Since the time I was supposed to have learned all about fractions and decimals, I have known I would not by a mathematician. I knew, too, I never would be a neurosurgeon, which my father once wanted me to be. But I never thought I would be a poet, either. As far as I can remember-and at least since fourth grade-I remember hating poetry. I can't say, honestly, that I read much of it, but I did not like what I read-especially when I had to read it aloud! So why do I write Poetry now?
One Saturday in September 1991 I attended a workshop on writing for children. When Myra Cohn Livingston, one of the speakers, began to talk about poetry, I started to doodle and daydream, since I knew I was not interested in poetry, of all things. But then she recited the title poem from her book There Was a Place and Other Poems and the next thing I knew, I was blinking back tears. What a powerful piece of writing!
Since then I have taken Myra Cohn Livingston's poetry classes five times. I have read thousands of poems, and written hundreds. I do not like many of the poems I read, and I do not like most of the poems I write. But when I stumble upon-or write-a poem I love, what a great day! The poems I love to read are like "There Was a Place": short, simple poems about family and everyday life. I like poems that are not afraid to talk about painful things. I like poems that make you laugh, or cry; poems that grab you and make you read them again; poems that make you think.
Poetry is, in a way, like shouting. Since you can't yell at the top of your lungs for a very long time, you have to decide what you really need to say, and say it quickly. In a way, too, I suppose, poetry is like math. An idea for a poem is a problem that needs to be solved-and for me, the fun is finding an answer.
Janet S. Wong was born in Los Angeles, the child of a Chinese immigrant father and a Korean immigrant mother. She graduated from UCLA summa cum laude with a BA in history and then obtained a JD from Yale University Law School. After practicing law for a few years, she decided to devote her time to writing instead. Ms. Wong lives with her husband and son on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, Washington.
Good Luck Gold: And Other Poems. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1994.
A Suitcase of Seaweed: And Other Poems. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1996.
"The Curb: For Margaret McElderry," in Margaret K. McElderry: 25th Anniversary Booklet, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
In an article about Janet Wong, Patricia Austin spoke with both Myra Cohn Livingston, Wong's mentor, and Margaret McElderry, her editor, about Wong and her work.
"There was a quality to Wong's first collection Good Luck Gold, a quality to those poems that seemed to me [Margaret McElderry] very fresh and very honest-her reflection of the prejudices against an Asian child but no bitterness. I thought she was making a very interesting statement that a lot of children, whether they're Asian, black, or white, could relate to-about people being unkind. p.70
. . .
"They [many poets] play with words, but the difference between somebody like Janet Wong and a few others, is having something to say, a life experience that touches all of us and extends our life experience. That's what you try to get." p. 67-68.
From: Patricia Austin. "Janet Wong-The Making of a Poet," TALL: Teaching and Learning Literature with Children and Young Adults. Vol. 6, No. 4 (March/April 1997): 62-70.
"Fresh, honest, and not at all reverential, these poems are simple dramatic monologues about growing up Asian American. The lines are short and very easy to read; the voices are strongly personal. The ethnicity is physical and precise, but whether the subject is food, family, or immigration, Wong moves beyond stereotypes."
Booklist.
"This is a quiet collection of poems from Asian-American points of view; while the author generally employs the first person, the voices vary in experience, culture and opinion. Wong uses free verse, rhymed verse, haiku, and cinquains to address various subjects. . . .[This is] a pleasing collection understandable to readers of all backgrounds."
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.
"Neat, well-turned poems, and aphorisms, shaped into free verse by the author of Good Luck Gold and Other Poems
.. . "The imagery is choice, the thoughts pointed and careful, the vocabulary attractive: In many of the pieces comedy and delicacy mingle in a single line."
Kirkus Reviews. April 1, 1996, p. 539.
"Koreatown is growing, spreading-and 'splitting.' Korean women, furious with their families, come to the beauty salon to change their 'stubborn, straight, heavy hair' and get themselves a perm. The poems overlap their ethnicity and subject, of course, and young people will recognize many of the situations, whether Wong is imagining her parents' 'Love At First Sight' or chafing at their high expectations and their disappointment."
Booklist. April 1, 1996, p. 1362.
"Wong was born in America of Chinese and Korean heritage, but the basic subjects she addresses in neat stanzas of free verse aim at the heart of any family, any race. The quiet, touching poems are divided into three sections, each honoring another part of her ethnicity.
...
As an American, Wong writes poems of realization and identity. Whether the words are about customs or careers, they provide a sense of who the author has become because of her pride in her bloodlines. People may ask Asian-Americans 'Where are you from?' This collection, appropriate for YAs of any culture, may make this question less relevant and important as they realize the commonalties among cultures.
School Library Journal. September 1996, p. 237.
"The quiet, lyric poems acknowledge proudly, subtly, and with occasional touches of irony and humor the distinct strands within the weave of cultures of which she is a part. Her mother is the commanding figure of the Korean poems, first introduced as a laughing village girl meeting the man she will marry, then shown praying, styling hair, and toasting marshmallows-or perhaps grasshoppers!--around a campfire. In the other two sections the author reveals more of her inner self at epiphanous moments: while pouring tea for her grandfather 'like an offering to the gods,' for example, or upon recognizing another Asian face in a room full of strangers. A few of the poems are set in rhymes, but the best of them are written in free verse that is wistful, revealing, and direct: 'Our family/is a quilt/of odd remnants/patched together/in a strange/pattern,/threads fraying,/fabric wearing thin--/but made to keep/its warmth/even in bitter/cold.'
Horn Book. July/August, 1996, p. 475-76.
"Her poems, generally written from the child's point of view and mostly free verse, are simple and accessible, and their images are sometimes vivid (as in 'Campfire,' when the narrator thinks for a moment that her mother is going to produce grasshoppers, rather than marshmallows, to toast over the fire).
. . .
"Kids, particularly younger readers, who like their poetry easy without wanting it frivolous will appreciate the thoughtful but uncomplicated verses here.
Bulletin of the Children's Book Center. April 1996, p. 282.
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Created April 6, 1997, Last Updated November 15, 2003