Danielle Wong : part one

Danielle Wong is the author of the poetry collection, Bubble Fusion, that portrays life with an autistic child. Her work has appeared in Montreal Writes, Tipton Poetry, Pendemic, Pine Cone Review (issues 1 and 2),  Chronicling the Days (Guernica Editions), Resistance (University of Regina Press), among others. Visit her at http://www.daniellewong.ca.

Photo credit: Ben Di Nunzio @dinunziophotography 

What are you working on?

I am currently working on a chapbook about Holodomor, which is also known as the Great Famine of Soviet Ukraine in 1932-1933, and the events leading up to it. Some of the poems are based on fact; others are based on imaginings of what happened and how people must have felt.

I know it is odd that someone who is neither Russian nor Ukrainian would write poetry based on historical events that happened a hundred years ago. So, what gave me the idea to do this?

I grew up in an area where there were many Polish and Ukrainian people. I remember kids saying not to talk to their grandparents about their homeland; it was a touchy subject. This piqued my interest in knowing what had happened to their grandparents. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to approach the topic, especially since classmates often said not to bring it up.

Many years later, I became friends with a wonderful woman who happened to be Ukrainian. She knew what had happened and told me about it.

Oddly enough, a few years after befriending her, Holodomor was finally in the news. The event was getting recognition of its existence, although some people still denied it ever happened. What I couldn’t understand was how everybody either believed the event happened or believed it was nothing more than a hoax, a non-existent event that deserves no attention.

I started paying attention to what was being said in the news. Some places were more accepting of the fact it happened, while other places eventually gave way in recognition or simply paid lip service to its existence.

I started reading anything I could find online and looking at pictures. My friend gave directed me to wonderful books, such as Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine by Anne Applebaum. it seemed obvious to me that Holodomor did happen. It felt like it could have been avoided. I understood, finally, why my classmates often said not to speak with their grandparents about life back in Ukraine. It is incredibly how many atrocities were committed. It was unbelievable. 

I feel more people need to know about Holodomor, how it came about, how horrible it was, so that we can, hopefully, not repeat history. I know that is rather naïve on my part, but maybe if I can express the horrors in another light someone will learn the lesson ahead of time and be able to put a stop to similar events.