light and easy subject, so it isn't the type of book I would usually pick up myself, but I'm glad that I got the opportunity to read it for school because it is one powerful book! I'm proud to be...
melissawritergrrlreads
melissawritergrrlreads rated it 22 years ago
Read this book for WS 349: Film, Literature and Culture Production: Re-Imagining History through Contemporary Women's Writing with Christine St. Peter. Felt a little bad for not liking it as much as I thought I should. The chickens creeped me out. Read it again for American literature and still d...
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