Jim Wong Chu: Difference between revisions

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Jim Wong-Chu is a poet, author, editor, and historian known as a co-founder of the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop, [http://www.asiancanadianwiki.org/w/Ricepaper_Magazine Ricepaper Magazine], anthologies of [http://www.asiancanadianwiki.org/w/Authors Asian Canadian writers] and the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Festival.

Born in Hong Kong in 1949, but raised in Canada as a [[Chinese Exclusion Act|paper son]], Jim Wong-Chu is well known as a pioneer of the Asian Canadian activist movement. He is among the first authors of Asian descent with the likes of [[Sky Lee|SKY Lee]] and [[Paul Yee]] who challenged the Canadian literary establishment and questioned why it was devoid of any Asian writers.  Without role models or any blueprint, the trio began to experiment with different forms of fiction and decided to not only get published but also form informal writing networks to encourage other Asian Canadians to hone their craft.   

An idea for an Asian Canadian literary anthology thus germinated in the 1960s, when Jim Wong-Chu and a group of young Asian Canadians began to explore their identities. That exploration took them back to their roots and ignited a desire to express who they were as Canadians of Asian descent.  Jim Wong-Chu is a poet whose book Chinatown Ghosts (Arsenal Pulp Press, 1986; now out of print) was the first poetry book by an Asian Canadian writer.   

The publishing of this anthology created the phenomenon of Asian Canadian writing that exists today. One of the short stories included [[Wayson Choy]]'s piece, who later turned expanded into the Vancouver Book award-winning Jade Peony. In addition to co-editing Many Mouthed Birds, Wong-Chu also co-edited with [[Andy Quan]] Swallowing Clouds, published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 1999.[[File:1551520737_SwallowingClouds.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Swallowing Clouds(1999)]]'']].

In 1996, Jim Wong-Chu became one of the founders of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW) and moved from the basements to a formal registered not-for-profit society.  Until the early ‘90s, there was not much of a critical mass of Asian Canadian writers.  The university English departments were producing a lot of young people who wanted to write, so within a couple of years, about 20 members of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop suddenly went up to 70 members.