JAPANESEJCANADIANS HAVE JOY KOGAWA," says Paul Yee, author of Saltwater City: An Illustrated History of the Chinese in Vancouver (D&M $29.95), "The Mennonites have Rudy Wiebe. Jews in Canada have Mordecai Richler. "But so far Chinese-Canadians have not produced a major Canadian writer. I think that's largely because we're less familiar with our history here than other ethnic groups." Born and raised in Vancouver's Chinatown, Yee has been spreading the word about Chinese-Canadian history since undertaking a community history project with the Chinese Cultural Centre. He hopes Saltwater City will give Chinese-Canadians more emotional attachment to their history. "And in turn, I hope that emotionalism can help produce some important Chinese-Canadian writers." In keeping with Yee's hopes, lawyer Bennett Lee and poet Jim Wong-Chu are collecting material for a first-ever anthology of Chinese-Canadian writing.

[Spring / BCBW 1989]