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
