Japanese Canadian Book Launch

When:

November 23, 2015

Time:

06:00 PM - 07:30 PM

Category:

Lecture

Location:

UVic, David Strong Building, Room C116

Details:

The Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society and the Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies are pleased to present talks by the authors of these new books of Japanese Canadian interest.

Sakura in Stone: Victoria's Japanese Legacy

by Ann-Lee and Gordon Switzer

Sakura in Stone is the second book on the subject of Japanese Canadian pioneers to be released by Gordon and Ann-Lee Switzer. In 2012, they published Gateway to Promise, Canada’s First Japanese Community, which won second prize from the B.C. Historical Federation that year. A ground-breaking study, Gateway revealed in detail the little-known history of Victoria’s Japanese community that disappeared during the Second World War. Since then, the Switzers have researched further and found new material shedding light on this early community.

Those discoveries form the basis for this book and for their lecture including information about the first true settler from Japan to reach Victoria and make Canada his home (hint: it is not the well-known Japanese pioneer named Nagano).

Toshiko

by Michael Kluckner

Michael Kluckner will be talking about his graphic novel Toshiko, set in BC in 1944 with a Japanese-Canadian protagonist, and the story's genesis in the non-fiction of his book Vanishing British Columbia and the Japanese-Canadian families on Mayne Island. He will also reflect on the value of graphic novels for historic storytelling and describe the reception of the book, including its relation to the Landscapes of Injustice program and the response to it by a class which used it in the Canadian Studies program at McGill. 

Michael Kluckner is an artist and the author of more than a dozen books, mostly about Vancouver and British Columbia history. He is the president of the Vancouver Historical Society and a member of the Heritage Commission, and lives with his wife in Vancouver's Grandview neighbourhood.

Contact:

Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society
www.vncs.ca