From Yoriko Gillard:
Who decides what is important in our lives?
What is important in our lives during times of hardship?
Where do we feel most comfortable to be honest with ourselves?
Why do we share our stories with others?
Who do we trust in deep grief?
We will share our stories of hardship and resilience in life. We look forward to connecting with you poetically and creatively.

Gillard. Y. (2016). Evening of Namiemachi, Fukushima. Japan
About the event:
This event evolved from Yoriko Gillard’s social activist activities KIZUNA as an artist, poet, researcher, and teacher. The event includes a poetry workshop by Dr. Carl Leggo, a professor and poet, and heartfelt stories offered by graduate students, researchers, artists, musicians, poets, mothers, and teachers.
Date: Wednesday July 19, 2017
Time: 4:00pm – 7:30pm
Place: Multipurpose Room (Rm. 2012), Educational Centre at Ponderosa Commons
Address: 6445 University Boulevard, UBC
Email: yorikogillard@gmail.com
Storytellers:
Lori Caviggia / Yoriko Gillard / Christine Kondo / Kate McCabe & Renata Aebi /
Amber Moore / Carolyn Neapole / Bonnie Nish / Seonjeong Yi
Additional Invitation:
Yoriko Gillard is examining human trust through her contemporary art practices: KIZUNA. As this year marks the 75th anniversary of the incarceration of Japanese Canadians and Canada celebrates a 150th anniversary, she would like to think about our rights and trustworthy relationships by collaborating with you for her future artwork. If you wish, you can bring a short poem about hardship and resilience, and anonymously place it in the “KIZUNA Box” to become part of Yoriko’s collaborative artwork which will commemorate the Japanese Canadians who lost their Canadian rights during and after WWII. (Donated poetry will be included in Yoriko’s artwork without authors’ names.)
This event is supported by the Department of Language and Literacy Education, UBC, and Language Sciences, UBC. It is part of the HEARTH Project: hear/heart/art/earth, conducted by Yoriko Gillard.