"It elicits a sense of wondering surprise at unexpected combinations of words or at clinching assonances that suggest emotions without spelling them out. Her poems manage to tell stories without ever slipping into the narrative mode." The same critic went on to comment that even when confronted by the "most blatant injustices, [Kogawa] usually remains detached enough to instill humor in her indictment." Although said of her poetry, such a judgment can be passed on Kogawa's prose works as well. In addition to pursuing her career as a writer, Kogawa has turned her attention to political work on behalf of Japanese Canadian citizens and the underprivileged.
Born in Vancouver, Canada, in 1935, Kogawa lived in that city until World War II. Her father, Gordon Nakayama, was a minister and her mother a kindergarten teacher and musician. The family was torn apart in 1941 when they, along with thousands of other Japanese Canadians and Japanese Americans on the west coast of Canada and the United States, were evacuated and sent to internment camps in the interior. The Canadian government feared subversive acts by recent immigrants and even by those who, like Kogawa, were born in Canada.
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