In 1904, sixteen-year-old Luki travels from the US-controlled Philippines to the World’s Fair in Saint Louis, Missouri, where she discovers a wider world. But even as Luki makes friends and discovers intriguing things, she learns dangerous secrets and difficult truths. Facing pressures from all sides, she must decide what kind of future she wants after the fair. Wild Song is Luki’s personal journey of self-discovery set against a little-known, but pivotal moment in US. history.
Today author Candy Gourlay joins us to share her own writing journey and what the story meant to her. Read on to download the free teaching guide to accompany the text!
What inspired you to write Wild Song?
Back in 2005, I stumbled on a most peculiar photograph.
It was of a boy dancing with a woman. I could tell the boy was from an indigenous Filipino people called the Igorots. But the woman had light skin and wore a European-style dress from the Edwardian era. This was a segregated era, when people of colour were rarely allowed to share space with white people except as servants. And it was a puritanical time, when wives didn’t even hold hands with their husbands in public.
Yet here she was holding hands with a boy . . . and not just any boy, a scantily-clad brown boy.
When I learned that the photo had been taken at the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis, Missouri, I wondered why I had never seen it before and had never been taught about this piece of history. Reading up on the fair, I began to feel that familiar tingle of discovering a story that I wanted to write. What an incredible setting! A whole newly built city, showcasing the pinnacles of technology and drawing people from all over the globe, including indigenous folk representing their diverse cultures.
This was the beginning of my writing journey. And from the start I knew it would be an enormous, life-changing experience.
What was the hardest part of writing the book?
Researching the setting took me to some very dark places. It is a little-known fact, especially to contemporary Americans, that the United States invaded the Philippines in 1899. Even we Filipinos try not to dwell on this history. Nobody wants to remember a brutal war. But as I researched 1904, the year of the World’s Fair, I couldn’t escape the Philippine American War, which had officially ended just a year earlier and unofficially carried on for several more years. I realized that the Filipinos who had been taken to the fair were practically war trophies. And that the fair was built on a sinister bedrock of eugenic belief.
To write this book, I first needed to understand many things. I needed to see beyond the racist depictions of Igorots in newspapers and anthropological texts—to see them as human beings. I needed to spend time in the world of my Igorot characters, to learn how to see from their point of view.
What do you feel is the core theme of the story?
Any act of creativity begins with a question. The question that set me on my journey for Wild Song was this: what does it mean to be civilized? The Americans of yesteryear believed the Igorots were primitive people who needed civilizing. But after many years of researching and learning how to write Wild Song, I knew the answer to my story’s question: to be truly civilized is to see the humanity of those who are not like you.
Your heroine, Luki, defies her community’s expectations that she’ll become a wife and mother. What influenced her character?
Luki’s journey is perhaps a reflection of my own experience in the Philippines—that there was one way of being a Filipino girl and that it wasn’t the way I wanted to be. I got frustrated that people just seemed to accept this. It was easy for me to imagine an indigenous girl who wanted to resist the path she was expected to follow.
What do you hope will surprise the book’s readers in a positive way?
The character of Sidong is a little girl who likes to draw. I really, really wanted to include a character like that because as a girl I loved drawing, but I could not imagine that someone who was not like me would love drawing too. My dad was an architect, and one day one of his workmen showed me a wooden box he had made to put his tools in. The box was decorated with beautiful, intricate drawings. I was astounded. After that I would watch people on the street and wonder, Can that person draw? My whole viewpoint changed.
I figured many people would need my help to imagine that an indigenous child growing up in a place with no paper or pencils would be able to draw. Sidong draws with pieces of charred wood from the fire. After she arrives in St Louis, she gets a set of crayons—because I discovered that the Crayola brand was launched at the World’s Fair!
What will you next project be?
When I was a kid I always said I was going to make comics when I grew up. Wild Song was a long, exhausting project, and I wanted to do something completely different next. So I’ve decided now is the time to make comics! I am working on a graphic memoir, partially inspired by things about my parents’ generation that I learned while writing Wild Song. I love thinking in pictures! It’s been an absolute joy.
Free Educator Resources
Start the conversation with this in-depth teaching guide and approach the complex topics, including difficult aspects of history, with nuance and sensitivity. This resource can also be found on the Lerner website.
Praise for Wild Song
“Gourlay explores some of the consequences of colonialism with nuance and sensitivity. Luki is a spirited character who thoughtfully observes the injustices of the world around her yet maintains a sense of hope and optimism. . . Give this to fans of well-researched historical fiction featuring authentic voices.”—starred, Booklist
“The realities of race, class, and gender in this place and period of history are rendered here with words that are honest and moving without being overly emotional or moralistic. Lovers of historical fiction will thoroughly enjoy this novel.”—starred, School Library Journal
“The narrative examines the exploitation of Indigenous peoples and the commodification of culture, expertly framed by the moving story of a young woman longing to pave her own path in life. . . A powerful coming-of-age story exploring identity and exploitation during a little-known historical moment.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Written from the Filipina perspective, this nuanced story sensitively grapples with colonialism, racism, exploitation and identity.”—Ms. Magazine
“This is an involving story about a tough subject not previously explored in fiction for young people and, while some of the events are distressing, Luki’s optimism and agency shine through in a compelling narrative voice.”—Historical Novel Society
Connect with the Author
Candy Gourlay was born in the Philippines and went to an all-girls convent school called St Theresa’s College in Quezon City where she discovered a love of reading and writing. Candy began her writing career as a journalist during the People Power Revolution. After marrying her husband and raising three children she began writing novels. Her work now includes Shine, Bone Talk, and Wild Song. Candy now lives in London, UK.
Photo Credit: Still Moving Media