Latest news with #TheRiveter
Winnipeg Free Press
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Riveting wartime read next for book club
The Free Press Book Club and McNally Robinson Booksellers are pleased to welcome Vancouver-born, New York-based author Jack Wang to the next virtual meeting on Tuesday, August 26 at 7 p.m. to read from and discuss his historical-fiction novel The Riveter. Published by House of Anansi Press in February 2025, The Riveter explores the life of Josiah Chang, a Chinese-Canadian living in Vancouver in 1942. Because Chinese people were not allowed to join the army at that time (or become Canadian citizens, for that matter), Josiah is unable to enlist to serve in the Second World War, and instead becomes a riveter working on parts for cargo ships. Shortly after, he meets Poppy Miller and the two begin a whirlwind romance that is just as swiftly halted when Poppy's father expresses his disapproval. Holman Wang photo Jack Wang In order to prove his worth, Josiah figures out a way to get himself enlisted, and volunteers for the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, who jumped into Normandy on D-Day; he is one of few Chinese Canadians in the army at this time. Fighting battles on the field, as well as his own complex emotional battles — navigating a relationship with Poppy half a world away, dissecting feelings about his late father and examining his own place in Canada as a non-citizen putting his life on the line — Josiah presses on to find his way back home, wherever that means to him. In her Free Press review of The Riveter, Zilla Jones said the novel 'disrupts expectations of war novels, introducing us to a unique and unforgettable main character from a community whose contributions to Canada's war effort have too often been minimized or ignored' and called Wang's writing 'clear and confident; the story is compelling. 'It's also extremely relevant — a Canadian story by a Canadian author about a time when Canadians, if only temporarily, put aside their differences to fight a greater enemy. The Riveter is a riveting must-read for our times.' Wang will join Free Press literary editor Ben Sigurdson, McNally Robinson Booksellers co-owner Chris Hall and Free Press audience engagement manager Erin Lebar. He'll read from The Riveter, discuss the book and field questions from viewers and readers. Weekday Evenings Today's must-read stories and a roundup of the day's headlines, delivered every evening. Copies of The Riveter are available to purchase at McNally Robinson Booksellers; there's no cost to join the book club or virtual discussion. Video of the meeting will be available for replay on the Free Press YouTube channel following the event. To join the Free Press Book Club and for more information on current and future book picks, visit Book Club.
The Province
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Province
Second World War novel highlights 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and Vancouver shipyards
The Riveter offers up cross-cultural love story and a reminder that human rights are not to be taken for granted Author Jack Wang's debut novel The Riveter is a cross-cultural love story that begins in the shipbuilding yards of early 1940s Vancouver and then travels to the European Theatre of the Second World War. Photo: Holman Wang. Photo by Holman Wang / Holman Wang Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Jack Wang's debut novel The Riveter may be set during the Second World War, but several of its themes ring true today. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors A cross-cultural love story set in Vancouver and on European battlefields in the early 1940s, the story focuses on Chinese-Canadian Josiah Chang, a riveter working on Victory ships in a Vancouver shipyard, and office worker Poppy Miller, a jitney-driving singer with an independent streak as wide as the Burrard Inlet. They meet at the shipyard and fall in love. But the story is complicated by her father's disapproval and a law that says if Poppy marries Josiah, she has to give up her citizenship. The couple is separated after an incident at the shipyard sends Josiah into a life-changing rage. Having to flee, he heads east and manages to enlist and make his way into the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Formed in 1942, the unit engaged in key operations in the European theatre, playing a crucial role in the Allied invasion of Normandy during D-Day on June 6, 1944, and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I would love to think this is a novel for a time. On the one hand, it does dramatize the ways in which Canada has been an imperfect nation, like any nation. But at the same time, it also dramatizes, I think, our courageous spirit, our fighting spirit, the ways we sacrificed in the fight against fascism,' said Vancouver native Wang recently from Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a professor in the writing department at Ithaca College. 'It reminds us of how we forged our identity as a nation, which was largely through two world wars.' The Riveter by Jack Wang. Photo by Courtesy of House of Anansi / Courtesy of House of Anansi Wang's historically accurate story takes readers through paratrooper training in the U.S. and Britain, then right into the thick of the European war. 'A lot of Canadians aren't familiar with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. For example, many Americans know about Easy Company from Band of Brothers, but I don't know that all Canadians know that we had a famed parachute battalion of our own,' said Wang. 'I would love to think that this is a novel that can remind people of the sacrifices our country has made and remind us of who we are as a nation.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. One member of that famed unit, Richard Mar, a Chinese-Canadian private from Vancouver, was a key figure in propelling Wang forward with this story. 'There was a brief write-up about Richard Mar in a book called The Dragon And The Maple Leaf by Marjorie Wong,' said Wang adding that Josiah, who was a tree faller before becoming a riveter and a paratrooper, was inspired by the cartoon character Johnny Canuck. 'It's just a few brief paragraphs, but it describes how he served in the Ardennes and how he jumped into Germany. That really sort of was the first germ for the story. The idea of a Chinese-Canadian as a paratrooper.' While Josiah's struggles are real, and racism is around every corner, Poppy is also in a battle for independence and a life free from the expected norms of woman in the early part of the 20th century. 'Poppy is very much ahead of her time. Her desire for sexual freedom is a little ahead of her time, and they're both outsiders in society for different reasons,' said Wang. 'I think that's part of what allows them to connect and to understand each other better than they would have otherwise.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While the story lives in the past, Wang's view is very much a reminder that personal freedoms are always in the line of fire and should never be taken for granted. 'I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that, you know, a lot of what I was writing into ultimately was affected by events here in the U.S., including the Dobbs decision,' said Wang referencing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended the federal protection for abortion access that had been in place since Roe v. Wade in 1973. 'For me, the novel is very much a response to the taking away of freedoms that feels like it is happening all around me at the moment. So, I'm running very much against the current tide of what's going on in the world.' The historical part of this work of fiction is meticulous and fascinating. Whether Josiah is riveting a metal plate to 450-foot cargo ships, dancing at the Commodore Ballroom with Poppy, or digging trenches in European dirt, the reader is offered precise pictures of the past. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I read a lot of books,' said Wang whose previously published works include the award-winning short story collection We Two Alone, and the popular children's board book series Cozy Classics, which he created with his brother Holman Wang. One of those books was Boys Of The Clouds by Gary C. Boegel, which offered first-hand oral history from the actual 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. 'It really gives you a sense of the texture of the day-to-day experience,' said Wang, citing the unit's official war diary as a great resource. Wang also put his boots on the ground, travelling to Fort Benning, Georgia, where the unit trained prior to being shipped off to England. There, he saw the jump towers and the barracks that Canada's first airborne unit utilized. The shipyard part of the story is pulled from the history of the Burrard Dry Dock company, the busiest Canadian shipyard during the Second World War, producing well over 100 ships and employing 14,000 people, 1,000 of them women. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'They had a north yard in North Vancouver. But during the Second World War, they built the south yard on the south shore, False Creek,' said Wang. 'There were books written about the company, including one called Waterfront To Warfront by George Edwards.' A real gem discovered in his research journey was the house organ (a.k.a. the company newsletter called the Wallace Shipbuilder, named after the company's founding family). 'It was a monthly newsletter on all things related to the shipyard, from explaining how Victory ships were built here, to the bowling league results. And it just gave you a really fascinating time capsule of what it was like to be in the shipyard,' said Wang about the newsletters unearthed in the Vancouver Archive. 'They profiled workers, including Chinese-Canadians who worked in the shipyard as welders and so on. So that was just an amazing resource.' dgee@ Vancouver Canucks National Vancouver Canucks News Vancouver Canucks
National Post
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- National Post
Second World War novel highlights 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and Vancouver shipyards
Jack Wang's debut novel The Riveter may be set during the Second World War, but several of its themes ring true today. Article content Article content A cross-cultural love story set in Vancouver and on European battlefields in the early 1940s, the story focuses on Chinese-Canadian Josiah Chang, a riveter working on Victory ships in a Vancouver shipyard, and office worker Poppy Miller, a jitney-driving singer with an independent streak as wide as the Burrard Inlet. They meet at the shipyard and fall in love. Article content Article content But the story is complicated by her father's disapproval and a law that says if Poppy marries Josiah, she has to give up her citizenship. The couple is separated after an incident at the shipyard sends Josiah into a life-changing rage. Having to flee, he heads east and manages to enlist and make his way into the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Article content Formed in 1942, the unit engaged in key operations in the European theatre, playing a crucial role in the Allied invasion of Normandy during D-Day on June 6, 1944, and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. Article content 'I would love to think this is a novel for a time. On the one hand, it does dramatize the ways in which Canada has been an imperfect nation, like any nation. But at the same time, it also dramatizes, I think, our courageous spirit, our fighting spirit, the ways we sacrificed in the fight against fascism,' said Vancouver native Wang recently from Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a professor in the writing department at Ithaca College. 'It reminds us of how we forged our identity as a nation, which was largely through two world wars.' Article content Article content Wang's historically accurate story takes readers through paratrooper training in the U.S. and Britain, then right into the thick of the European war. Article content 'A lot of Canadians aren't familiar with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. For example, many Americans know about Easy Company from Band of Brothers, but I don't know that all Canadians know that we had a famed parachute battalion of our own,' said Wang. 'I would love to think that this is a novel that can remind people of the sacrifices our country has made and remind us of who we are as a nation.' Article content One member of that famed unit, Richard Mar, a Chinese-Canadian private from Vancouver, was a key figure in propelling Wang forward with this story. Article content 'There was a brief write-up about Richard Mar in a book called The Dragon And The Maple Leaf by Marjorie Wong,' said Wang adding that Josiah, who was a tree faller before becoming a riveter and a paratrooper, was inspired by the cartoon character Johnny Canuck. 'It's just a few brief paragraphs, but it describes how he served in the Ardennes and how he jumped into Germany. That really sort of was the first germ for the story. The idea of a Chinese-Canadian as a paratrooper.'
Vancouver Sun
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Second World War novel highlights 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and Vancouver shipyards
Jack Wang's debut novel The Riveter may be set during the Second World War, but several of its themes ring true today. A cross-cultural love story set in Vancouver and on European battlefields in the early 1940s, the story focuses on Chinese-Canadian Josiah Chang, a riveter working on Victory ships in a Vancouver shipyard, and office worker Poppy Miller, a jitney-driving singer with an independent streak as wide as the Burrard Inlet. They meet at the shipyard and fall in love. But the story is complicated by her father's disapproval and a law that says if Poppy marries Josiah, she has to give up her citizenship. The couple is separated after an incident at the shipyard sends Josiah into a life-changing rage. Having to flee, he heads east and manages to enlist and make his way into the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Formed in 1942, the unit engaged in key operations in the European theatre, playing a crucial role in the Allied invasion of Normandy during D-Day on June 6, 1944, and took part in the Battle of the Bulge. 'I would love to think this is a novel for a time. On the one hand, it does dramatize the ways in which Canada has been an imperfect nation, like any nation. But at the same time, it also dramatizes, I think, our courageous spirit, our fighting spirit, the ways we sacrificed in the fight against fascism,' said Vancouver native Wang recently from Ithaca, N.Y., where he is a professor in the writing department at Ithaca College. 'It reminds us of how we forged our identity as a nation, which was largely through two world wars.' Wang's historically accurate story takes readers through paratrooper training in the U.S. and Britain, then right into the thick of the European war. 'A lot of Canadians aren't familiar with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. For example, many Americans know about Easy Company from Band of Brothers, but I don't know that all Canadians know that we had a famed parachute battalion of our own,' said Wang. 'I would love to think that this is a novel that can remind people of the sacrifices our country has made and remind us of who we are as a nation.' One member of that famed unit, Richard Mar, a Chinese-Canadian private from Vancouver, was a key figure in propelling Wang forward with this story. 'There was a brief write-up about Richard Mar in a book called The Dragon And The Maple Leaf by Marjorie Wong,' said Wang adding that Josiah, who was a tree faller before becoming a riveter and a paratrooper, was inspired by the cartoon character Johnny Canuck. 'It's just a few brief paragraphs, but it describes how he served in the Ardennes and how he jumped into Germany. That really sort of was the first germ for the story. The idea of a Chinese-Canadian as a paratrooper.' While Josiah's struggles are real, and racism is around every corner, Poppy is also in a battle for independence and a life free from the expected norms of woman in the early part of the 20th century. 'Poppy is very much ahead of her time. Her desire for sexual freedom is a little ahead of her time, and they're both outsiders in society for different reasons,' said Wang. 'I think that's part of what allows them to connect and to understand each other better than they would have otherwise.' While the story lives in the past, Wang's view is very much a reminder that personal freedoms are always in the line of fire and should never be taken for granted. 'I don't want to give too much away, but I will say that, you know, a lot of what I was writing into ultimately was affected by events here in the U.S., including the Dobbs decision,' said Wang referencing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended the federal protection for abortion access that had been in place since Roe v. Wade in 1973. 'For me, the novel is very much a response to the taking away of freedoms that feels like it is happening all around me at the moment. So, I'm running very much against the current tide of what's going on in the world.' The historical part of this work of fiction is meticulous and fascinating. Whether Josiah is riveting a metal plate to 450-foot cargo ships, dancing at the Commodore Ballroom with Poppy, or digging trenches in European dirt, the reader is offered precise pictures of the past. 'I read a lot of books,' said Wang whose previously published works include the award-winning short story collection We Two Alone, and the popular children's board book series Cozy Classics, which he created with his brother Holman Wang. One of those books was Boys Of The Clouds by Gary C. Boegel, which offered first-hand oral history from the actual 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion. 'It really gives you a sense of the texture of the day-to-day experience,' said Wang, citing the unit's official war diary as a great resource. Wang also put his boots on the ground, travelling to Fort Benning, Georgia, where the unit trained prior to being shipped off to England. There, he saw the jump towers and the barracks that Canada's first airborne unit utilized. The shipyard part of the story is pulled from the history of the Burrard Dry Dock company, the busiest Canadian shipyard during the Second World War, producing well over 100 ships and employing 14,000 people, 1,000 of them women. 'They had a north yard in North Vancouver. But during the Second World War, they built the south yard on the south shore, False Creek,' said Wang. 'There were books written about the company, including one called Waterfront To Warfront by George Edwards.' A real gem discovered in his research journey was the house organ (a.k.a. the company newsletter called the Wallace Shipbuilder, named after the company's founding family). 'It was a monthly newsletter on all things related to the shipyard, from explaining how Victory ships were built here, to the bowling league results. And it just gave you a really fascinating time capsule of what it was like to be in the shipyard,' said Wang about the newsletters unearthed in the Vancouver Archive. 'They profiled workers, including Chinese-Canadians who worked in the shipyard as welders and so on. So that was just an amazing resource.' dgee@
CBC
16-02-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Jack Wang explores complexities of love and war in new novel set in Vancouver
It's 1942. Josiah Chang leaves his work as a tree faller in B.C.'s Cariboo for the big city — Vancouver — with plans to serve his country in the Second World War. But when that doesn't work out, he finds a job as a riveter, building ships, to support wartime efforts, instead. There, he meets a woman named Poppy, and their love is tested during a time when interracial relationships are, to put it politely, frowned upon. The Riveter author Jack Wang said he is fascinated with the involvement of Chinese-Canadians during the war, as it's something he never learned much about while growing up in Vancouver. "It just seemed like, especially since a lot of these veterans are no longer alive, that this was a story worth telling," he told CBC's North by Northwest host Margaret Gallagher. Wang said his character Josiah is based, at least in part, on Richard Mar, the only Chinese-Canadian who served in the First Canadian Parachute Battalion during the Second World War. "[Mar] was part of the Battle of the Bulge, and he jumped into Germany." Wang said. "That sort of forms the contours of the storyline for The Riveter." Josiah's initials, J.C., were chosen to honour Johnny Canuck, the Canadian version of Uncle Sam or John Bull, used to inspire during the war. And while Wang's latest work is a story of war, it's also a story of love. One of the first times Josiah sees Poppy, she's stepping out of a storage shed — and a man steps out behind her, hinting that something has happened between them. "She's a woman who's ahead of her time," Wang said. His inspiration for Poppy: Penelope in Homer's The Odyssey. "Penelope is this figure of faithfulness. She is this paragon of virtue, and that's her defining characteristic," Wang said. I was interested in a woman who was perhaps not so interested in waiting around for a man to come home from war, and a woman who valued her own needs and desires and how might that complicate a relationship." Heavily researched A great deal of research was done to paint an accurate picture of the time and places Josiah finds himself, Wang said; he poured through encyclopedias and historical documents, but he also physically visited places like Fort Benning, Ga., where some Canadian military members trained. "When I was describing, for example, the barracks at Fort Benning or the mess hall, I'm describing them from actually having seen them," he said. "Fortunately, Vancouver's a fairly well-documented city," Wang said.
