Jim Wong-Chu: Google doodle on Canadian poet who amplified Asian Canadian community

Happy Birthday Jim Wong-Chu!!!

Google today celebrates the 72^nd birthday of Jim Wong-Chu, the renowned Canadian poet, author, editor, and historian with a scintillating doodle. He is highly remembered for devoting his life to amplify the narratives of the Asian Canadian community.

Jim Wong-Chu was born on January 28, 1949 in Hong Kong. His uncle and aunt moved to Canada in 1953 with him when he was just four years old. His aunt and uncle made him their paper son.

Jim Wong-Chu attended the Vancouver School of Art (renamed as Emily Carr University of Art and Design) from 1975 to 1981. He had a specialization in photography and design. During the 1970s he worked as a community volunteer and became interested in the use of literature to explore his identity as a Canadian of Asian heritage.

Jim Wong-Chu commenced working at Canada Post as a letter carrier in 1975, a position which he held until his retirement in 2013. During his time at the Vancouver School of Art, he wrote on culture and assimilation for the CFRO-FM radio program called 'Pender Guy'. From 1985 to 1987, he studied creative writing at the University of British Columbia, and his class writings eventually were compiled into his first book of poetry.

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Jim Wong-Chu wanted to tell the stories of all the undiscovered talent in his community. In 1989, he began to sift through every literary magazine in UCB's library to identify pieces written by Asian Canadian writers.

Jim Wong-Chu co-founded the Chinese Canadian Writers Workshop Society in 1996. He then established a newsletter, Ricepaper, and became its first editor. It evolved into a literary journal that published a number of Chinese Canadian writers on topics relating to culture and identity. In 2013, Wong-Chu started a festival, the first Chinese writers festival in North America. He co-edited several anthologies featuring Asian Canadian writers.

Wong-Chu died on July 11, 2017. Google today dedicates him a beautiful doodle on his 72^nd birthday.

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