This week at Read Local BC, we’re celebrating Asian Canadian voices sharing their stories with British Columbia. Read on for a roundup of our favourite histories, poetry collections, memoirs, and children’s tales by some of BC’s most prominent Asian Canadian writers.
Poetry
Pineapple Express by Evelyn Lau (Anvil Press)
Evelyn Lau is perhaps best known for her memoir Runaway: Diary of a Street Kid, which was made into a CBC movie starring Sandra Oh in her first major role. The writer is back with a moving collection of poetry that explores themes such as aging, loss, mortality, family, and cultural history, as well as the moods, medications, and side effects of depression.
Iron Goddess of Mercy by Larissa Lai (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Lambda Literary Award winning writer Larissa Lai’s Iron Goddess of Mercy is a long poem presented in 64 fragments to honour the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. The poem explores the complexities of identity, rage, and empowerment.
Pebble Swing by Isabella Wang (Nightwood Editions)
Poet Isabella Wang lost her grandmother during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In this reflective and resonant collection, Wang pieces together her family’s history and culture through language lost and found, weaving them together with her experience as a young contemporary poet living in Vancouver.
Children’s Books
For Laika: The Dog Who Learned the Names of the Stars by Kai Cheng Thom, illustrated by Kai Yun Ching (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Bee Quammi of CBC’s The Next Chapter has praised this children’s book for providing “a unique way to have discussions with children about sensitive topics like different types of family loss, and it also opens their minds up to science.” Laika is an orphaned stray dog whose life is changed forever when a scientist offers him the chance to travel outer space.
The Bone Collector’s Son by Paul Yee (Tradewind Books)
A moving young adult novel, which illuminates the struggle of Chinese immigrants and racism at the turn of the century, set in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The story follows thirteen-year-old Bing-wing Chan, who must face his fear of ghosts as his father’s gambling debts force him to dig for human bones in a graveyard and then to work as a houseboy in a haunted house.
Kylie the Magnificent by Marty Chan (Orca Book Publishers)
Perfect for readers ages 9-12, Kylie the Magnificent stars fourteen-year-old magician Kylie, who is determined to perform in the magician’s showcase. When a stubborn director insists that she would make a better assistant than magician because of her gender, Kylie becomes determined to prove him wrong.
Genie Meanie by Mahtab Narsimhan, illustrated by Michelle Simpson (Orca Book Publishers)
Eight-year-old Kiara is thrilled when she learns that her recently deceased grandmother has left her a genie, trapped in a bottle of garam-masala. Unfortunately, the genie has decided he’s on vacation after working for ten thousand years and won’t serve Kiara. After a battle with the stubborn genie, Kiara realizes that you don’t need magic to solve your problems.
Sangeet and the Missing Beat by Kiranjot Kaur (Rebel Mountain Press)
A beautiful children’s book accompanied by striking illustrations starring a young musician and composer, Sangeet. Sangeet’s favourite instrument is the tabla, a traditional Indian hand drum used by musicians across the subcontinent.
Cancer is a C Word by Sunita Pal, illustrated by Cody Andreasen (Rebel Mountain Press)
Dealing with cancer is a sad reality that many families have to face, and explaining it to little children can be very difficult. This book aims to help families and schools introduce the concept of cancer to little ones and teaches children ways that they can help someone affected by cancer, like cuddling, compassion, community, and caring.
Memoirs
Surviving Samsara: A Memoir of Breakdowns, Breakthroughs, and Mental Illness by Kagan Goh (Caitlin Press)
This candid memoir emphasizes the resiliency of the spirit in the face of mental illness and breakdowns, and highlights the stigma that those suffering face from society. The author shares his experience with manic depression, and his eventual recovery from the illness.
Chiru Sakura: Falling Cherry Blossoms by Grace Eiko Thomson (Caitlin Press)
At eight years old, Japanese Canadian writer Grace Eiko Nishikihama was removed from her Vancouver home and interned with her parents and siblings in the BC Interior. The book weaves together Grace’s experiences with passages from her own mother’s journal, resulting in a striking memoir on their immigration to Canada, their family history, and generational trauma.
Three Funerals for My Father: Love, Loss and Escape from Vietnam by Jolie Phuong Hoang (Tidewater Press)
Jolie Phuong Hoang’s poignant memoir asks us, “What would you risk to save your children?” This striking story recounts the author’s childhood escape from Vietnam after communists took over in 1975. Six of the family’s ten children survived the escape to Canada, while their father and his youngest daughter drowned during their attempt. This heartbreaking story of resilience is told from both the author’s perspective and that of her father’s ghost.
Food and Recipes
Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui (Douglas & McIntyre)
Globe and Mail reporter Ann Hui drove across the entire country to write about small-town Chinese restaurants and the families who run them. After the piece was published, she discovered that her own parents had run a Chinese restaurant before she was born. This led her to research more about her family’s history and their journey from China to Canada.
Have You Eaten Yet?: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan (Douglas & McIntyre)
Author, chef and BBC TV presenter Ken Hom has said of Have You Eaten Yet? that “Once in a lifetime, a book comes along that pulls all the strands of social history, migration, world politics and food into a comprehensive, entertaining book that is both enlightening and thoughtful.” In this riveting story, Kwan tells the story of Chinese restaurants and their staff from around the world.
Chinese Fairy Tale Feasts by Judy Chan, Paul Yee, illustrated by Shaoli Wang (Tradewind Books)
In this collection, historian and author Paul Yee creates or retells magical Chinese lore and stories, pairing them with delicious recipes by Vancouver’s Judy Chan. Each story and recipe are accompanied by striking and colourful illustrations from Shaoli Wang.
Histories
City in Colour by May Q. Wong (TouchWood Editions)
A timely collection of the often overlooked historical contributions and stories of Victoria’s pioneers, trailblazers, and community builders who were also diverse people of colour. This is a fascinating new history of the capital city of British Columbia.
Honouring High Places: The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei by Helen Y. Rolfe, Junko Tabei (RMB | Rocky Mountain Books)
Junko Tabei was the first woman to climb Mount Everest and the Seven Summits. This thrilling memoir pieces together her own experiences and the history of female Everest climbers. resulting in an inspirational read about Tabei’s pursuit of Mount Tomur, a cancer diagnosis, and her efforts to restore a love for nature in the surviving youth of the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in 2011.