Overview

With Evacuations, Kevin Irie weaves a poetic documentary for readers, capturing the personal and political histories of the Japanese-Canadian internment in British Columbia during World War II. The resulting poems oscillate between the lyric mode and techniques of erasure poetry to highlight the dehumanizing nature of public decrees and government notices. Irie deconstructs the Canadian state’s racist policies, creating a record of painful memories replete with archival resonances. The collection offers a rich tapestry of historical voices, revealing the devastating effects of the internment and preserving the stories of a generation gradually slipping into silence.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kevin Irie
Publisher:   University of Alberta Press
Imprint:   University of Alberta Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 0.60cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.140kg
ISBN:  

9781772128536

ISBN 10:   1772128538
Pages:   100
Publication Date:   05 February 2026
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

On Reading Joy Kogawa I. OF THE WHITE MAN’S WELL BEING What I Remember (Hearing) of the Evacuation Mottainai Of The White Man’s Well Being Of The Workers at The Great Northern Cannery, West Vancouver Flounders Low Tide Under The Great Northern Cannery The Higher the Boat…(An Alzheimer Elegy) Family Stories: A Powell Street Kitchen Sandy Cove Haiku, West Vancouver, 1938 Victory Bonds for Interned Japanese-Canadians TO MALE ENEMY ALIENS NOTICE TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE RACIAL ORIGIN Pre-War Photos Seizure Cento / Voice and Echo Chattels Baggage for Interned Japanese-Canadians FINAL EVACUATION REGISTRATION Of All Persons of Japanese Origin How To Pack for Internment (150 Pounds) Tashme Butterbur for Interned Japanese-Canadians Coltsfoot for Interned Japanese-Canadians (Yellow Peril) Common Burdock for Interned Japanese-Canadians Fiddleheads for Interned Japanese-Canadians Internment Camp, The Communal Bath House The Autograph Book, New Denver, Summer 1943 Duckface (From a School Photo) Of the Japanese-Canadians Who Built the Trans Canada Highway A Carving from Solsqua Road Camp, 1942 On Asking Why Japanese-Canadian Internees Never Tried to Escape To All Persons of Japanese Racial Origin Now Resident in British Columbia A Displacement of Evacuated Texts In Late 1946 Popoff Was Dismantled (13 Ways of Looking at an Internment) East of the Rockies Owned II. AFTER R.C.M.P. File #10349 (Sonnet for A Grandmother) Of the Internees Who Stayed In New Denver, B.C. Post-War Photo: A Funeral in New Denver The Internet is our Photo Album Donald Trump Has Asian Eyes Departing for Pearson Airport Post Script: A Japanese-Canadian History Map Notes and Acknowledgments

Reviews

""Evacuations by Kevin Irie doesn’t just take my breath away, it breathes into me with the scent of the Rocky mountains—Slocan, Bayfarm, Tashme, Lemon Creek, Sandon. It’s the ongoing womb and wound, the inhaling ex-haling of our JapaneseCanadianess."" Joy Kogawa, author of Obasan

""Evacuations by Kevin Irie doesn’t just take my breath away, it breathes into me with the scent of the Rocky mountains—Slocan, Bayfarm, Tashme, Lemon Creek, Sandon. It’s the ongoing womb and wound, the inhaling ex-haling of our JapaneseCanadianess."" Joy Kogawa, author of Obasan

Author Information

Kevin Irie is a Japanese-Canadian poet whose works have been translated into Spanish, French, and Japanese. In 2024, he won Grain Magazine’s poetry contest, took second prize in Prairie Fire’s poetry contest, third prize in The New Quarterly’s poetry contest, and had Honourable Mention in Grain’s 2024 Hybrid Contest for Experimental Writing. His book, Viewing Tom Thomson: A Minority Report, was a finalist for the Acorn-Plantos People’s Poetry Award and the Toronto Book Award. The Tantramar Re-Vision was picked by the CBC as one of their Spring Poetry Books in 2021. He is in The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration (2025) and Best Canadian Poetry 2026 (2025). He lives in Toronto.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Countries Available

All regions