Kundiman NY & Berkeley readings + new poems & reviews up!
Dear lovelies:
I hope you’ve had as wonderful & fruitful a summer as I have, meeting writers & other friendly souls in Saratoga Springs, San Antonio & all throughout China. Through it all, I’ve been reminded of how important writing based in a community is to me - when receiving a compassionate code of conduct before arriving at Macondo (http://www.macondofoundation.org/programs_workshop_code.html) or participating in a Kundiman for Melissa Roxas (http://www.kundiman.org/%5BCLB%5D_Brightside/1.Source/kundiman.html
So I’m excited to be participating in two upcoming Kundiman readings in NYC & Berkeley, details below!
Also, I’m grateful to have had my work find many homes this summer.
“Marriage” appeared in the San Antonio Express-News: http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/Poetry_Marriage.html.
“Cuttings for My Mother: a Zuihitsu,” appears in the current issue of Chroma: http://www.chromajournal.co.uk/
“Translation” is in the latest issue of BorderSenses along with a poem by my good friend Amalia Alvarez: http://www.bordersenses.com/
“Identification Song” a poem inspired by Sylvia La’s wonderful painting which is the cover of my book can be found in the latest issue of Sous Rature here: http://www.necessetics.com/3ssue.html
Finally, I’m happy to report that The Heart’s Traffic has been recently reviewed by in Kate Rogers in Cha: an Asian Literary Journal: http://www.asiancha.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=440&Itemid=193 & by Jason Schneiderman in Lambda Book Report: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/lambda_book_report/chen.html
Hope to see you on the road!
xo,
Ching-In
NYC:
Kundiman & Verlaine present a night of poetry & libation with Neil Aitken, Ching-In Chen, Dulani & Mika Nagasaki
Sunday, Sept. 13
Reading begins at 5 pm
Open Bar, 4 - 5 pm
$5 suggested donation
Verlaine
110 Rivington Street b/w Ludlow & Essex Sts.
[ directions: F to Delancey or V to 2nd Ave. ]
http://verlainenyc.com/
Readers’ Bios
Neil Aitken is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review and the author of The Lost Country of Sight, winner of the 2007 Philip Levine Prize. His poetry has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, The Drunken Boat, Ninth Letter, Sou’wester and many other literary journals. He lives in Los Angeles where he is currently pursuing a PhD in literature and creative
writing at the University of Southern California
Ching-In Chen is the author of The Heart’s Traffic and a multi-genre, border-crossing writer. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is a Kundiman, Macondo and Lambda Fellow. A community organizer, she has worked in the Asian American communities of San Francisco, Oakland, and Boston. Her work has been recently published in journals such as Cha, BorderSenses, Rio Grande Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, OCHO, Iron Horse Literary Review, Water~Stone Review, Boxcar Poetry Review, Verdad and the anthology Yellow as Turmeric, Fragrant as Cloves. Currently, Ching-In lives in Riverside, California where she is a member of the Save Our Chinatown Committee, a grassroots organization focused on the preservation of the archaelogical
heritage of Riverside Chinatown.
Dulani is a first-year student in the Integrated Media Arts MFA program at Hunter College. A proud Kundiman Fellow, Dulani is a trans-identified Desi from a low-income immigrant family, whose work strives to place issues of migration in conversation with class, queerness and generation. He has been an Austin Project Fellow and a BCAT/ Rotunda Gallery Multi-Media Artist in-Residence. Dulani has performed his work all over the country in various theatres, universities, and community-based events
as well as has been featured on Asia Pacifica Forum, WBAI 99.5 FM. His work has been published in SAMAR: South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection, on bustingbinaries.com and is forthcoming in the anthology Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academics and the Austin Project (University of Texas Press). He is also co-editor of the forthcoming anthology, The Revolution Starts At Home, about partner abuse in activist communities. Dulani holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in a self-designed major, “Art for Social Change; An
Interdisciplinary Approach.”
Mika Nagasaki is a 2007 Kundiman Fellow. She has studied and written poetry and manga, as well as some translation from Spanish and Japanese to English. Mika is now in training to be an organizer at a workers’ center in Manhattan. She writes and reads as much as she can every day.
MISSION STATEMENT
Kundiman is dedicated to the creation, cultivation and promotion of Asian American poetry. http://www.kundiman.org
***
BERKELEY:
Come & hear beautiful poetry, libate, and mingle with an all-star line up with Kundiman poets, the first time together on the West Coast! This special collaboration with Achiote Press and Kundiman is a special opportunity to fundraise for Kundiman, a dynamic arts organization dedicated to fostering Asian American poetry. As part of their mission, Kundiman provides a
retreat for emerging Asian American poets at the University of Virginia every summer. This reading celebrates the publication of “Here is a Pen:” An Anthology of West Coast Kundiman Poets, a chapbook anthology published by Achiote Press, edited by Ching-In Chen, Margaret Rhee, and Debbie Yee. Chapbooks will be available for purchase. All proceeds go to Kundiman.
We look forward to seeing you!
Where: UC Berkeley at the Barbara T. Christian Room, 554 Barrows Hall
When: Thursday, Sept 17th
Time: 11:30: Chapbook & Book Sale and Light Reception
12 - 2: Reading
Readers:
Joseph O. Legaspi is the author of Imago (CavanKerry Press), winner of a 2008 Global Filipino Literary Award. Born in the Philippines, he currently resides in Manhattan and works at Columbia University. A graduate of New York University’s Creative Writing Program, recent works appeared in Callaloo, North American Review, Poets & Writers, New York Theater Review, Crab Orchard Review, Gay & Lesbian Review and the anthology Language for a New Century (W.W. Norton). A recipient of a poetry fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts and an Urban Artists grant, he co-founded Kundiman (www.kundiman.org), a non-profit organization serving Asian American poets. Visit him at www.josepholegaspi.com.
Oliver de la Paz is the author of three books of poetry, NAMES ABOVE HOUSES, FURIOUS LULLABY (Southern Illinois University Press), and the forthcoming book REQUIEM FOR THE ORCHARD which was selected by Martin Espada as the winner of the 2009 University of Akron Poetry Prize and will be available in the Spring of 2010. He is a recipient of grants from the Artist Trust of Washington and from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
He teaches creative writing at Western Washington University and is the co-chair of the Advisory Board for Kundiman.
Debbie Yee is a trusts and estates attorney, Kundiman fellow, arts enthusiast and crafts explorer. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in 32 Poems, OCHO, Fence and The Best American Poetry 2009. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from UC Berkeley. Debbie blogs irregularly at www.debbieyee.com.
Neil Aitken is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review and the author of The Lost Country of Sight, winner of the 2007 Philip Levine Prize. His poetry has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, The Drunken Boat, Ninth Letter, Sou’wester and many other literary journals. He lives in Los Angeles where he is currently pursuing a PhD in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California.
Ching-In Chen is the author of The Heart’s Traffic and a multi-genre, border-crossing writer. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is a Kundiman, Macondo and Lambda Fellow. A co-editor of The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Partner Abuse in Activist Communities, forthcoming from South End Press, Ching-In is currently in the process of editing an anthology on gender, militarism and war from the perspective of women and non-gender-conforming people of color.
Generous Support from: Achiote Press, UC Berkeley, Asian American Studies Program, UC Berkeley, Asian Pacific Islander Working Group
Donations for Kundiman gratefully accepted.
For more information, please visit:
Kundiman: http://www.kundiman.org/index.html’
Achiote Press: www.achiotepress.com.
PAWA: http://pawainc.blogspot.com/2009/09/pawa-arkipelago-reading-series-saturday.html
Questions? Please email: kundimanwest@gmail.com
I hope you’ve had as wonderful & fruitful a summer as I have, meeting writers & other friendly souls in Saratoga Springs, San Antonio & all throughout China. Through it all, I’ve been reminded of how important writing based in a community is to me - when receiving a compassionate code of conduct before arriving at Macondo (http://www.macondofoundation.org/programs_workshop_code.html) or participating in a Kundiman for Melissa Roxas (http://www.kundiman.org/%5BCLB%5D_Brightside/1.Source/kundiman.html
So I’m excited to be participating in two upcoming Kundiman readings in NYC & Berkeley, details below!
Also, I’m grateful to have had my work find many homes this summer.
“Marriage” appeared in the San Antonio Express-News: http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/Poetry_Marriage.html.
“Cuttings for My Mother: a Zuihitsu,” appears in the current issue of Chroma: http://www.chromajournal.co.uk/
“Translation” is in the latest issue of BorderSenses along with a poem by my good friend Amalia Alvarez: http://www.bordersenses.com/
“Identification Song” a poem inspired by Sylvia La’s wonderful painting which is the cover of my book can be found in the latest issue of Sous Rature here: http://www.necessetics.com/3ssue.html
Finally, I’m happy to report that The Heart’s Traffic has been recently reviewed by in Kate Rogers in Cha: an Asian Literary Journal: http://www.asiancha.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=440&Itemid=193 & by Jason Schneiderman in Lambda Book Report: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/lambda_book_report/chen.html
Hope to see you on the road!
xo,
Ching-In
NYC:
Kundiman & Verlaine present a night of poetry & libation with Neil Aitken, Ching-In Chen, Dulani & Mika Nagasaki
Sunday, Sept. 13
Reading begins at 5 pm
Open Bar, 4 - 5 pm
$5 suggested donation
Verlaine
110 Rivington Street b/w Ludlow & Essex Sts.
[ directions: F to Delancey or V to 2nd Ave. ]
http://verlainenyc.com/
Readers’ Bios
Neil Aitken is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review and the author of The Lost Country of Sight, winner of the 2007 Philip Levine Prize. His poetry has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, The Drunken Boat, Ninth Letter, Sou’wester and many other literary journals. He lives in Los Angeles where he is currently pursuing a PhD in literature and creative
writing at the University of Southern California
Ching-In Chen is the author of The Heart’s Traffic and a multi-genre, border-crossing writer. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is a Kundiman, Macondo and Lambda Fellow. A community organizer, she has worked in the Asian American communities of San Francisco, Oakland, and Boston. Her work has been recently published in journals such as Cha, BorderSenses, Rio Grande Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, OCHO, Iron Horse Literary Review, Water~Stone Review, Boxcar Poetry Review, Verdad and the anthology Yellow as Turmeric, Fragrant as Cloves. Currently, Ching-In lives in Riverside, California where she is a member of the Save Our Chinatown Committee, a grassroots organization focused on the preservation of the archaelogical
heritage of Riverside Chinatown.
Dulani is a first-year student in the Integrated Media Arts MFA program at Hunter College. A proud Kundiman Fellow, Dulani is a trans-identified Desi from a low-income immigrant family, whose work strives to place issues of migration in conversation with class, queerness and generation. He has been an Austin Project Fellow and a BCAT/ Rotunda Gallery Multi-Media Artist in-Residence. Dulani has performed his work all over the country in various theatres, universities, and community-based events
as well as has been featured on Asia Pacifica Forum, WBAI 99.5 FM. His work has been published in SAMAR: South Asian Magazine for Action and Reflection, on bustingbinaries.com and is forthcoming in the anthology Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic: Art, Activism, Academics and the Austin Project (University of Texas Press). He is also co-editor of the forthcoming anthology, The Revolution Starts At Home, about partner abuse in activist communities. Dulani holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in a self-designed major, “Art for Social Change; An
Interdisciplinary Approach.”
Mika Nagasaki is a 2007 Kundiman Fellow. She has studied and written poetry and manga, as well as some translation from Spanish and Japanese to English. Mika is now in training to be an organizer at a workers’ center in Manhattan. She writes and reads as much as she can every day.
MISSION STATEMENT
Kundiman is dedicated to the creation, cultivation and promotion of Asian American poetry. http://www.kundiman.org
***
BERKELEY:
Come & hear beautiful poetry, libate, and mingle with an all-star line up with Kundiman poets, the first time together on the West Coast! This special collaboration with Achiote Press and Kundiman is a special opportunity to fundraise for Kundiman, a dynamic arts organization dedicated to fostering Asian American poetry. As part of their mission, Kundiman provides a
retreat for emerging Asian American poets at the University of Virginia every summer. This reading celebrates the publication of “Here is a Pen:” An Anthology of West Coast Kundiman Poets, a chapbook anthology published by Achiote Press, edited by Ching-In Chen, Margaret Rhee, and Debbie Yee. Chapbooks will be available for purchase. All proceeds go to Kundiman.
We look forward to seeing you!
Where: UC Berkeley at the Barbara T. Christian Room, 554 Barrows Hall
When: Thursday, Sept 17th
Time: 11:30: Chapbook & Book Sale and Light Reception
12 - 2: Reading
Readers:
Joseph O. Legaspi is the author of Imago (CavanKerry Press), winner of a 2008 Global Filipino Literary Award. Born in the Philippines, he currently resides in Manhattan and works at Columbia University. A graduate of New York University’s Creative Writing Program, recent works appeared in Callaloo, North American Review, Poets & Writers, New York Theater Review, Crab Orchard Review, Gay & Lesbian Review and the anthology Language for a New Century (W.W. Norton). A recipient of a poetry fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts and an Urban Artists grant, he co-founded Kundiman (www.kundiman.org), a non-profit organization serving Asian American poets. Visit him at www.josepholegaspi.com.
Oliver de la Paz is the author of three books of poetry, NAMES ABOVE HOUSES, FURIOUS LULLABY (Southern Illinois University Press), and the forthcoming book REQUIEM FOR THE ORCHARD which was selected by Martin Espada as the winner of the 2009 University of Akron Poetry Prize and will be available in the Spring of 2010. He is a recipient of grants from the Artist Trust of Washington and from the New York Foundation for the Arts.
He teaches creative writing at Western Washington University and is the co-chair of the Advisory Board for Kundiman.
Debbie Yee is a trusts and estates attorney, Kundiman fellow, arts enthusiast and crafts explorer. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in 32 Poems, OCHO, Fence and The Best American Poetry 2009. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from UC Berkeley. Debbie blogs irregularly at www.debbieyee.com.
Neil Aitken is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review and the author of The Lost Country of Sight, winner of the 2007 Philip Levine Prize. His poetry has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, The Drunken Boat, Ninth Letter, Sou’wester and many other literary journals. He lives in Los Angeles where he is currently pursuing a PhD in literature and creative writing at the University of Southern California.
Ching-In Chen is the author of The Heart’s Traffic and a multi-genre, border-crossing writer. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, she is a Kundiman, Macondo and Lambda Fellow. A co-editor of The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Partner Abuse in Activist Communities, forthcoming from South End Press, Ching-In is currently in the process of editing an anthology on gender, militarism and war from the perspective of women and non-gender-conforming people of color.
Generous Support from: Achiote Press, UC Berkeley, Asian American Studies Program, UC Berkeley, Asian Pacific Islander Working Group
Donations for Kundiman gratefully accepted.
For more information, please visit:
Kundiman: http://www.kundiman.org/index.html’
Achiote Press: www.achiotepress.com.
PAWA: http://pawainc.blogspot.com/2009/09/pawa-arkipelago-reading-series-saturday.html
Questions? Please email: kundimanwest@gmail.com