Mata Ashita is an intergenerational writing circle for Japanese Canadians and a space for connection during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting January 9 and continuing on the first Saturday of each month in Spring and Summer 2021, Mata Ashita will host Japanese Canadian artists over Zoom and invite the community to participate in an online creative writing workshop inspired by their work. We are excited to announce the first three speakers of our six-month program, supported by the Tomoko Makabe Legacy Fund to honour her contribution to Japanese Canadian research and writing.
| January 9 | Joy Kogawa |
| February 6 | Sally Ito |
| March 6 | Michael Prior |
The workshops begin at 12PM PST/3PM EST and feature a 30-minute Q&A followed by an hour-long writing workshop. Each session will be led by an experienced writing-for-wellness facilitator and will include a community support specialist.
We hope that these workshops will help us engage in meaningful conversations around creativity, connection, and mental health, especially at a time when it is harder than ever for us to be together. We are also looking forward to highlighting classic Japanese Canadian works and new material from rising stars in the literary community.
Mata Ashita means see you tomorrow, and for us, that means a promise to take care of ourselves and each other during this difficult time. Japanese Canadian writing has long been a medium through which our community has found incredible power and meaning, and we hope to continue this tradition with writers new and old.
Get your free tickets now for our first session with Joy Kogawa on January 9th, 2021 at 12PM PST/3PM EST. We look forward to seeing you there!
