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How do you think being an immigrant shapes someone’s life experiences? What about being the child of an immigrant? The Japanese American poet, writer, editor, and professor Garrett Hongo is a Yonsei, or a fourth-generation Japanese American. Hongo’s poems and books focus on Asian American history and experiences.
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Jetzt kostenlos anmeldenHow do you think being an immigrant shapes someone’s life experiences? What about being the child of an immigrant? The Japanese American poet, writer, editor, and professor Garrett Hongo is a Yonsei, or a fourth-generation Japanese American. Hongo’s poems and books focus on Asian American history and experiences.
Fig. 1 - While the American state’s name is Hawaii, Hawaiʻi is one of the islands that make up Hawaii.
Garrett Kaoru Hongo was born in 1951 in Volcano, Hawaiʻi. He grew up in O‘ahu. He is a fourth-generation Japanese American, also known as a Yonsei.
What is a Yonsei?
Yonsei is a term that refers to the great-grandchildren of Japanese immigrants. The term is used primarily in North America and Latin America, as there were a large number of Japanese immigrants in countries such as Brazil, The United States, Canada, and Peru. The ancestors of the Yonsei who emigrated from Japan mostly left between the 1880s and 1924. There are Japanese terms to refer to each generation:
Garrett Hongo’s father worked as an electrician and his mother worked as a personnel analyst. He had a middle-class upbringing on the North Shore of O‘ahu and Los Angeles, California. Hongo's poetry is greatly inspired by the places of his childhood, as well as his Japanese heritage and immigrant experiences.
Fig. 2 - Garrett Hongo moved from Hawaii to Los Angeles when he was six.
Hongo received his BA from Pomona College in Claremont, California. The poet received his Master of Fine Arts in English from the University of California at Irvine. While completing his master’s degree, Hongo closely studied poets such as C.K. Williams, Howard Moss, and Charles Wright.
Hongo later moved to the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, he founded a theater group called the Asian Exclusion Act.
The Asian Exclusion Act
Hongo's poetry is influenced by the history of anti-Asian immigration policies in the United States. The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Asian Exclusion Act, was a law that prevented immigration from Asia by setting a very small quota of people who could move to the United States from the Eastern Hemisphere.
The Asian Exclusion Act was preceded by anti-Asian legislation including:
Garrett Hongo began publishing poetry collections in the early 1980s and has continued publishing significant works in poetry and nonfiction writing since. In 1982 he published his first poetry collection Yellow Light, followed by The River of Heaven in 1988. The River of Heaven won the Lamont Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.
The poet has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Watson Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Garrett Hongo is currently a distinguished creative writing professor at the University of Oregon. Hongo directed the University of Oregon’s Program in Creative Writing from 1989 until 1993. The poet lives with his wife and children in Eugene, Oregon.
Garrett Hongo's most recent books include the poetry book Coral Road: Poems (2011) and a collection of Essays about literary traditions and Asian American histories called The Mirror Diary (2017).
Garrett Hongo has written several poetry collections and a few nonfiction books. In addition, he has edited significant anthologies of Asian American writing.
Garrett Hongo’s poetry collections include:
Fig. 3 - Hongo's ancestors came to Hawaii to work on plantations.
Hongo also wrote a poetry book called The Buddha Bandits Down Highway 99 (1978) in collaboration with fellow Asian American poets Alan Chong Lau and Lawson Fusao Inada.
Garett Hongo’s nonfiction books are:
Hongo has edited many anthologies that focus on Asian American experiences including:
Amy Tan is famous for writing the 1989 novel The Joy Luck Club, which is about four Chinese immigrant families living in San Francisco. The Joy Luck Club was made into a film that premiered in 1993.
Some poems by Garrett Hongo include:
A deeper analysis of quotes from these poems follows below!
Garrett Hongo's writing often focuses on mundane moments of everyday life. He ties together natural and urban imagery to paint poignant scenes and stories. At the beginning of his poem "The Legend," Hongo illustrates the simple joy of an elderly man who has just gone to do his laundry on a snowy day at sundown:
Hongo writes by painting landscapes and emphasizing geography. In his poetry, people are greatly shaped by their geographic surroundings. This can be seen in his long poem, "Cruising 99," which takes the reader on a journey through California. The poem begins:
Hongo's writing style is narrative and deeply personal. He explores ideas about race from specific, intimate perspectives. In the poem "Kubota to Zbigniew Herbert in Lvov, 1941" the poet explores his great grandfather's hurt and dismay at being cast as an American traitor when all he did was show love for the Hawaiian land and his community:
Garrett Hongo is known for the poetry books Yellow Light, The River or Heaven, and Coral Road: Poems. He is also known for the poems, "The Legend," "Cruising 99," and "Kubota to Zbigniew Herbert in Lvov, 1941."
Garett Hongo grew up in a middle-class family.
Garrett Hongo's writing style is narrative, deeply personal, and rich in imagery.
Garrett Hongo is an Asian American poet, writer, professor, and editor.
Garrett Hongo currently lives in Eugene, Oregon. He is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Oregon.
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SIGNUP SIGNUPFlashcards in Garrett Hongo23
Start learningWhere was Garrett Hongo born?
Hawaii
Where did Hongo's great grandparents immigrate to America from?
Japan
Which of the following is Garrett Hongo not?
a doctor
What is the term "Yonsei" used to describe?
Forth generation Japanese Americans
Which two places did Hongo grow up in?
Oahu, Hawaii and Los Angeles, California
True or False: Hongo's poetry is greatly inspired by the places of his childhood, as well as his Taiwanese heritage and immigrant experiences.
False
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