Denise Chong
Author of The Concubine's Children: The Story of a Chinese Family Living On Two Sides Of The Globe
About the Author
Denise Chong was raised in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. Chong was an economist with the Department of Finance in Ottawa and an economic advisor to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. After a trip to see her relatives in China, Chong wrote the story of her grandmother's horrific life as an show more adolescent concubine sold to an immigrant in Vancouver. The story first appeared in Saturday Night Magazine and was later expanded into its book form, The Concubine's Children. Chong is also the editor of The Penguin Anthology of Stories by Canadian Women. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Denise Chong, Oct. 5, 2009, University of British Columbia, Canada about the story of the man who defaced Chairman Maos portrait during the protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989
Works by Denise Chong
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Chong, Denise
- Birthdate
- 1953-06-09
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Canada
- Birthplace
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Places of residence
- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Beijing, China - Education
- University of British Colombia (BA|Economics|1975)
University of Totonto (MA|Economics and Public Policy|1978) - Occupations
- economist
political adviser - Relationships
- Smith, Roger (CTV correspondent) (husband)
- Organizations
- Task Force on the Participation of Visible Minorities in the Federal Public Service
McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
National Advisory Board on Culture Online - Awards and honors
- honorary doctorate, University of Northern British Columbia
- Short biography
- Born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1953, Chong was raised in Prince George.[1] She worked as an economist with the Department of Finance. From 1980 to 1984, she served in the Prime Minister's Office as an economics advisor to late Pierre Trudeau.
Her career in writing began with the discovery of her family's roots in China, which led to her memoir, The Concubine's Children: Portrait of a Family Divided, which won the City of Vancouver Book Award in 1994,[2] the Edna Staebler Award,[3] and the VanCity Book Prize, and was for 93 weeks on the bestseller list of The Globe and Mail. Her adaptation of her memoir for the stage premiered at Nanaimo's Port Theatre in 2004. Her second book is The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the Photograph, and the Vietnam War. Both books were finalists for the Governor-General's Literary Non-Fiction Award, have been translated into several languages.
Denise Chong has continued her involvement in public life. She has served on many public boards, task forces, and committees, including the Task Force on the Participation of Visible Minorities in the Federal Public Service, the National Advisory Board on Culture Online, and the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada. Chong has an honorary doctorate from the University of Northern British Columbia.
Chong lives in Ottawa, Ontario, with her husband, CTV reporter Roger Smith, and her two children, Jade and Kai.
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Reviews
The Girl in the Picture: The Story of Kim Phuc, the… by Denise Chong
I was surprised at how easy this was to read and how much background information there was. The families life and background are covered and so much on Vietnam after the war. Highly recommended.
In this book, Denise Chong tells the stories of various Chinese immigrants to Canada and how they established themselves and their families over the years, beginning around the 1950s. The stories are interesting -- some more so, but all provide an insight into what it was like for Chinese people to move here. They sometimes faced persecution in China; most also faced discrimination in Canada, ranging from schoolyard teasing to racist policies such as the head tax and restriction of immigrants. It is inspirational to see how hard these people worked to make a life for themselves and their families, while often also sending money back to family in China. The writing is in a journalistic style -- not a lot of descriptive narrative: Ms. Chong lets the stories speak for themselves, which works well in this case. I only wish there had been some kind of family/relationship tree as some of the people in various stories were related and it was difficult to keep the relationships straight.… (more)
This is a biography of three generations of a Chinese-Canadian family. Chan Sam came to Canada and left his Chinese wife at home, but soon brought a beautiful younger Chinese woman to Canada as his concubine: May-ying. May-ying gave Chan Sam 3 daughters; before the 3rd one (Hing) came along, the other two had been taken back to China to live with Chan Sam’s Chinese wife. Hing, the daughter who stayed in Canada, was mostly neglected by her drinking, gambling mother. Hing’s daughter, Denise, is the author of the book. The book does focus mostly on May-ying, but it also tells the story of the family in China, as well. I can’t recall the phrase in the book, but something along the lines of a split family.
I thought this was very good. It covers a good portion of the 20th century, so it also includes a bit of history of how Chinese people were treated in Canada, and North America, in general, over that century. The story was interesting, and it did primarily focus on the most interesting person, in my opinion, May-ying. There was also a nice set of photos included – photos of those in both Canada and China.… (more)
I thought this was very good. It covers a good portion of the 20th century, so it also includes a bit of history of how Chinese people were treated in Canada, and North America, in general, over that century. The story was interesting, and it did primarily focus on the most interesting person, in my opinion, May-ying. There was also a nice set of photos included – photos of those in both Canada and China.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 8
- Members
- 1,005
- Popularity
- #25,667
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 30
- ISBNs
- 47
- Languages
- 7
- Favorited
- 1
