Jim Wong -Chu (1945- July-11-2017) was a well-known Asian-Canadian historian, editor, author, and poet. Born in Hong Kong, Jim Wong-Chu came to Canada in 1953. He attended the Vancouver School of Art (Emily Carr University of Art + Design) from 1975-1981, majoring in photography and design. From 1976-1981, Jim Wong-Chu was involved with the Vancouver Co-op Radio Program on culture and assimilation, Pender Guy Radio Program while working at the Vancouver School of Art
Considered one of the first Asian-Canadian authors who gave voice to the Asian Communities in the times when the support for the Asian arts was difficult to obtain. Jim Wong-Chu dedicated much of his time to compile a literary anthology, “Many Mouthed Birds” to showcase the richness of Asian-Canadian literature. During 1995 and 1996 Jim Wong-Chu co-founded the Asian Canadian Performing Arts Resource (ACPAR) and became one of the founders of the Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop (ACWW) where he helped many young Asian -Canadian writers to succeed by editing and finding publishers for their works. Jim Wong-Chu along with Mishtu Banerjee, Mo-Ling Chui, Grace Eiko Thomson, and Winston Xin? formed the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society, as an organization that endeavoured to explore the diversity of Asian Canadian life and culture and promote the discussion of relevant issues and concerns within and beyond the Asian Canadian communities. Since then, VAHMS has based its mission on social advocacy and integration to support Pan-Asian and Asian Canadian Arts, Cultures, and Communities. Jim Wong-Chu’s vision was fundamental to explorASIAN festival success.
Pender Street East
Jim Wong-Chu
fresh rock cod
a pleasant smile
roast pork fresh hot
taste before you buy
(guarantee to satisfy)
ginger green onions
soy sauce msg
take a break
across the street
find a booth
order green tea
relax…
where else would you possibly
want to be?
Listening Event Readings of Jim Wong-Chu’s poetry, Saturday October 19, 2019 IMF Studio, Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
The three poems:
hippo luck (for Sid Tan): Sid is a good friend of mine and we go back a long way.
memories of old kubla khan nightclub: I played a Fender Pre. Bass into an Ampeg B15 in the house band there. We were a lousy band, but no one heard a note that we played! Bandmates were Owen Chan on Drums and Lito Castillo on the Organ. Miss Sumi, an Asian-Canadian Peeler, was the featured act at the Kubla Khan at the corner of Pender and Main in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown during the 1970s.
merritt b.c. revisited 1965: Two friends of mine, Raymond Dang and Jack Mar, were friends of Jim’s in high school in Merritt BC.