{"id":6274,"date":"2015-05-05T19:20:06","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T23:20:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/library.ryerson.ca\/asianheritage\/?page_id=6274"},"modified":"2026-01-15T18:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T23:22:24","slug":"jack-wang","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/authors\/jack-wang\/","title":{"rendered":"Jack Wang"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jack Wang and his twin brother Holman<\/a> were born in Taiwan and moved with their family to Vancouver while they were still infants. Jack earned a B.Sc. in biology and anthropology from the University of Toronto in 1994 followed by an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arizona in 1997. He earned a Ph.D. in English with an emphasis on creative writing from the Florida State University in 2006. Jack Wang is currently an associate professor in the Dept. of Writing at Ithaca College in New York state. Jack and Holman have attained some acclaim as the co-creators of the twelve-word board books for young children in the Cozy Classics series and the Star Wars Epic Yarns series. They told Marsha Lederman of the Globe and Mail<\/em> that Jack “takes first crack” at the stories while Holman takes a lead role in creating and photographing most of the felt figures used to tell the stories.
The publication of his short story collection We Two Alone<\/em> promises to bring his previously published, acclaimed stories to a wider audience. His story “The Nature of Things” that was first published in The Malahat Review<\/em> was shortlisted for The Journey Prize (v. 29)<\/a> for 2017. His story “The Night of Broken Glass” was shortlisted for the 2014 Commonwealth Short Story Prize<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: C. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2017.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Emily Bront\u00eb’s Jane Eyre<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Herman Melville’s Moby Dick<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2012.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Jane Austen’s Emma<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2012.
PZ7.W2136 P75 2012<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics: Victor Hugo’s Les Mis\u00e9<\/strong>rables<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
[Vancouver]: Simply Read Books, 2013.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Riveter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Toronto: House of Anansi Press, 2025.
PS8645.A532 R58 2025<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Vancouver, 1942. Josiah Chang arrives in the bustling city ready to serve his country in the war against fascism, but Chinese Canadians are barred from joining the army out of fear they might expect citizenship in return. So, Josiah heads to the shipyard to find work as a riveter, fastening together the ribs and steel plates of Victory ships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One night, Josiah spots Poppy singing at a navy club. Despite their different backgrounds, they fall for each other instantly and begin a starry-eyed romance that lasts until the harsh reality of their situation is made clear. Determined to prove himself, Josiah takes a train to Toronto where he\u2019s finally given the chance to enlist. After volunteering for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and jumping into Normandy on D-Day, he must fight through the battlefields of Europe to make it back to the woman he loves. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Star Wars Epic Yarns: A New Hope<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n

Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything \u2014 the clouds in the winter sky, the \u201cfirework\u201d display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Princess<\/em> Leia sends a hologram message through R2-D2, Luke Skywalker will learn<\/em> how to use a lightsaber, and our heroes<\/em> triumph.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Star Wars Epic Yarns: Return of the Jedi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n

Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything \u2014 the clouds in the winter sky, the \u201cfirework\u201d display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monster<\/em> Jabba is encountered, C-3PO conducts story time<\/em>, and there is a happy<\/em> ending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Juvenile, Board book)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Star Wars Epic Yarns: The Empire Strikes Back<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Co-creator: Holman Wang.
San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n

Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything \u2014 the clouds in the winter sky, the \u201cfirework\u201d display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke meets his teacher<\/em> Yoda, Han Solo makes a friend<\/em>, and there is a lightsaber duel with a Sith Lord in the dark<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction (Short stories)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We Two Alone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Toronto: House of Anansi, 2020.
PS8645.A532 W4 2020<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n

Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything \u2014 the clouds in the winter sky, the \u201cfirework\u201d display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Set on five continents and spanning nearly a century, We Two Alone<\/em> traces the long arc and evolution of the Chinese immigrant experience. A young laundry boy risks his life to play organized hockey in Canada in the 1920s. A Canadian couple gets caught in the outbreak of violence in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The consul general of China attempts to save lives following Kristallnacht in Vienna. A family struggles to buy a home in South Africa, during the rise of apartheid. An actor in New York struggles to keep his career alive while yearning to reconcile with his estranged wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the vulnerable and disenfranchised to the educated and elite, the characters in this extraordinary collection embody the diversity of the diaspora at key moments in history and in contemporary times. Jack Wang has crafted deeply affecting stories that not only subvert expectations but contend with mortality and delicately draw out the intimacies and failings of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards and Honours<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2020 Danuta Gleed Literary Award<\/a> (Winner)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Anthology (Short story)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

“The Nature of Things” was first published in the autumn 2016 issue of the journal The Malahat Review<\/em>. It was a finalist for the 2017 awarding of The Journey Prize. It appeared in The Journey Prize: Stories: The Best of Canada’s New Writers<\/a> (Vol. 29. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2017).
PS8329.J68<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jack Wang personal website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Simply Read Books<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Chronicle Books<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cozy Classics<\/a> website<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher House of Anansi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Wang faculty page<\/a> at Ithaca College<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jack Wang and his twin brother Holman were born in Taiwan and moved with their family to Vancouver while they were still infants. Jack earned a B.Sc. in biology and anthropology from the University of Toronto in 1994 followed by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6274","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21422,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6274\/revisions\/21422"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}