A cherry tree that inspired award-winning Canadian author Joy Kogawa was damaged in a fierce windstorm that swept across southern British Columbia earlier this week. Ann-Marie Metten, executive director of Historic Joy Kogawa House in Vancouver, says a huge limb of the aging cherry tree was torn off during the storm on Tuesday night. Joy Kogawa with the cherry tree that was the focus of her children's book Naomi's Tree. (The Joy Kogawa Family)She says artists, from carvers to paper-makers, are being urged to use the wood to create items suitable for auction to support programs at Kogawa House. In Naomi's Tree, the cherry tree becomes a symbol of Joy Kogawa's desire to return home, after she and thousands of other Japanese Canadians were interned during the Second World War.

Source: CBC News January 15, 2021 04:07 UTC