With the 2019 Lunar New Year beginning on February 5, we’re marking the start of the Chinese New Year festivities by sharing BC books by Asian Canadian authors. Take this chance to learn more about the Chinese Canadian experience through small-town Chinese restaurants, tales of dysfunctional families, the struggle for a community’s fight for justice, and the animals of the Chinese Zodiac. Gung hay fat choy!
Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants (Douglas & McIntyre) is a buffet of essays and stories of the small-town Chinese restaurants that dot the Canadian landscape. Author Ann Hui, first undertook a roadtrip across Canada, from Victoria to Fogo Island, in order to write about the small-town restaurants and the families that run them. Not long after this trip she discovered that her own family could be counted among these restaurateurs—her parents had run The Legion Cafe before she was born. The result is a story of family history and of the many interpretations of Chinese food from coast to coast, and an examination of how dishes like chop suey are emblematic of the values that drive these small-town restaurants.
Recently making news as a Canada Reads finalist, The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family by Lindsay Wong (Arsenal Pulp Press) is about a young woman coming of age in a family plagued by demons. The dark memoir chronicles Lindsay’s experience growing up with a paranoid schizophrenic grandmother and mentally unstable mother who believed that their problems stemmed from the haunting presence of the “woo-woo,” Chinese ghosts who visit during times of turmoil. A picture of the Asian immigrant experience and the effects of mental illness, Lindsay’s search for clarity is both heart-wrenching and fiercely humorous—plus, it was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction.
The Canadian government did not formally apologize to the Chinese community until 2006, more than a century after the implementation of the head tax imposed on Chinese immigrants following the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The forthcoming Being Chinese in Canada: The Struggle for Identity, Redress, and Belonging by William Ging Wee Dere (Douglas & McIntyre, March 2019) looks at this racist treatment through the history of the head tax—which separated families, was raised twice, and eventually led to ban of Chinese immigration altogether—as well as an exploration of the movement that fought against it. Not repealed until 1947, the tax is a blight on Canadian history, and it impacted the author personally: his grandfather and father both paid the tax, and his family was separated as a result of it.
The myth of the Chinese zodiac opens up many storytelling possibilities. The Animals of Chinese New Year by Jen Sookfong Lee (Orca Book Publishers) tells the tale of zodiac animals embracing their unique skills to compete in a race. This dual-language book from children’s publisher Orca is sitting happily on the BC Bestsellers list this week. Beautifully accompanied by photographs of babies representing the story’s animals, this is a wonderful book to share with the
Bonus read: Jen’s book Chinese New Year: A Celebration for Everyone (Orca Book Publishers) is a vibrant snapshot of Chinese culture. Start with the history of Chinese New Year, and learn more about the role that food plays in the celebration and its role as a global party.