Roy Akira Miki, (born 10 October 1942) is a Canadian poet, scholar, editor, and activist most known for his social and literary work.
Born in
Ste. Agathe, Manitoba
Ste. Agathe is a primarily francophone community in the Rural Municipality of Ritchot, Manitoba, Canada, located along the Red River.
Ste. Agathe is in the provincial riding of Morris and the federal riding of Provencher.
History
The village ...
to second generation Japanese-Canadian parents, Miki grew up on a sugar beet farm before moving to
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
. His family was forcibly relocated West to Manitoba where he was born in 1942 on said sugar beet farm, and interned during the Second World War. He earned his B.A. from the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Simon Fraser University, and Ph.D. from the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
. Miki taught contemporary literature at Simon Fraser University before retiring and holds the title of professor emeritus. He lives in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. In the 1980s, Miki was a "instrumental" in fighting for redress from the federal government for the internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War.
In 2002, Miki's book of poetry, ''Surrender'', won the Governor General's Literary Award for poetry. His poetry focuses on questions about identity, citizenship, race, and place. He is the author of the critical study, ''Broken Entries: Race, Subjectivity, Writing'' (1998), ''In Flux: Transnational Shifts in Asian Canadian Writing'' (2011), ''The Prepoetics of William Carlos Williams'' (1983), and an annotated bibliography of the poet and novelist ''George Bowering'' (1990).
In 2006, Miki was made a Member of the
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
and received the 20th annual
Gandhi Peace Award
The Gandhi Peace Award is an award and cash prize presented annually since 1960 by Promoting Enduring Peace to individuals for "contributions made in the promotion of international peace and good will." It is named in honor of Mohandas Karamch ...
for the truth, justice, human rights, and non-violence exemplified in his redress work. The same year, he also received the Thakore Visiting Scholar award and the Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy. In 2007, he was made a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...
. In 2009, he was made a Member of the
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier B ...
.
Works
Poetry
* 1991: ''Saving Face: Poems Selected, 1976–1988'', Winnipeg: Turnstone Press
* 1995: ''Random Access File'', Markham, ON: Red Deer Press
* 2001: ''Surrender'', Toronto: The Mercury Press, winner of the 2002 Governor General's Award for poetry
* 2006: ''There'', Vancouver: New Star Books
* 2011: ''Mannequin Rising'', Vancouver: New Star Books
* 2018: ''Flow: Poems Collected and New'' (edited by Michael Barnholden), Vancouver: Talonbooks
Critical studies
* 1983: ''The Prepoetics of William Carlos Williams'', Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press
* 1988: ''Tracing the Paths: Reading ≠ Writing'' The Martyrology, Vancouver: Talonbooks
* 1989: ''A Record of Writing: An Annotated and Illustrated Bibliography of George Bowering'', Vancouver: Talonbooks
* 2004: ''Redress: Inside the Japanese Canadian Call for Justice'', Vancouver: Raincoast Books
Editor
*1985: ''This Is My Own: Letters to Wes and Other Writings on Japanese-Canadians, 1941–1948'' by
Muriel Kitagawa Muriel may refer to:
Places
*Muriel de Zapardiel, a municipality in the province of Valladolid, Spain
*Muriel, Zimbabwe, a settlement
*Muriel Lake, British Columbia, Canada
*Muriel Lake (Alberta), Canada
*Muriel Peak, a summit in California
Peopl ...
, Vancouver: Talonbooks
*1997: ''Pacific Windows: The Collected Poems of Roy Kiyooka'', Vancouver: Talonbooks
The Canadian Encyclopedia
''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage.
Available fo ...