Jim Wong Chu: Difference between revisions

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 ==Early Life==
-Born in Hong Kong, Jim Wong-Chu came to Canada in 1953 to live with his aunt and uncle as a [[Chinese Exclusion Act|paper son]]. He returned to live with this parents in Hong Kong in 1957, but eventually settled back in Canada in 1961. After high school, he attended the Vancouver School of Art (which is now known as Emily Carr University of Art + Design) from 1975-1981, majoring in photography and design from 1975-1981. From 1976-1981, during his time at the Vancouver School of Art, Wong-Chu was involved with the Vancouver Co-op Radio Program on culture and assimilation, Pender Guy Radio Program. For the efforts of this group of Chinese-Canadians, the program received a 1980 Media Human Rights Award of the B'nai B'rith of Canada. From 1985-1987 he took creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
+Born in Hong Kong, Jim Wong-Chu came to Canada in 1953 to live with his aunt and uncle as a [[Chinese Exclusion Act|paper son]]. He returned to live with this parents in Hong Kong in 1957, but eventually settled back in Canada in 1961. After high school, he attended the Vancouver School of Art (which is now known as Emily Carr University of Art + Design) from 1975-1981, majoring in photography and design from 1975-1981. He began working at Canada Post as a letter-carrier in 1975, a position which he would hold until his retirement in 2013.
-In response to the lack of support for Asian Canadian arts, Wong-Chu was a co-founder of the Asian Canadian Performing Arts Resource (ACPAR) in 1995. ACPAR organized the "Go-for-Broke-Revue," presented at the Firehall Arts Centre in the fall of 1995. In 1997, the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop fundraised to establish the Emerging Writer's Award, a $4000 grant. The first recipient was Rita Wong's <i>Monkeypuzzle</i>.
+From 1976-1981, during his time at the Vancouver School of Art, Wong-Chu was involved with the Vancouver Co-op Radio Program on culture and assimilation, Pender Guy Radio Program. For the efforts of this group of Chinese-Canadians, the program received a 1980 Media Human Rights Award of the B'nai B'rith of Canada. From 1985-1987 he took creative writing at the University of British Columbia.
-In addition to positions as an associate editor for Douglas and McIntyre as well as Arsenal Pulp Press, Wong-Chu worked as a letter carrier with Canada Post from 1975 until he retired in 2013.
-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.
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 ==Asian Canadian Literature==
-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.
+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. His book Chinatown Ghosts (Arsenal Pulp Press, 1986; now out of print) was the first poetry book by an Asian Canadian writer.
 In the mid-‘60s and mid-‘70s, a lot of Asian Canadian writers were looking to get published. In the 1970s, Canada Council was supplying a lot of money to independent publishers, and there was a lack of voice coming from the Asian Canadian communities.  [[Inalienable Rice|Inalieable Rice: A Chinese and Japanese Anthology]] (1979) was the most groundbreaking as the first ever Asian Canadian anthology.
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 Before Asian Canadian writing was considered a genre unto itself, one of Wong-Chu’s most critical projects took place in the library stacks of the University of British Columbia, where he went over the entire inventory of books with a fine-tooth comb, looking up literary magazines dating back 10 to 20 years. His mission in 1989 was to map all Asian Canadian writers and their material, finally compiling them into an anthology of Asian Canadian literature.   Taking the twenty best works, Wong-Chu and co-editor Bennett Lee published an anthology called [[Many Mouthed Birds|Many Mouthed Birds]]. [[File:Many_mouthed_birds.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Many Mouthed Birds]]'']]
+Responding to the lack of support for Asian Canadian arts, Wong-Chu was a co-founder of the Asian Canadian Performing Arts Resource (ACPAR) in 1995. ACPAR organized the "Go-for-Broke-Revue," presented at the Firehall Arts Centre in the fall of 1995. In 1997, the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop fundraised to establish the Emerging Writer's Award, a $4000 grant. The first recipient was Rita Wong's <i>Monkeypuzzle</i>.
 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)]]'']].
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