May is Asian Heritage Month!
This year’s theme is “Stories of Determination,” which recognizes both the accomplishments and perseverance of people of Asian origin in the face of discrimination, racism, and geopolitical hardship. Below we highlight some stellar examples of stories of determination as we celebrate and reflect on the diversity of Asian experiences and histories in BC.
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
A Grain of Rice by Nhung N. Tran Davies (Tradewind Books)
As thirteen-year-old Yen and her family survive the ravages of the Vietnam War and the ensuing famine and persecution, a sudden flood destroys their village. With nothing left to lose her family decides to take the ultimate risk on the high seas for a chance at a better life.
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Sangeet and the Missing Beat by Kiranjot Kaur (Rebel Mountain Press)
Music is everywhere for Sangeet. She loves composing and playing on her favourite instrument, the tabla. One day, Sangeet hears all kinds of noises everywhere. Together they have the most incredible beat. But when she tries to recreate this fabulous new music on her tabla she finds something is missing!
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FICTION BOOKS
Face: A Novel by Jaspreet Singh (TouchWood Editions)
In this fascinating blend of science and literature, human and non-human, Jaspreet Singh tells the story of Lila, a brilliant Indian-born science journalist, and Lucia, an aspiring European-born writer who meet at a creative writing workshop in Calgary. Both are trying to use fiction to work through real-life trauma, but their entangled paths may reach back to Lila’s time as a geology student in the foothills of the Himalayas, a fossil fraud in India, an ice core archive in Canada, the Burgess Shale quarry, and a climate change laboratory in Germany.
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Hands Like Trees by Sabyasachi Nag (Ronsdale Press)
An act of passion reverberates across continents when Visma Sen decides to remain in Calcutta while his family migrates to Canada. Separated on different continents and with experiences that diverge more and more by the day, the Sen family narrates their lives in these gripping linked stories. The experiences of each character draw a portrait of the Sen family, whose wounds drive them to pursue an ever-elusive happiness, while clearly yearning for identity and belonging.
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NONFICTION BOOKS
Frontier Fieldwork: Building a Nation in China’s Borderlands, 1919–45 by Andres Rodriguez (UBC Press)
In the early twentieth century, the threat of imperialism loomed large in the Sino-Tibetan borderlands, bringing China’s frontier to the heart of political debates about the future of the country. Drawing on both Chinese and Western materials, Andres Rodriguez exposes the transformative power of the fieldworkers’ efforts, which went beyond creating new forms of political action and identity. His incisive study demonstrates that despite a range of agendas, fieldworkers converged to issue a rallying call that placed China’s margins at the centre of its nation-making process and race to modernity.
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Have You Eaten Yet?: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan (Douglas & McIntyre)
It’s hard to beat the fulfilling comfort and atmospheric charm of a good, family-run Chinese restaurant. In Have you Eaten Yet?, Cheuk Kwan weaves a global narrative by linking the myriad personal stories of chefs, entrepreneurs, labourers, and dreamers who populate Chinese kitchens worldwide. This mouth-watering travelogue explores how the unique profile of Chinese restaurants has been maintained no matter where in the world they set up shop.
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White Riot: The 1907 Anti-Asian Riots in Vancouver by Henry Tsang (Arsenal Pulp Press)
In 1907 anti-Asian riots exploded in Vancouver, organized by the Asiatic Exclusion League. The ensuing mob attack on the city’s Chinese Canadian and Japanese Canadian communities is emblematic of a systemically racist era. In this somber look back at a dark time in Vancouver’s history, Tsang reveals the social and political environment of the time, when racialized communities were targeted through legislation as well as physical acts of exclusion and violence.
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POETRY BOOKS
Exit Wounds by Tāriq Malik (Caitlin Press & Dagger Editions)
In this groundbreaking debut collection, Tāriq Malik explores what it means to feel at home as an immigrant. Where is identity found when the land of one’s birth is miles away, and no roots have yet been formed where one lives currently? Blending traditional Punjabi mythology and First Nations’ symbolism with contemporary events that have shaped the lives of immigrants, Malik’s moving search for home will resonate with anyone who has ever felt at odds with a dominant monoculture.
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Bramah’s Quest by Renée Sarojini Saklikar (Nightwood Editions)
A sequel to Saklikar’s popular Bramah and the Beggar Boy, this long-form poem follows the time-travelling demigoddess Bramah as she embarks on a quest to find her people. With unwavering courage, Bramah is determined to conquer the odds and face whatever fate and chance throw her way. Each twist and turn tests her ability to live up to the motto “Let all evil die and the good endure.”
Coming July 31, 2023!
Witness Back at Me by Weyman Chan (Talonbooks)
Drawing on biology, myth, ecology, and the anthropocalypse, Witness Back at Me probes the boundaries of what makes us human. Suffused with a collage-like immersion of stream-of-conscious voices, Witness Back at Me parallels Chan’s childhood loss of his mother to breast cancer with the loss of his Two-Spirit Métis friend and mentor, writer Sharron Proulx-Turner.
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