Sriracha Apocalypse

The other day at the Chinese grocery store, 10 year old Little Brother told me that we should buy some Sriracha. "Why?" I asked, since Santa brought us 4 cases at Christmas, and he whispered, "You know, for the Sriracha Apocalypse!"

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal - Texting Nostalgic for Kathmandu

What this weekend needs. My love letter to the virtual worlds we live in (not really) and Jyoti Omi Chowdhury's beautiful photographs (always). So pleased to have "Texting Nostalgic for Kathmandu," published today in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Hong Kong, edited by Tammy Ho Lai-Ming.

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal - Texting Nostalgic for Kathmandu

From the editors:

The belated Sixth Anniversary Issue of Cha (March 2014) is here. We would like to thank guest editors Arthur Leung (poetry) and Royston Tester (prose) for reading the submissions with us and helping us put together a great edition. We would also like to thank Eddie Tay for another fine selection of book reviews and Daryl Yam for reading the contest poems and writing a commentary on why we choose the poems. The issue includes an editorial by Tammy Ho Lai-Ming titled "Meetings with Remarkable Men and Women".

The following writers/artists have generously allowed us to showcase their work:
Poetry: Reid Mitchell, B.B.P. Hosmillo, Renée M. Schell, Edward Ragg, Bryan Thao Worra, Mingjuan Tan, Reihana Robinson, Amy Uyematsu, Deborah Guzzi, Jenna Le, Ranu Uniyal, Suzanne Hermanoczki, Eileen Chong
"Void" poetry contest winners: Catherine Edmunds, Richard L. Provencher, Arlene Yandug, Maj Ikle, Hao Guang, Leonadrea Tan, Amit Shankar Saha
Fiction: Mark Crimmins, Sreedhevi Iyer, Peter Phillips, Peabody Winston
Creative non-fiction: Mary J. Breen, Amanda Faye Lacson, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Jyoti Omi Chowdhury
Excerpts: Priya Sarukkai Chabria, Christopher Taylor
Interviews: Rhiannon Jenkins Tsang, Shaily Sahay
Lost tea: Fehmida Zakeer
Photography & art: Hu Jiamin (cover artist), Johanna Audiffred, Eddie Tay, Jyoti Omi Chowdhury
Reviews & essays: John Wall Barger, William Noseworthy, Shaily Sahay, Emma Zhang, Bhanumati Mishra, Cecilia Chan, Elen Turner, Vaughan Rapatahana

Spring 2014 (18.4) issue | Ricepaper Magazine

So excited to have my creative non-fiction piece, "Skipping Hopscotch Atop Hyphens," be a part of the Spring 2014 issue of Vancouver's very cool Ricepaper Magazine, the "Hyphen Nation" issue. I love this beautiful cover!

A teaser:

One Christmas Eve, I stay up until midnight with Little Brother on Norad Tracks Santa, following Santa’s progress across the globe. After Little Brother goes to sleep, I linger a little bit longer to see if Santa has reached you yet where you are in Quebec. Then I watch Santa course from Montreal through Toronto for a late night jook before heading my way. (Surely there is someone somewhere who can replace you.)

Spring 2014 (18.4) issue | Ricepaper Magazine

Purchase here! http://ricepaper.bigcartel.com/product/18-4-spring-2014

EATING CULTURES – Asian Pacific American Multidisciplinary Art Exhibition – May 1-30, 2014 at SOMArts Cultural Center | AsianWeek

Excited to be a part of the Asian American Women Artists Association Eating Cultures Art Exhibition in San Francisco SOMArts Cultural Center this May. Don't want to miss May-lee Chai curated Literary Sriracha: A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction: May 17th, 2014, 2pm-4:00pm

I will be reading a newly-commissioned piece at Literary Sriracha on May 17, and I will also have a multimedia prose-photography artwork created with the photography of H.

More info at: http://www.asianweek.com/2014/03/24/eating-cultures-asian-pacific-american-multidisciplinary-art-exhibition-may-1-30-2014-at-somarts-cultural-center/

EATING CULTURES – Asian Pacific American Multidisciplinary Art Exhibition – May 1-30, 2014 at SOMArts Cultural Center | AsianWeek

University of Michigan Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Month

Click on link see events: University of Michigan Asian/Pacific Islander American Heritage Month



Update: Today: Ninth annual University of Michigan Law School Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) Origins Banquet, Michigan League Vandenberg Room. Dinner, music, and the announcement of the recipients of the 2014 APALSA Public Interest Fellowships. Keynote speaker, Helen Wan, attorney and author of The Partner Track.

Love letter of the day

Love letter of the day: "Hello. My husband...just brought home a signed copy of your book, Dreams of the Diaspora, yesterday. I read the whole thing in one sitting. Fabulous. One to hang on to for our boys when they are older. Can you tell me where I an get another copy for a friend? Are they stocking it at Bookbound?"

Yes! :) 

Bookbound

1729 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI  48105 

http://www.bookboundbookstore.com/

Dreams of the Diaspora Cover

New cover images for Dreams of the Diaspora, thanks to M.

  

Purchase here: Blacklava - dreams of the diaspora chapbook - frances kai wang

Photos from Zilka Joseph's reading and open mic at Bookbound

Just found these old photos from Zilka Joseph's reading and open mic at Bookbound in January:

JANUARY 2014  EVENTS  Thursday, January 9 at 6:00 pm   Open Mic & Share Series featuring Zilka Joseph  

 

 http://www.bookboundbookstore.com/?page=shop/disp&pid=page_Events

Angry in Michigan

So great to see and catch up with Angry Asian Man during his visit to University of Michigan. Happy APA Heritage Month and safe travels across Angry Asian America this season.

What is Critical A/PIA Studies?

Pleased to be moderating a panel at this graduate student conference, "What is Critical A/PIA Studies?" Keynote speaker David Palumbo-Liu.

Saturday, March 22, 2014, 9-4, University of Michigan Haven Hall

The Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Graduate Group presents, What is Critical A/PIA Studies? | MESA

Angry Asian Man Phil Yu at University of Michigan

So great to see and catch up with Angry Asian Man Phil Yu at University of Michigan! 

University of Michigan A/PIA Heritage Month Kick-off Event

Tomorrow!

University of Michigan A/PIA Heritage Month Kick-off Event, A/PIA Talk to Me, with Angry Asian Man Phil Yu, Stephanie Chang, Carlina Duan, and Alex Ngo.

Friday, March 21, 2014, 6-8pm, University of Michigan, Angell Hall, Auditorium B.

Not to be missed.

'American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs' | Freep Film Festival

Watch "American Revolutionary" this Saturday, March 22, 2014, 2 pm, at the DIA for the Detroit Free Press film festival with filmmaker Grace Lee and the great Grace Lee Boggs

'American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs' | Freep Film Festival

More info about the film: http://americanrevolutionaryfilm.com/ or watch the trailer here:

Taste of Taiwan 2014: Festivals of Taiwan

Don't cook this Saturday night, support the Taiwanese American students at the University of Michigan! Saturday, March 22, 2014, 6-9 pm. Performances too!

Taste of Taiwan 2014: Festivals of Taiwan

2014 APIA High School Conference

The APIA High School Conference is almost here! March 22 at University of Michigan. (Sorry, same day as Solo Ensembles)

More info at: umichhsc2014 | schedule

Playing Jon Jang's 1984 "Are you Chinese or Charlie Chan"

Playing Jon Jang's 1984 "Are you Chinese or Charlie Chan" for students today.

Are you Chinese or Charlie Chan? Charlie was a white man.
With his two buckteeth and his eyes pulled back,
Vincent Chin lies dead from his racist attack.
Are you Chinese or Charlie Chan? Charlie was a white man.

More at: The Sound of Struggle: Black Revolutionary Nationalism and Asian American Jazz | Loren Kajikawa - Academia.edu

Reading Thursday at Bookbound

I'll be the featured poet tomorrow Thursday March 13 7pm at Bookbound's Open Mic and Share, 1729 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor. Also the unofficial book launch of my latest chapbook, "Dreams of the Diaspora" with Jyoti Omi Chowdhury. The snow has stopped so come out to play!

Bookbound - An Independent Community Bookstore

Have you heard of the Vincent Chin case? Michigan edition

Today we asked our class how many were from Michigan. Over 60%. How many had heard of the Vincent Chin case? Zero. wow.

Remembering Vincent Chin

Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People: Helen Zia

Re-reading Helen Zia's "Asian American Dreams" for the first time in a long time and realizing that I now know almost everyone mentioned in the Vincent Chin chapter. #Chills.

Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People: Helen Zia: 9780374527365: Amazon.com: Books

Speaking at 11th Annual Images and Perceptions Diversity Conference, Dearborn, April 10

I will be speaking on Asian Pacific American Media Stereotypes and Representation at the 11th Annual Images and Perceptions Diversity Conference at Byblos in Dearborn, MI on April 10. Keynote Speaker: Edward James Olmos. Dynamic, engaging and effective: Go to www.3dconsults.com to Register today! Earn 6 CEU's and SCECH's

More at: https://www.facebook.com/ImagesandPerceptions

Reading and Open Mic at Bookbound Thursday

Reading and Open Mic (and unofficial book launch of "Dreams of the Diaspora") on Thursday March 13 7:00 pm at Bookbound, 1729 Plymouth Road (behind Cardamom and No Thai). Bring something to share and bring a friend!

Bookbound - An Independent Community Bookstore

If you can't join us, check out the chapbook at Blacklava http://www.blacklava.net/#/item/dreams_of_the_diaspora_chapbook_-_frances_kai_wang

Blacklava - dreams of the diaspora chapbook - frances kai-hwa wang

Thanks to the awesome Ryan Suda at Blacklava for carrying my latest chapbook with Jyoti Omi Chowdhury, "Dreams of the Diaspora," at Blacklava - dreams of the diaspora chapbook - frances kai wang

Also announcing the unofficial book launch next Thursday, March 13, 2014, 7:00 pm, at Bookbound, 1729 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, with a Reading and Open Mic. Bring something to share!

Dreams of the Diaspora began as a multimedia conversation of photographs, prose poetry, spoken word, and soundscape, in which two voices—an Asian American child of immigrants and an Asian immigrant—explore their very different experiences of both America and the diaspora. Both voices ache with alienation as they wander the globe, yearning for both the future and the past, independence and belonging. As writer Frances Kai-Hwa Wang and photographer Jyoti Omi Chowdhury explore their mutual fascination with landscape, light, space, identity, and the human spirit, this has become a conversation about identity, stereotypes, courage, risk, and who we can become in the space of the beloved.

This chapbook is 40 pages long, and features the photography of Jyoti Omi Chowdhury alongside the prose poems and creative nonfiction pieces of Frances Kai-Hwa Wang. Included in the collection are "'Did you eat? means...I love you," inspired by the Blacklava T-shirt of the same name, "Tsundere Pride or You Are So Prickly!" commissioned by the Asian American Women's Artists Association "Navigating the underCurrents" activist poetry reading curated by May-lee Chai, and "Dreams of the Diaspora" which is also a multimedia art installation at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Indian American Heritage Project H1B visa online and travelling art installation. The cover is designed with antique dingbats, hand pressed by a 150 year old printing press, with a hand-sewn binding by the author.

What people are saying about Dreams of the Diaspora:

The speaker in these poems was born “in the slipstream of the diaspora” and even while using humor, the desires explored here feel elemental and slightly dangerous, like touching the blue tongue of a flame at its hottest point. Born of the latent desire of a lover in the absence of a beloved, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang’s poems are compelling testimonials to living and loving in the 21st century while inhabiting a body of color.

—Ravi Shankar, founder of Drunken Boat and author/editor of eight books/chapbooks of poetry, including W.W. Norton's Language for a New Century

“Where are you from? No, where are you really from?” This pertinent question is at the heart of this multi-form exploration of diasporic experiences in Dreams of the Diaspora by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, where she weaves together themes of lostness, desire, search, self knowledge, history and heartache with eloquence and elegance, and does so with an honesty that is as hard-hitting as it is moving. We hurtle along with her words and the stories that the remarkable accompanying photographs by Jyoti Omi Chowdhury tell, and we begin to reexamine in new ways our own experiences of diaspora with its complex interconnected and disconnected worlds.

—Zilka Joseph, author of Lands I Live In and What Dread

What is so appealing about Frances Kai-Hwa Wang's writing is the smooth blend of the sensory and sensual with a sharp social and cultural critique, the personal and familial with the historical antecedents of communities in which she has her origins. Her awareness of Asian-American issues burns like a steady flame and flares up or simmers as the occasion demands. Her erotic longings are spiced with a dash of humor. She is open to experiment in multimedia formats and content. This is an activist’s collection bristling with literary energy.

—Saleem Peeradina, author of Slow Dance

I feel at home when reading Dreams of the Diaspora. Home is where my nostalgic and hopeful heart belongs. Omi and Frances describe their homes beautifully.

—Lac Su, author of the memoir I Love Yous Are for White People

Upcoming Chinese and Writing classes at WCC

Upcoming Chinese and Writing classes at Washtenaw Community College (WCC)

Conversational Chinese 2
10 Wednesdays, March 26, 2014, 6:00-8:00 pm

Washtenaw Community College

Finding Your Voice all day writing workshop

Saturday, May 24, 9-3:30

Washtenaw Community College

Jumpstart your Memoir all day writing workshop

Saturday, June 14, 9-3:30 

Washtenaw Community College 

Finding your Voice

4 Wednesdays, May 7, 14, 21, 28 6:00-8:00 pm   

Washtenaw Community College

  

Introduction to Creative Nonfiction

Wednesday, June 11 6-8:30

Washtenaw Community College

Registration is not up yet, but soon: https://washtenaw.augusoft.net//index.cfm?fuseaction=1010&catalogid=1#!

Speaking at Optimist Club of West Bloomfield today

Speaking at the Optimist Club of West Bloomfield and reading from "Dreams of the Diaspora" this morning.

‘Beyond Bollywood’: Inside the Smithsonian’s exhibition on Indian Americans - The Washington Post et al

So proud to be a part of the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Indian American Heritage Project's Beyond Bollywood exhibit, which opened last week in Washington DC. Congratulations to curator Dr. Masum Momaya and director Konrad Ng! Here are some great articles and beautiful photographs you must see.

‘Beyond Bollywood’: Inside the Smithsonian’s exhibition on Indian Americans - The Washington Post

Smithsonian Explores Beyond Bollywood - India Real Time - WSJ

Beyond Bollywood: The Power Of a Story in a Museum | She Is Thriving

How Motel Ownership Offers Indian-Americans a Gateway to the American Dream | At the Smithsonian | Smithsonian

Here's how to bring the exhibit to your city!
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service - Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation exhibition

And here's me and Jyoti Omi Chowdhury and "Dreams of the Diaspora" (well, not quite yet...coming soon!):
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation » H1B Art Exhibit

Reading at Bookbound - An Independent Community Bookstore

Reading (and unofficial book launch) at Bookbound on 1729 Plymouth Road (behind Cardamon and No Thai), Ann Arbor, Thursday March 13, 7pm. Open Mic too, so bring something to share!

Bookbound - An Independent Community Bookstore

#aajamediaaccess

MSU Journalism Professor Joe Grimm on Media Literacy and the great joys of whale watching on the Great Lakes (lol) at the Asian American Journalism Association (AAJA) Media Access Workshop in Detroit. Great opportunity to see the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News. Great lineup of speakers and contacts made. Great food (that I missed!). More on Twitter with #aajamediaaccess.