An exciting collection of stories and poems written in English by first-, second-, and third-generation Chinese Canadians from across the country who deal with themes such as identity and inquiry into the past.

The title of this collection, ManyñMouthed Birds, comes from a Chinese expression used to describe someone who disturbs the peace, who talks out of turn, who is indiscreet. The writers here are "many-mouthed birds" because they are speaking up, breaking a long and often self-imposed silence. They offer songs straight from the heart.

This is a new release of the book published in January 1992.

Bennett Lee is a third-generation Chinese Canadian. He graduated with a B.A. in English from the University of Victoria and studied Chinese philosophy and literature at Beijing University. He is now a practicing lawyer in Vancouver. In addition to being a part-time screenwriter, he was co-editor and co-translator of The Wounded: Stories from the Cultural Revolution and Fragrant Weeds: Stories from the Hundred Flowers Period.

Bennett Lee's profile page

Jim Wong-Chu was a poet, author, editor, and historian, and the founder of the Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop and Ricepaper magazine. His groundbreaking 1986 poetry book Chinatown Ghosts was reissued in a new edition in 2018. He co-edited the anthologies Many-Mouthed Birds: Contemporary Writing by Chinese Canadians (Douglas & McIntyre), Swallowing Clouds: An Anthology of Chinese-Canadian Poetry (Arsenal Pulp), and AlliterAsian: Twenty Years of Ricepaper Magazine (Arsenal Pulp). Jim Wong-Chu passed away in 2017.

Jim Wong-Chu's profile page