My Review of GROW TOGETHER, the Immigrant Writer Association’s 2nd Anthology
Below is my Goodreads review of GROW TOGETHER, an anthology I was a part of, published by the Immigrant Writers Association. To see the Goodreads page for GROW TOGETHER (with my review written there), please click here.
As one of the co-authors, I’m obviously biased, but I love this book. It is a wonderful collection of short prose pieces, both fiction and non, all dealing with being an immigrant in Canada. I am pleased and proud to be a part of it. I would argue that the book’s greatest strength is how heartfelt are these pieces. Each of them has been drawn from a very deep place. I feel that great writing must come from a deep place in the writer; it must matter to them. Writing that lacks passion, emotion, care, struggle, empathy, will always be insufficient, no matter how well written. GROW TOGETHER’s chapters are filled with genuine emotion, a desire for positive change, a collective spirit, and an enduring hopefulness.
There is incredible variety in the genres of the book; there is also incredible variety in the countries the co-authors come from, and in the nature of their immigration to Canada. The authors provide accounts of first-generation immigrants who came as kids, as young adults, as young professionals, or in their middle age; accounts of those who came alone, as a couple, or as a family; and accounts of second-generation immigrants straddling the legacy of their parents and their Canadian upbringing. This is another great strength of GROW TOGETHER. It is not only inspiring and heartwarming but informative. By the end of the book, a reader truly learns a lot, about a variety of subjects, a variety of cultures, but most of all, about immigration. One can take away the common themes of the immigrant experience (to Canada specifically), and one is also exposed to the different situations immigrants find themselves in.
One current that runs throughout the entire anthology is the deep sadness, loneliness, and even fearfulness that immigrants feel. And at the same time, the incredible fortitude and resilience immigrants have in the face of their challenges. This is a book that is critical of society’s issues without ever being cynical. It deals with the pain of uprooting and the clash of cultures, and yet it contains a sense of potent optimism and togetherness. It is a book that is equally heartbreaking and heartwarming. It is inspiring. And well worth reading.
To learn more about the book, or to purchase it, please click here.
You can also read the media post about my experience of writing my memoir piece in the anthology, “You’re an Immigrant?”.
