Celebrated author Wayson Choy came to UTSC Wednesday to speak about Leadership and talk about the background behind his new memoir Not Yet. Subtitled A Memoir of Living and Not Dying, this latest book talks about Choy’s two near-death experiences and how he discovers the importance of a chosen extended family, luck, and the realization that love has no rules. The Varsity sat down with him before the talk.
The Varsity: In the book, Chapter 1 starts with you talking about the voices of ghosts who visited you at St. Michael’s Hospital. Were they speaking to you in Toisanese [a dialect of Standard Cantonese] or English?
Wayson Choy: I heard them in the voices of family members and it was in Toisanese. It’s interesting; I discovered a dual process happens. If I see the face, I will hear the voice in Toisanese.
But if I just know that there are messages, it comes in English. If my mother spoke to me about that, then it was in Chinese, but if it was someone from the past it was mostly in English, because that’s the bias in my head. But definitely different voices, especially when you’re doped.
TV: Was there anyone from your family or extended that you were surprised to receive support from?
WC: I wasn’t in the end, after realizing that they would be there, I never felt they wouldn’t be there. I think if I was there for 48 hours and no one showed up I don’t know what would have happened. But then friends came and called themselves family and got into the ICU ward and they were very firm. I was told eventually they had to post a list.
Most of these people were Caucasian and only two or three were Asian. For me it was very powerful to discover in many ways you might have to die alone because you have to do it yourself, but you don’t have to die not knowing you were loved.
TV: With this being the second time you’re speaking at UTSC and your regular appearances at other festivals, what keeps drawing you back?
WC: I’m asked and you want to connect with your readers and who they are. I’m so happy that people of all orientations and ages read my book and they connect to it. Because that’s the test of whether your writing a) is good enough and b) reaching people the way you hope they’ll read your writing.
TV: You mention orientation and that’s definitely a topic theme in the Jade Peony and Not Yet. What do you say to the idea that people see you as one of the few gay East-Asian writers? The idea that someone can be gay, be a writer and be successful isn’t a very common in this community.
WC: Well it was a new concept to me too, now that I think of it. When I first realized who I was, I wasn’t ashamed it as I was fearful of it, because that’s new territory. Remember I grew up in the dark ages of the 1940s and 50s, before the language was made healthy, the language before was always condemning. You need to have your own sense of self so you can be yourself. People you know will either take it or leave it. Those who leave it I’m grateful. And those who knew that love had no rules stuck by me and basically said ‘You are who you are, let me tell you who I am.’ And then I heard some outstanding things.
TV: Why do you think queer literature is mostly written by Caucasians?
WC: They have more examples. And don’t forget they have a community of like-minded same-skin readers. If you’re Asian looking for something like that, the Asian culture in this country doesn’t have a culture of reading or writers.
If I was Jewish and I wrote my books, I would sell 10 times the number. But Chinese people don’t read books.
But I’m finding my audience now because young people have discovered if you want to know the truth about being human, it’s seen in creative fiction and non-fiction. If want to know the facts about investment, if you trust it anymore, go ahead.
When I hear from someone like you, I’m happy. Rather one of you than 100 people who read the book out of curiosity, because you’re reading with me, not as some freak thing you did in your spare time.
