Caroline Wong was born in China and moved with her family when an early teen to Vancouver’s Chinatown in the 1950s. Wong is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio. Her poetry and fiction has been published in many Canadian literary magazines. She is now a resident of Burnaby, BC.
Poetry
Primal Sketches
Winnipeg: Signature Editions, 2021.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
The poems in Primal Sketches evolve from Caroline Wong’s own experience as a child born in a small village in China and later immigrating to Canada. We come to understand that this uprooting ultimately shapes these poems, and it is this experience that provides the author with a unique sense of insight and empathy, as she explores the most current concerns of environmental crisis, global conflicts and displacement.
Fueled by our perpetual need to find meaning and purpose in our lives, Primal Sketches is a book that considers how our actions profoundly affect the lives of fellow humans as well as the natural world around us, and how our desire to connect, care, and empathize are constantly interrupted by feelings of insecurity and growing anxiety about our uncertain future in a world that is continually bombarded by global conflicts and environmental crises. However, our determination to carry on provides glimpses of hope amid brutal and unthinkable actions and these bright, tender moments reveal our capacity to learn, understand, and love—the essence of our humanity.