Author Judy Fong Bates spoke about her life and work Thursday at the culmination of 2007’s Everybody Reads program, a month-long project featuring various events to promote reading throughout the Portland community.
Bates spoke to a full room in the Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom Thursday night, explaining the inspiration behind her novel Midnight at the Dragon Caf퀌�. The novel was selected as the 2007 novel for Everybody Reads, which has been running for five years and aims to connect the community by reading a single book, discussing and sharing ideas.
The philosophy behind the program is that this reading and connection can be a small step towards addressing issues in the community and society. This is the second year that Portland State is working with the Multnomah County Library on Everybody Reads.
“It is through stories that we are able to see another perspective,” Bates said. “It is through stories that we lift ourselves out of our lives. It’s very gratifying for a writer to connect with his or her readers.”
At the lecture, Bates shared details about her experiences while growing up in Canada and how she evolved into a writer over many years.
“I didn’t know I was going to be a writer,” Bates said. “I seem to be a late bloomer.”
Bates published her first book when she was 47.
Midnight at the Dragon Cafe tells the story of a Chinese girl growing up above her father’s restaurant in a small Ontario, Canada town. Bates herself grew up in a small town in Ontario, living above a Chinese laundry mat run by her father.
“It was a brutal way to make a living,” Bates said. Her father also wrote poetry despite his hardships. “My father survived because of the power of words.”
Although Bates did not pursue writing until late in her career, she said “the seeds for this story were planted almost 40 years ago.”
Bates said that growing up as the only Chinese child in a small Canadian town, she felt like an outsider.
“This outsider status has made me a writer,” she said. The central character in Bates’ novel also shares this outsider status.
“The perceptions the character has of living in a small town are based on my own,” Bates said.
Bates said that as a writer of fiction, she does not set out to teach anything.
“My primary goal is to tell a story,” she said. Bates aims to take readers to a place they have never been before, illuminating stories that have never been told.
“Like most writers, I do have issues I want to explore through my writing,” she said, adding that she writes about the Chinese living in isolation. “I hope I added the story of my parents and others like them to the story of North America.”
The 2007 Everybody Reads project has been larger than ever in its five-year history. More than 4,000 copies of Bates’ book were borrowed from Multnomah County libraries and 85 different programs held, including roundtable discussions, food tastings, and art and music programs.
Bates also has a book of short stories, China Dog: And Other Tales from a Chinese Laundry. She currently lives in Toronto with her family and is working on another book.