Rita Wong

Last updated
Rita Wong
Born1968
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
GenrePoetry
Website
blogs.eciad.ca/ritawong

Rita Wong (born 1968) is a Canadian poet.

Biography

Wong grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. [1] She is the author of multiple books of poetry, including monkeypuzzle, forage, and undercurrent. Her work investigates the relationships between social justice, ecology, decolonization, and contemporary poetics. Wong is an associate professor at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, teaching Critical and Cultural Studies. [2] She has developed a course on Cultivating Ecological, Cross-Cultural, and Interdisciplinary Contemplations of Water. She has also been a visiting instructor at the University of Miami. [3]

Contents

Education

Wong graduated with a BA (Hons) in 1990 from the University of Calgary. She received master's degrees in 1992 from the University of Alberta and in 1996 from the University of British Columbia. In 2002 she received her PhD from Simon Fraser University. [2]

Published works

monkeypuzzle

Wong's first poetry collection, monkeypuzzle, was published by Press Gang in 1998. Reviewer Sook C. Kong in Herizons called it "a huge achievement." [4] Mark Libin for Canadian Literature agreed that the collection "does indeed, as the book jacket declares, announce a promising new voice in Canadian literature." [5] Wong's poems in the volume address her identity as a bisexual Asian woman. [4]

forage

forage, a second collection, was published in 2007; it explores how ecological crises relate to the injustices of the international political landscape. In Wong's words, "the next shift may be the biggest one yet, the union of the living, from mosquito to manatee to mom." Aaron Giovannone in Canadian Literature called the book "a dynamic mixture of styles .... [that] coheres because of the author's voice, which is emboldened by a sense of sheer affront and the need to find "ground to push against, red earth, / bloody earth, stolen earth."" [6] The book won the 2008 Dorothy Livesay Prize. [7]

Wong and the environment

Wong's poetry often addresses her relationship with land and local watersheds. Her poems show a close connection with nature and a support for local product, while expressing distaste for genetically modified foods. In forage, her poem 'the girl who ate rice almost every day' encourages the reader to look up Monsanto in the US patent database, and see how many patents there are for genetically modified foods, including the type of foods affected. There is also a poem, 'canola queasy' dedicated to Percy Schmeiser, the Saskatchewan farmer sued by Monsanto because he intentionally propagated genetically engineered canola that had blown into his fields. Her work challenges the reader to think about how they affect their environment. For instance, in 'sort by day burn by night' Wong brings attention to Guiyu village, a small village in China whose main profit comes from disassembling circuit boards, usually with a sharp rock because they cannot afford a hammer. When asked about her own computer use Wong notes, "as someone who relies heavily on computers, I am implicated in the degradation and eventual destruction of ecosystems (mining for coltan)", but writes to try to "reconcile [her] intent (to work toward peace and social justice) with [her] consumption patterns as a citizen in North America". [8]

Wong's prose shares her experiences with watersheds in locations such as the Salish Sea, [9] the Peace Valley, [10] [11] Wet'suwet'en territory, [12] [13] and the Athabasca Rivershed. [14]

Bibliography

Books authored

Books edited

Journal articles

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References

  1. ↑ "Rita Wong". Poetry In Voice. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Rita Wong". Asian Heritage in Canada. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  3. ↑ "Rita Wong". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  4. 1 2 Sook C Kong (1999-04-01). "MONKEYPUZZLE POEMS". Herizons .
  5. ↑ Mark Libin. "Asian Canadian Literature". Canadian Literature (163): 204–6. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ Aaron Giovannone. "What Poetry Does". Canadian Literature (199): 221–223. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  7. ↑ Forage at Harbour Publishing
  8. ↑ Rita Wong interview at 12 or 20 questions
  9. ↑ Wong, Rita (24 September 2019). "Lessons from Prison: A Shackled Pipeline Protester Reflects". The Tyee. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  10. ↑ Wong, Rita Wong (30 July 2020). "What I learned about violence in B.C.'s Peace Valley". Canada's National Observer. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  11. ↑ "BC Hydro targets eagles' homes in Peace River Valley with Site C prep". rabble.ca. 12 August 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Wong, Rita (8 January 2019). "We can all learn from Wet'suwet'en laws". Canada's National Observer. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  13. ↑ "Reflections on the power of the Unist'ot'en Camp". rabble.ca. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "A healing walk around the tar sands dead zone". rabble.ca. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  15. ↑ by Rita Wong: "Decolonizasian: Reading First Nations and Asian Relations in Literature", in Canadian Literature, 199 (Winter 2008): 158-80. Accessed September 1, 2019
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