Daniel Francis

Reading the National Narrative

Jim Wong-Chu R.I.P.

Jul 14, 2017

I was very sorry to learn about the death earlier this week of Vancouver writer Jim Wong-Chu. I knew that Jim had suffered a stroke a few months ago but not that he was so seriously ill.

Jim published his first book of poetry, Chinatown Ghosts, in 1986. He was a tireless advocate for the Asian-Canadian writing community, helping to found the Asian-Canadian Writers' Workshop in 1976 and the literary magazine Ricepaper in the 1990s. A full account of his career is here.

Jim was also an historian of Vancouver's Asian community. Of special interest to my own work over the years was his published time-line, A Brief History of Asian North America (2001).

His presence will be missed.