by Art Miki
While visiting Vancouver in March 2009, Keiko and I had the opportunity to visit the Historic Joy Kogawa House and meet with John Asfour, the first writer-in-residence, and Ann-Marie Metten, the Executive Director. Ann-Marie gave us a tour of the renovated facility and we were surprised at the spaciousness and the potential for workshops and discussion groups
I had met John Asfour shortly after redress in Montreal as we participated on a panel discussion at McGill University that included Dr. Desmond Morton, a McGill historian, a representative from the Canadian Jewish Congress. John Asfour, as president of the Canadian Arab Federation and myself, from the National Association of Japanese Canadians. One of the things that struck me at the panel discussion was an offer from Asfour to work harmoniously with the Jewish community to avoid conflicts in Canada that exist in the Middle East.
Asfour commented that he was pleased to be chosen as the first writer–in-residence at Kogawa House. “I’m here to learn how a community like Japanese Canadians would turn a part of their historical suffering into something positive by establishing a place where writers can live and work.” He pointed out that Japanese Canadians through the NAJC were very supportive of the Arab Canadian community and what it had to endure after 9/11.
John Asfour is the author of four books of poetry in English and two in Arabic. He translated the poetry of Muhammad al-Maghut into English under the title Joy Is Not My Profession (Véhicule Press), and selected, edited and introduced the landmark anthology When the Words Burn: An Anthology of Modern Arabic Poetry, 1945–1987 (Cormorant Books).
The majority of the writer’s time in residence will be devoted to work on a book of poems entitled Blindfold, which exposes the “rich and strange” possibilities of a life that has undergone some frightening transformation and is displaced from its element. The book is partly autobiographical—born in Lebanon, Asfour was blinded in 1958 at age 13 during the Civil War there. The poems also explore feelings of loss, displacement and disorientation experienced by the disabled and relates them to immigrant themes that Asfour has previously addressed. Asfour suggests that the disabled often feel like foreigners in their own land, hampered by prejudice (sometimes well-meaning), communication barriers and the sense of “limited personality” that characterizes the second-language learner.
While in Vancouver between now until the end of May, Asfour will present poetry workshops to a variety of audiences, in collaboration with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Simon Fraser University’s Writers Studio and the Vancouver Public Library.
Historic Joy Kogawa House is the former home of the Canadian author Joy Kogawa (born 1935). It stands as a cultural and historical reminder of the expropriation of property that all Canadians of Japanese descent experienced after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Between 2003 and 2006, a grassroots committee fundraised in a well-publicized national campaign, and with the help of The Land Conservancy of BC, a non-profit land trust, managed to purchase the house in 2006. Together with Joy Kogawa, the various groups decided that the wisest and best use of the property would be to establish it as a place where writers could live and work.
Contact: Kogawa House Society
Ann-Marie Metten 604.263.6586
John Asfour is unlikely to “learn how a community like the Japanese Canadians would turn part of its historical suffering into something positive by establishing a place where writers can live an work” , because Japanese Canadians had no part in establishing such a place.From the beginning, this was Mrs. Kogawa’s dream. When the original “grassroots” committee’s efforts to raise sufficient funds failed, The Land Conservancy took over the project, prepared to borrow money if necessary. At the last minute, Senator Nancy Ruth made a personal donation of $500,000, and the house was saved from demolition. I’d like to point out that The Land Conservancy is not a Japanese Canadian organization, Senator Ruth is not Japanese Canadian, Ann-Marie Metten, the passionate and tireless promoter and the executive director of Kogawa House is not Japanese Canadian. TLC’s Bill Turner, one of two people who won the Vancouver’s top Heritage awards for “saving” Obasan’s house is not Japanese. The co-award winner was the publicity-loving gadfly Todd Wong, who is a Chinese Canadian who likes to wear kilts for special occasions and pretend he’s Scottish. He is definitely not Japanese-Canadian.So Kogawa House is not a Japanese-Canadian gift to Canada!! .This house is not remotely representative of the homes taken from 22,000 Japanese Canadians, no more than Obasan’s young heroine, Naomi, is representative of the young children who experienced the Internment. Anyone who has actually read Kogawa’s autobiographical fiction without skimming over the parts that seem to wander off aimlessly, knows that the greatest injustice in Naomi’s life was the pedophile abuse she endured while living in this house. To any sensible reader, the theft of a child’s right to a happy and innocent childhood is a much greater human rights violation than the temporary wartime injustice. For normal Japanese Canadian children with caring parents, the internment in beautiful Slocan was a happy and carefree time. One feels compassion for the young Joy/Naomi, but we do not recognize her home as being in any way representative of the mostly happy homes that were taken from 22,000 other Japanese Canadians. I think it is somewhat presumptuous of Joy Kogawa to make the decision that her home is worthy of being declared a historical site.
Actually, Joy’s sense of entitlement is admirably grandiose.In writing “Obasan”, she helped herself liberally to Nisei journalist Muriel Kitagawa’s real-life letters to her real-life brother.Gotta admire her chutzpah!