Boy is it ever good to be lucky.That’s how Canadian writer Wayson Choy feels after passing each barrier put in front of him throughout life. Choy’s good luck streak doesn’t seem to be ending. He was recently awarded the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding long-time contributions to B.C. literature. He received $5,000 and a name plaque on the library’s Writers Walk of Fame.

“When I wrote my book, The Jade Peony (1995), it happened to become a best-seller. I came along at the time when people were more ready for stories like that,” says Choy. “But, I think that happened because there was now enough people interested in the history of Vancouver. Again, I was lucky. I wrote it at the right time.”

Choy defines being lucky as when you get something you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten by what seems like serendipity that is by chance.

“It’s like finding a $100 bill when you needed it. I had a golden kind of aura of luck. So far, so good. Still lucky. My God, is it ever good to be lucky,” says Choy.

Writing in the early days

When Choy joined the writing program (1958–59) at UBC, the faculty was very pleased to see an Asian person who wanted to write because it was unusual.

“It was an amazing time because the West Coast was discovering that we had every right to be represented in a published book-like tamarack review, which was centred in Ontario,” says Choy.

One of his stories, The Sound of Waves, featured in Prism magazine ended up in an American publication called Best American Short Stories, 1962. He considered himself very fortunate to be printed internationally when he was about 20 years old.

But he didn’t write for a long time after that.

“There’s no money in writing. So I had to make a decision. Will I write and not get anywhere? Even if I win prizes? Because there was no money in Canadian writing, at that time. I wasn’t that interested, I wanted to earn money,” says Choy.

Writing on hold

Vancouver-born Choy moved to Toronto in 1962, and worked a brief period of time in advertising, where all the money was supposed to be made. He didn’t like it.

By chance, he fell into a career in teaching. And even though Choy considers himself a writer, he specifies he never had a writing career – but a teaching career.

“I have to be clear about that because I wasn’t one of those who thought even though I succeeded with some of my writing that I wanted to write because it was hard work. And not only that, you didn’t get anything for it practically,” says Choy.

Enough stories for three lifetimes

Choy does not consider himself to be a pioneer in writing about Chinatown. People like Sky Lee and Paul Yee, who are younger than him, wrote about Chinatown before he did.

Choy is working on some short stories based on the family featured in The Jade Peony, particularly stories that have been haunting the grandmother character.

“These ghosts come back to me and suddenly I have to deal with them,” he says.

When Choy was growing up, he thought ghost stories were stupid. But, he notes people would tell these stories so well that he would believe them.

“You could really get me if you said I’ll tell you about the ghosts that live on Pender Street. That was even better!” he says.

Chinatown was filled with village folk tales told by the Chinese working class. Now, Choy realizes how important these stories were because they were carried through the oral tradition.

“Stories are my life. I hope other people will treasure their own stories and not be afraid to acknowledge them and make them a part of their daily life. If you understand that, you will live three times your life more than anybody,” says Choy.