Greetings!

We’re thrilled to kick off our 20th Anniversary tomorrow (2/1) with Maxine Hong Kingston. Join us for signature Remy Pu-ehr Hot Toddies and an intimate reading of Kingston’s lasted work I Love a Broad Margin to My Life. Online ticket sales will close at Noon 2/1 and there’s a good chance we’ll sell out, so buy now!

Check us out at AWP where Kimiko Hahn, Marie Lee, Ed Lin, Patrick Rosal, and Jennifer Tseng will be sharing their favorite AAWW memories and reading, and where Ken Chen, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Manijeh Nasrabadi , and Xu Xi will talk about broadening the definition of Asian American.

Following Open City? Consider becoming an intern and help shape a new a model for community and research-based cultural work.

Finally, it is with great sadness that we report that Hisaye Yamamoto, winner of our 2010 lifetime achievement award, has passed. While details are forthcoming, here is an excerpt from Purvi Shah's essay on Yamamoto's work in her honor:

When you encounter the spare, tight stories of Hisaye Yamamoto, you behold a mirror which begs to be broken for within are shards sharp, provocative, and beautifully compelling in precision and astute, painful rendering. Before you lies the topography of the self, our society, the relations amongst intimates and us all, the collision of the individual with history... The personal has rarely been so political nor the political so up close and personal. Come then, meet history, for in Yamamoto’s works, you cannot avoid it. As much as Esther or you may like.

Maxine Hong Kingston: A Lunar New Year Benefit for the 20th Anniversary of the Workshop
Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 6-10PM

We're proud to kick off the Asian American Writers' Workshop's twentieth anniversary and ring in the Lunar New Year by featuring Maxine Hong Kingston's ambitious new memoir in verse, I Love a Broad Margin to My Life. In Margin, Kingston has built a poem animated by a soul large enough to take in the full vista of life: age and mortality; wonderful friends and loved ones, both alive and passed away; and journeys through China and America and through the languages of Hawaiian pidgin, Cantonese, and Thoreau and Whitman.

Winner of our first Asian American Lifetime Achievement Award, Kingston will read and answer questions at one of the finest Chinese art galleries in Chelsea. Prior to the reading, guests for our cocktail reception will be able to sip a signature cocktail custom-mixed in her honor and snap a photo with her in our photo booth. And after the reading, we'll be holding an intimate dinner in her honor—seating will be limited, so please reserve your seat today. Help us celebrate the Year of the Rabbit and our own birthday with one of the central writers of American letters.

@Chambers Fine Arts
522 West 19th Street, NY, NY
Btwn 9th and 10th Avenues

Click here for more event details and ticketing.

Page Turners: Asian American Literature in the 21st Century: Ken Chen, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Manijeh Nasrabadi, Xu Xi
Friday, February 4, 2011 10:30AM

From Hmong to Iran to Turkmenistan, Asian American literature is broadening its terrain. The Asian American Writers' Workshop is at the fore of this conversation on "radical inclusivity." But what unifies these cultures and aesthetics? Join an eclectic group of Asian American Writers in conversation as they come together to discuss the future of the Asian American arts movement in a post multi-cultural world.

@AWP
Empire Ballroom
Omni Shoreham Hotel, West Lobby

The Asian American Writers' Workshop 20th-Anniversary Reading: Ken Chen, Marie Lee, Ed Lin, Kimiko Hahn, Patrick Rosal, Jennifer Tseng
Saturday, February 5, 2011

Over the past twenty years, the Asian American Writers' Workshop has grown from a Greek diner meeting into a preeminent intellectual sanctuary for Asian American literature. Join us for a cross-genre, cross-generational reading celebrating the Workshop's twentieth year. Writers will read from their work and talk about the Workshop's influence and history.

@AWP
Virginia B Room
Marriott Wardman Park, Lobby Level

Lyceum: Ice Cream & Ideas

Hey students! Ever wanted to meet a famous writer? The Asian American Writers' Workshop presents LYCEUM: ICE CREAM & IDEAS—it’s a special workshop series where the lesson begins with ice cream and ends with writing your own stories. In five one-hour sessions, you will write alongside Asian American authors, meet comic book writers, journalists, and one of People’s Hottest Bachelors, and find out how to get your book published. Each session is led by two Asian American leaders who'll help you write your own masterpiece. You can share what you’ve written with our cameras and get on our website! And if you come to all five sessions, you’ll become a 2011 Lyceum Ice Cream Fellow. Sure, you get free ice cream and a certificate for your college apps, but we know you’ll just come for the free ice cream.

Cosponsored by the Asian American / Asian Research Institute at CUNY, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, and Teachers & Writers Collective.We are grateful for the generous support of the Ford Foundation Good Neighbor Committee.

How to Handle Gay Bullying: Regie Cabico and Kevin Leo Yabut Nadal
Thursday, February 10, 2011, 4pm
@TWC

How to be American When People Say You’re Not: Marina Budhos and Marisa Franco
Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 4pm
@AAARI

How to Talk to Moms and Pops: S. Mitra Kalita and Ed Lin
Thursday, February 17, 2011, 4pm
@AAARI

How Does It Feel to Be A Problem?: Moustafa Bayoumi and Terrence Cheng
Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 4pm
@AAARI

How to be a Famous Writer: Ayesha Pande and Jeff Yang
Monday, February 28, 2011, 4pm
@TWC

"Performing 1070 Short-Play Festival"
Call for Scripts

New Carpa Theater Company in Phoenix, Arizona, is soliciting short-play scripts, monologues, play excerpts and performance pieces, 5 to 10 minutes long, to be presented as a part of the "Performing 1070 Short-Play Festival" to be held March 30 at Arizona State University West as part of the 8th Annual Border Justice event and on the grounds of the Arizona State Capitol March 31.

All pieces should speak to the passage of the bill or related topics and the impact on immigrants and our current and longstanding national debate of the issue. The submission deadline is midnight, February 18, 2011.

General Guidelines and Information:

  • All scripts must be typed and delivered via e-mail to info@newcarpa.org or mailed to New Carpa Theater Co., 15017 S. 28th Street, Phoenix, AZ. Please not send original copies of your scripts. Submissions cannot be returned. 5- to 10-minute scripts, monologues, play excerpts or performance pieces will be considered. Scripts may be submitted in English or Spanish.

  • Eight to 10 short plays/performance pieces will be selected for staging on the evening of March 30 at ASU West and at the State Capitol, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., on March 31, 2011. (Additional local and national performances may be scheduled.)

  • Playwrights retain all rights to their work.

  • A five-member panel of local playwrights/writers/producers will select the plays to be performed.

  • A team of local actors, directors and crew will be assembled to stage the plays -- though playwrights/producers have the option of making advance arrangements to provide their own crew and performers. Sets and costuming will be minimal.

  • None of the theater artists, crew or producers will receive compensation or royalties.

  • Please note that the performances at the Arizona State Capitol will be staged outdoors and will be open to the general public.

A Message from New Carpa Theater Co.

The purpose of this short-play festival is to highlight the effects of a series of draconian, state-based immigration-related legislation enacted or proposed in Arizona over the past decade, culminating in the signing of SB 1070 by Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. This is a non-partisan, grassroots, community-based theater project designed to provide theater and performance artists an opportunity to express their views on one of the most compelling human and civil rights issues of our time. — James E. Garcia, Producing Artistic Director, New Carpa Theater Co., NewCarpa.org / 623-252-2772.

Looking for a space to write?

The Asian American Writers' Workshop is proud to introduce WRITER GYM, private desk space for writers. We want to help incubate the next generation of awesome emerging Asian American writers—in other words, you. At WRITER GYM, you'll get your own work area, a storage locker, and 24/7 access to the space. You'll join nine other writers—gym buddies to help you bust through the wall of writers' block. And you will develop a habit of stopping by your desk on your way to work or on a lazy Sunday afternoon, away from the pressures of work and home—so you can knock out your next masterpiece. Click here to learn more.

Looking for an event space?

Are you looking for a place to hold your next event? Rent the performance space at the Asian American Writers' Workshop. The site of the Workshop's weekly readings, our space is available for a variety of functions: conferences, meetings, speeches, receptions, fund-raising events, performances, literary readings, benefits, book parties, and more.

About The Asian American Writers' Workshop
The Asian American Writers' Workshop seeks to do what no one else is doing. We're building a shelter for the Asian American stories of our parents and our children. We're inventing the Asian American cultural vision of tomorrow. We're creating a 21st century arts space that can interpret the great tradition of American letters and world literature, broker the space between immigrant communities and the cultural mainstream, and translate the vibrant cultures comprising more than half the world. We believe that every American, no matter the color of their skin, should understand how Asian America forms a central chapter of the American story. Show that you believe Asian American stories are worth telling and donate today.

Made possible by the generous support of:



Contact us:

110-112 W. 27th St
Suite 600
New York, NY 10001
P: 212-494-0061
E: desk@aaww.org

Spoilers!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011, 6PM
Maxine Hong Kingston's I Love a Broad Margin to My Life

Friday, February 4, 2011 10:30AM
Page Turners: Asian American Literature in the 21st Century: Ken Chen, V.V. Ganeshananthan, Manijeh Nasrabadi, Xu Xi @
AWP

Saturday, February 5, 2011, Noon
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop 20th-Anniversary Reading: Ken Chen, Kimiko Hahn, Marie Lee, Ed Lin, Patrick Rosal, Jennifer Tseng @AWP

Thursday, February 10, 2011, 4PM
How to Handle Gay Bullying: Regie Cabico and Kevin Leo Yabut Nadal @TWC

Friday, February 11, 2011, 9PM
Lunar New Year Mouth to Mouth Open Mic: Kelly Tsai and Ocean Vuong @AAWW

Saturday, February 12, 2011, 2PM
Tianxin Cai and Bob Holman @AAWW

Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 4PM
How to be American When People Say You’re Not: Marina Budhos and Marisa Franco @AAARI

Thursday, February 17, 2011, 4PM
How to Talk to Moms and Pops: S. Mitra Kalita and Ed Lin @AAARI .

Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 4PM
How Does It Feel to Be A Problem: Moustafa Bayoumi and Terrence Cheng @AAARI

Thursday, February 24, 7PM
Cheryl Tan’s A Tiger in the Kitchen @AAWW

Monday, February 28, 2011, 4pm
How to be a Famous Writer: Ayesha Pande and Jeff Yang @TWC

Friday, March 18, 2011 9PM
Mouth to Mouth Open Mic: Jason Hwang, Shailja Patel and Becky Yamamoto @AAWW