b. 1935
Biography
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, poet and novelist Joy Kogawa was sent with her family to an internment camp for Japanese-Canadians during World War II, and her writing often focuses on the lasting scars of racism. The Historic Joy Kogawa House — Kogawa’s childhood home, which was expropriated from her family during the war and nearly demolished in 2005 — operates a writer-in-residence program. Kogawa is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia.