Lonely Comma

Andrew Xia Fukuda

2011-07-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

As far as I know, there's only a handful of male Asian American writers of YA and MG. Every time someone pops up that I didn't know about previously, I get super excited because clearly we have something unique in common. So when I heard about Andrew I was doubly excited because not only does he write YA, he writes great YA as evidenced by his debut book being an ALA Booklist Editor's Choice among other awesome reviews.

His award winning novel, Crossing, is about a Chinese teen who moves to America and grows up in an all white town. It's a mystery suspense which is quite different than most immigrant stories and I'm halfway through and loving it. The cover is also gorgeous isn't it? Here's the synopsis:

"A loner in his all-white high school, Chinese-born Xing (pronounced “Shing”) is a wallflower longing for acceptance. His isolation is intensified by his increasingly awkward and undeniable crush on his only friend, the beautiful and brilliant Naomi Lee. Xing’s quiet adolescent existence is rattled when a series of disappearances rock his high school and fear ripples through the blue collar community in which he lives.

Amidst the chaos surrounding him, only Xing, alone on the sidelines of life, takes notice of some peculiar sightings around town. He begins to investigate with the hope that if he can help put an end to the disappearances, he will finally win the acceptance for which he has longed. However, as Xing draws closer to unveiling the identity of the abductor, he senses a noose of suspicion tightening around his own neck. While Xing races to solve the mystery and clear his name, Crossing hurtles readers towards a chilling climax."

Andrew recently announced a new trilogy called The Hunt, which you can read all about here. The first book comes out Spring 2012 so you'll have plenty of time to read Crossing over and over by then.

Interview from Amazon page
Question: In what way is Crossing different from the typical immigrant novel?

Andrew: I wanted to depart from what we usually see in immigrant novels: instead of cloying and clichéd scenes of family meals, flowery mother-daughter relationships, and cathartic returns to the motherland, I wanted to layer questions of identity and ethnicity over a thriller plotline. In Crossing, this immigrant theme is propelled forward by the suspense generated in the ever-deepening mystery of the disappearances. This fusion of themes was a blend of my background: as an Asian American I was able to add depth to the ethnic theme; as a criminal prosecutor, I was able to develop nuances in the mystery aspect of the novel.
-Amazon page for Crossing-

Neesha Meminger

2011-02-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Introducing the amazing Neesha Meminger! She debuted the same year as I did and her first book is all kinds of wonderful. Shine, Coconut Moon features Samar (aka Sam) and is about growing up Indian American in a post 9/11 world and finding pride and identity in her heritage. There are not a lot of great books like this, especially not in the young adult world, and Shine, Coconut Moon is a must read and I've recommended it to many friends. Well, a few weeks ago, Neesha's second book, Jazz in Love, released and I've included the synopsis below:

"Jasbir, a.k.a. Jazz, has always been a stellar student and an obedient, albeit wise-cracking, daughter. Everything has gone along just fine -- she has good friends in the 'genius' program she's been in since kindergarten, her teachers and principal adore her, and her parents dote on her. But now, in her junior year of high school, her mother hears that Jazz was seen hugging a boy on the street and goes ballistic.

Mom immediately implements the Guided Dating Plan, which includes setting up blind dates with "suitable," pre-screened Indian candidates. The boy her mother sets her up with, however, is not at all what anyone expects; and the new boy at school, the very unsuitable hottie, is the one who sets Jazz's blood boiling.

When Jazz makes a few out-of-the-ordinary decisions, everything explodes, and she realizes she'll need a lot more than her genius education to get out of the huge mess she's in. Can Jazz find a way to follow her own heart, and still stay in the good graces of her parents?"
-Jazz in Love-

I know what you're thinking: "I didn't even know there was a young adult book featuring an awesome Indian American main character, much less two!" Seriously, I can count the number of Indian American YA characters -- major or minor -- on about one and a half hands. Everyone needs to promote and support Neesha's works because they are so unique and from a perspective that is not heard from enough. I also highly recommend reading her guest post for Justine Larbalestier titled: "From Margin to Center: Writing Characters of Color."

What is additionally super cool about Jazz in Love is that Neesha chose to go the independent route and self publish this book because she wanted to story to be out in the world. I'm totally with that and I think she's a real trailblazer and showing every author that if you've got the cred to share a story that needs to be told now, D.I.Y! So go out and get Neesha's two fantastic books and cheer her on as we wait impatiently for a third.

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

2011-01-11T02:28:00.000-08:00

My mother was born the Year of the Tiger but despite our strict academically focused upbringing, she was no "tiger mother," as described by Amy Chua. Chua's article in the Wall Street Journal a few days ago set off a whole storm of debate across the Internets. Her Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior article/excerpt from her just released book, "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," got thousands of comments and people alternately praising and condemning her. I got forwarded, Tweeted, Facebooked, Tumblred, and instant messaged about the article no less than a dozen times.

Because this is a book blog, I won't go into how I personally feel about Chua's article but will instead celebrate an Asian American author who is tearing up the Amazon charts -- currently number five overall. There's a good chance Chua will be the best selling Asian American author of 2011, and we're only two weeks in! I bet my mom would have pushed me much harder if she knew that all it took to move units was to harass me into excellence and then have me pass on that ethos when/if I start parenting.

People complain about Asian kids overrunning their finer institutions, those Asian kids complain about being stereotyped as nerds, and now this debate over which is the best way to raise your overachieving Sea Monkey. *Yawn* Seriously, are people just now getting hip to the idea that immigrant parents -- and many non-immigrant parents -- go to extreme measures to give their children a leg up on the competition?

Let's not forget that amidst all this (faux-)controversy, Chua is a very smart and successful lady, a professor of law at Yale, and has published a couple of other well received books with titles like "World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability (2004)" and "Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance -- and Why They Fall (2009)." In case you start with either of these two, Slate's Audio Book Club has selected Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother for January so you probably want to rethink that decision -- unless you just really care more about how hyperpowers rose and fell instead of hard ass Asian parenting. I mean, both topics are equally relevant in my life today.

[Update: 1.13.2011] Jeff Yang's newest Asian Pop column, "Mother Superior?", puts some perspective on everything. And he contacts Chua to see what she has to say.

Thank you!

2010-12-15T02:30:00.000-08:00

AA Risings was kind enough to link to Lonely Comma on their groups page, and Angry Asian Man told his readers in a recent "read these blogs" post to check out LC. Thanks to Nelson and Phil!

The Lonely Comma: Here's a recently launched blog dedicated to highlighting the work of Asian American authors and writers. It's been a work-in-progress, and is still coming together, but it has the makings of a pretty solid literary resource. And they're looking for contributors.
-Angry Asian Man-

Page Turner: The Asian American Literary Festival

2010-10-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

"The Asian American Writers' Workshop is proud to present Page Turner: The Asian American Literary Festival. Our book bash is like the ideal boyfriend or girlfriend: that hot unabashedly lefty braniac with an awesome sense of humor and a great heart. Open to readers of all backgrounds, Page Turner is the only event of its kind -- a multi-day celebration of the best minds in Asian American arts and politics: Richard Price, Susan Choi, Monica Youn, Jennifer 8 Lee, Tao Lin, Tim Wu, Hari Kunzru, Das Racist, Hari Kondabolu, and nearly thirty other writers.

We're like the TED of Asian American literature, but with more booze and better battle rhymes. Come for the post-identity discourse, high-toned literary hoo-ha, and our warm sense of community. Stay for the cocktail receptions, haiku market, and drunken scrabble. Come back to aaww.org and pageturnerfest.org as we update our full schedule."

As I'll be in New York next weekend, I'm excited to attend Page Turner. AAWW was using Kickstarter to raise funds for the festival and while they've hit their initial $5,000 goal, they're still open to funding for another five days and all the money goes to making the festival that much bigger and better. There are a ton of cool awards available so go check those out. Sadly I won't be in New York in time to attend the Sexy Nerd Party on the sixth, but I will be there on Sunday. And I'm hoping to introduce people to Squabble, the far superior version of Scrabble!

Angela S. Choi

2010-10-20T01:13:00.000-07:00

I was in San Franciso last week for LitQuake and debut author Angela S. Choi was doing a reading. Sadly I could not attend as I was flipping out trying to get my reading ready that night but I had really wanted to go see her.

Choi's book is the incredibly titled, "Hello Kitty Must Die," complete with an eye catching pink cover. Now I'm a fierce Hello Kitty fan but I won't hold that against Choi because her book seems all kinds of awesome. I mean, there's satire (the best kind of comedy), an Asian American protagonist, a serial killer, and oh so much more. Joy Luck Club meets Dexter is like a dream come true! I'm so jealous I didn't think of this first because it's brilliant.

Choi is an ex-lawyer -- who quit her career to write -- and just wrapped up some jury duty so we know she's not only smart and talented but a responsible civic minded person to boot. It's rumored that her next book is titled "Jesus Will See You Now" which makes another instant read for me.

"Choi's scorching-hot debut rips into the stereotype of Hello Kitties, young Asian-American women who are upwardly mobile, outwardly modern, but trapped by their families' old-fashioned cultural expectations. A week before turning 28, Fiona 'Fi' Yu, a San Francisco corporate lawyer who lives with her parents, uses a silicone device to take her own virginity, an act she soon regrets. When she consults Dr. Sean Killroy about restoring her hymen, the cosmetic surgeon turns out to be Sean Deacon, a former grade school classmate who once lit a girl's hair on fire. Fi renews her friendship with Sean, who draws her into a secret world that's empowering but also highly disturbing. As Sean encourages Fi to fight back when her parents suggest suitors, people who cause problems for Fi wind up dead. A demonic stir-fry of influences, including Amy Tan, Chuck Palahniuk, Clive Barker, and Candace Bushnell, infuses Choi's prose with passionate ferocity."
-Starred review from Publisher's Weekly

All this plus Choi's German publisher has created an online game where you get to shoot Hello Kitties. Like wow. The high score is 34,710 which I find unbelievable as my Starcraft honed skills only managed a 1,239 on my second go-around. I'm blaming my mouse.

Hyphen Magazine

2010-10-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

"Hyphen is a magazine about Asian America for the culturally and politically savvy. Built around a clarity of image, word and social awareness, Hyphen takes form from the artists, thinkers and creators who are shaping a new multiethnic generation.

Hyphen is not a formula but a sensibility—not a collection of recycled fare with an Asian flavor, but original reporting on stories that move beneath the mainstream. Curious and questioning, Hyphen looks into the hard issues, but also the Asian American by accident, by tangent or by happenstance. Visually arresting, it strikes the gut with clean design, sharp photography and original illustration.

Like its readers, Hyphen is many things—cool librarian, shy musician, dorky hipster, cute techie. Like Asian America, its interests are varied—politics, art, health, music. Much like the hyphen connects words and concepts, Hyphen magazine connects readers with Asian America as it happens."

Launched in 2002, Hyphen is a nonprofit, all volunteer magazine printed three times a year. Based out of the Bay Area, Hyphen has been putting out an award winning magazine for almost a decade. You know how you sit around with a few friends and ask "how can we create something that we care about and believe in," and then (if you're like me) you forget about it the next morning? Well check out the story behind Hyphen's beginnings, which shows you what a dedicated and talented group of people can do.

The Hyphen staff puts in so much time, heart, and effort into make Hyphen a success that it would only be right for everyone to support them by subscribing and donating. They are currently in the middle of a fundraising campaign and everyone knows how hard it is to put out a quality paper mag nowadays so help'em out! Also, Hyphen is always on the lookout for passionate volunteers to join their business, editorial, events, and web teams. And if you got a short story to share, Hyphen's new fiction editor is looking for submissions.

On top of publishing a magazine and hosting social events around the Bay Area, Hyphen also organizes an annual Mr. Hyphen competition. This year's winner will be crowned on November 6th. What is Mr. Hyphen? Glad you asked.

"Mr. Hyphen turns stereotypes about Asian males on their heads. The competition is structured like a pageant with rounds of talent, fashion and Q&A in front of a sold-out crowd. Striking a blow for equal-opportunity all-in-good-fun ogling, Mr. Hyphen is an energy-filled evening of fun and charity. And to top it off, the man crowned Mr. Hyphen wins a $1,000 cash donation to his nonprofit organization."

Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith

2010-10-05T02:55:00.000-07:00

While I can't speak with absolute authority on this, award winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith's website and blog (Cynsations), are the top destinations for anyone interested in literature for children and young adults. Actually, who needs authority. Cynthia's website is definitely the best destination!

Seriously, there's so much great stuff on her recently redesigned main site that trying to sum it up could take forever. Instead I'll just recommend clicking over and losing yourself in all the wonderful articles, videos, links, news, advice she has gathered over the years.

There is one section on her site I wanted to specifically highlight though, as it's relevant to Lonely Comma's purpose. Under the link to Children's and YA Literature Resources is a section for Diverse Reads. Within it are sub-categories such as multicultural, multiracial, Native Americans, and an Asian-Heritage page. Cynthia's husband, Greg Leitich Smith, an author himself, provides us with the introduction:

"The field of Asian American children's and young adult literature includes many wonderful books — poetically written and exquisitely illustrated. The number of children's authors and illustrators working from the relevant communities is steadily on the rise, and some of these folks — like Yumi Heo, Cynthia Kadohata, Allen Say, An Na, Linda Sue Park, Janet Wong, Lisa Yee, and Laurence Yep — have received great critical acclaim.

Books featuring Japanese, Chinese, and Korean characters — while still limited in number — are far more prevalent than those reflecting any other Asian or Asian American community, especially the Southeast Asian. We hope to see more quality books reflecting the diversity of Asian American life in the future."
-Children's and YA Books with Asian Heritage Themes-

On the rest of the page, there's a few highlighted books as well as links to interviews and featured authors on the sidebar. Also, there are separate sections for anthologies, Chinese heritage, Korean heritage, Japanese heritage, and a resources and links section. In a way, Lonely Comma hopes to be a continuation of the passion and work the Leitich Smiths have obviously put in and they've been kind of inspiring figures. Currently Cynthia teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts so that could call for a field trip right? Leitich Smith also does quite a few events. Consider yourself lucky if you've been able to catch any of her events or speeches.

Cynthia Leitich Smith
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Greg Leitich Smith
Website | Blog

Association of Iranian American Writers (AIAW)

2010-10-01T18:13:00.000-07:00

"The Association of Iranian American Writers is a member-based organization dedicated to promoting the work of fiction and non-fiction writers, essayists, poets, journalists, photojournalists, and artists who work with words. Iranian heritage and/or Iranian history and culture are important aspects of our work, although not necessarily our essential subject matter."

There's been a lot of books from and about Iran in recent years and I hope you've all read Persepolis, Reading Lolita in Tehran, Septembers of Shiraz, and Funny in Farsi. I mean, c'mon, they are huge books (not literally) and you couldn't have missed them at the bookstore. Up until a few years ago, I had no exposure to Iranian American literature, which is totally sad because there's a ton of great Iranian American writers and stories that need to be told. AIAW's well organized and informative site is a great place to get started, especially their Featured Writers Overview page.

I have to admit, I didn't know much about the history of Iran back then either, pre- or post-revolution, and I had to take some time to educate myself because if you're going to journey into works set in unfamiliar historical places, you gotta study up. That's half the fun of reading, am I right?

Also, this past weekend I went to Zohreh Ghahremani's book launch -- which was how I found out about AIAW. I had the honor of getting an advance copy of Sky of Red Poppies awhile ago and Zoe was kind enough to let me blurb it! Let me tell you, it is not easy to sum up a beautiful book in a few short sentences. Or in my case, a sentence. If it were up to me, I would have slapped a lot of superlatives and exclamation marks for my portion because that's how I felt about Zoe's book. I think you'll agree after reading it.

South Asian Author Challenge

2010-09-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

When you were in elementary school, do you remember the reading challenges that would reward you for reading from a set list of books? Those were awesome right? I remember being given certificates, ribbons, medals, and even a special assembly once. Being rewarded for being a voracious reader was kind of cool, even if it kept you up late at night and your mom got mad at you for reading at the dinner table. "I gotta finish all these books Mom, there's a medal coming!"

Well maybe like me you're a little past middle school, so what happens when there's nobody to give you shiny metal (or plastic) for reading? Where's the motivation? As we all know, the motivation to read should intrinsic; reading expands your mind and makes you stand out from your non-reading friends, I'm convinced of it. Don't believe Glee's Sue Sylvester's declaration in a recent commercial, "Why should children be burdened by the tyranny of reading? Words are hard!" The only hard thing about reading is not being able to read fast enough to get through everything you want.

In the book blogosphere, there are quite a few reading challenges and many of them are themed. Take this one for example, the South Asian Author Challenge hosted by Swapna Krishna. The challenge is to commit to reading three, five, seven, or ten books about or by a South Asian author during this calendar year. Which countries might fall in that categorization? India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Next year that list will be expanded to include Bhutan, Maldives, and Nepal.

Swapna is a very prolific book blogger and is also highly organized so she's got challenge info, sign ups, author lists, and her own reviews all up at the challenge main page. As 2010 is already winding down, there's a 2011 Challenge being put together. So no complaining about not having enough time to jump on board. If you start now you can even get a head start. Then next year we'll see about getting some medals around neck...if you deserve them.

Here's a fun and intimidating tidbit: Swapna has read 330 books this year already. As she details in her post, that's 116,598 pages. I have entire groups of friends who haven't read that many books in their lives combined. And if that sounds like a lot, last year she breezed through 450 books! When you get the chance, go thank Swapna for putting such a great challenge together.

Yiyun Li

2010-09-28T12:28:00.000-07:00

How'd you like to be a MacArthur Genius? What're the qualifications? I dunno, it's all very secret and anonymous. Each year, the MacArthur Fellowship awards twenty to forty people "who show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work." The winners receive $500,000 and a lot of congratulatory phone calls. Proving how much I don't know about the world, the only name I recognize from the past few years' winners is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2008).

This year there's a Chinese American writer on the list, Yiyun Li, and she's already been having a banner year as she was named one of The New Yorker's 20 under 40 a few months ago. I read her story, The Science of Flight, but haven't read any of her other stuff yet. I'm pretty sure the best place to start is with A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, which was her debut book of short stories. Li immigrated from China in 1996 and received her MFA in creative nonfiction at the University of Iowa, and a fiction MFA from the Iowa Writers' Worskshop. She's now a professor at UC Davis and it must be amazing to be her student. Maybe I'll try to crash a class. Wanna join?

It looks like Li's currently on tour for her new book, Gold Boy, Emerald Girl, and you can check her site for all the tour dates and locations.

"Li's stories are typically set in her native China and she wields a darkness and weightiness of tone that she has used to carve out a place for herself among the broader community of first generation immigrant writers."
-The Millions, "2010's Literary Geniuses"-

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

2010-09-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

"Cha, founded in 2007, a decade after the handover, is the first Hong Kong-based English online literary journal; it is dedicated to publishing quality poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, reviews and photography, and art. Cha has a strong focus on Asian-themed creative work and work done by Asian writers and artists. It also publishes established and emerging writers/artists from around the world."

Cha has a very active blog located at asiancha.blogspot.com and I've been subscribing for quite awhile as they have proven to be a great resource for finding other Asian authors, illustrators, and literary sites. Here's an interview with founding co-editor Tammy Ho Lai-Ming from Lantern Review Blog, and a post about the etymology of the "Cha" name.

On the right side of their page are image links to past issues, with each issue showcasing a different header image. Kinda cool. Here are their submission guidelines. They are currently accepting submissions for Issue #13, to be published February 2011.

API/A Love Letter Project

2010-09-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

If you need to know what's going on in the Asian American community, you need to be reading Phil Yu, aka Angry Asian Man. Oh you already know about Angry Asian Man? Of course you do. Well Phil just posted this link to the API/A Love Letter Project, which, aside from having a stunning blog design is a really interesting idea.

"The premise behind the API/A Love Letter Project is reclaiming a sense of optimism and self/communal progression for the Asian/American community. What the API/A Love Letter Project is is a collection of essays and letters written by members of the community—whether academic or not—poeticizing their hopes and dreams for the future of the social circles they come from."
-API/A Love Letter Project's About page-

The site started in July and is irregularly updated but I get pretty excited when a new post pops up in my Reader. Maybe you have a love letter to share? I'm gonna try to write one up I think, once I figure out who exactly my community is... Maybe I should start by checking out API/A Love Letter Project's Facebook too!

The Gangster We Are All Looking For

2010-08-18T17:12:00.000-07:00

Okay you know how certain cities have a "let's everyone read the same book together so we can feel united" thing going on? I'm kind of into that but have never participated. Mainly because I don't tend to stay in cities long enough for the book club to start and be over. It's an interesting idea though, that you could go around a city and see thousands (millions?) of people flipping through the same book.

The first One City One Book was started in 1998, by Seattle, which is annually ranked as one of America's "most literate of big cities." Other top cities are Minneapolis, Washington DC, and Pittsburgh. Placing near the bottom of the list are El Paso, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; Bakersfield, California; and Stockton, California. Read about the methodology of the study here if you're so inclined. Basically if you have cold winters, chances are there's a lot of reading going on. If you live in the hot weather, you're more likely to zone out in front of the television watching Jersey Shore 2.

So what about my hometown of San Diego, dubbed "America's Finest City?" Over at Slant Eye for the Round Eye I saw that One Book One San Diego has chosen lê thi diem thúy's The Gangster We Are All Looking For. For those not in the know, lê thị diễm thúy is pronounced "lay tee yim twee" and she is a poet, an author, and a performer.

I actually read this book when it came out because the cover and title were so catchy. I quite enjoyed it even if I don't recall anything about the book in particular. I'm just bad with reading memory, but that means I get to experience the joy of fresh rereads quite frequently. And since I'm in San Diego now, I'm going to pull out my copy and read along. Feel free to move to SD for the summer and join me.

The Publishers Weekly blurb is below:

"Le's first novel is a bracing, unvarnished, elliptical account of a Vietnamese refugee family, in America but not yet of it, hobbled by an unfamiliar environment and their own troubled relationships. It's narrated by the family's young daughter, newly arrived in San Diego with her father after being sponsored by a well-meaning but condescending American family. Her mother soon joins them, and the family endures an itinerant existence of low-wage jobs and cheap rental apartments. Other Vietnamese wander namelessly through the book, sharing space with the family but providing little of the warmth of community. Nearly plotless, the novel is organized into vignettes that each feature one piercing image: a drunken parent, a shattered display cabinet, a drowned boy.

As the narrator makes her halting adjustment to America, she also tries to discover what the family has left behind in Vietnam. Her father's mysterious past caused him to be rejected by his in-laws; these grandparents are now known to the girl only through a worn photograph. Then there is her brother, whose fate is mentioned only in whispers. Le allows no sentimentality to creep into this work-indeed, she hints only subtly at the narrator's emotional state ("there is no trace of blood anywhere except here, in my throat, where I am telling you all of this"), as though any explicit show of feeling were too frivolous for the subject at hand. This is a stark and significant work that will challenge readers."

Mirror: Motion Picture Commentary

2010-08-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

This isn't about books exactly but a new website I somehow stumbled onto called Mirrorfilm.org. Kartina Richardson, writer, filmmaker, and playwright, offers a mix of video and text posts focusing on some of her favorite films. Each post has a clip of the film and Richardson gives us an audio commentary over the video which is often a related memory, a well measured thought, or some historical context.

The posts that initially caught my eye were Kartina's series about Race in Film. So far she's covered some really interesting ground, all the way from Meet Me in St. Louis, to The Joy Luck Club, and most recently, Freaky Friday.

Kartina's introduction to her series is below:

"This series looks at representations of people of color (POC) in films that do not explicitly deal with race. This means that although I love Mr. Tibbs, In the Heat of the Night will not be featured. Instead, we will look at images of POC, references to race, racism, and race relations (positive and negative) that pop up in unexpected places. Such un-race related films like Hold That Ghost, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Paisan and even Meet Me in St. Louis.

...Because (rather than despite) these films are dear to me, these moments of racial ignorance and insensitivity caused uneasiness. This not only interrupted my movie watching experience, but excluded me from the club. The one that loved the movie unquestionably and did not get offended. These moments made me feel that not only was the movie was no longer mine, but it had never been intended for me in the first place. That is a painful feeling."
-Special Series I : Race in Film

I don't know why you haven't stopped to RSS the whole thing already. It's quality all around and I can't wait to see what the next film in the series will be. I also have to point out the little illustration on the right side of Mirror's page. I don't know what it is or what the significance behind it might be but it seems perfect.

Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

2010-08-07T21:15:00.000-07:00

While looking around to see if there were already blogs out there about Asian American writers, I happened upon Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind a few months ago. Started in November 2009, Asia in the Heart covers children's and young adult books set in Asia, children's and young adult books with Asian characters, and also children's and young adult books with characters of Asian descent.

Tarie Sabido, a grad student in Anglo-American literature, blogs from Quezon City (Trivia: QC used to be the capital of the Philippines) and her site does a really nice job of highlighting books from Asia as well as showing us Americans that work from here really does travel worldwide. The site reflects Tarie's passion for children's literature as she features reviews, interviews, and coverage of book award ceremonies and conferences.

There are quite a few other book blogs I've been reading and I'm excited show the rest of them off. I thought I'd start with Asia in the Heart because it stands out from the crowd for the unique overseas perspective it brings. I'm sure you'll agree.

Lists are so subjective

2010-08-05T05:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of Top Ten Indian Writers in English. I can't figure out when this list was dated from, but it's via Chilli Breeze, which has the tagline "Indian Talent, Global Talent." While lists are really just a ploy to get you to look and debate -- and that's exactly why I love them -- you'll recognize most of the names on this particular top ten. Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry, Amitav Ghosh, Jumpha Lahiri...

Since these writers are familiar to many readers, it was interesting to see a more recent version of the list filled with names I didn't really recognize. Well, except for Ghosh, Rushdie, and Vikram Seth, who appear on both lists. Everyone on the two lists are most likely worthy of checking out. Or if you're ahead of me, you've already read them and can't believe I don't know who Chetan Bhagat, Kirin Desai, and Aravind Adiga are. One of them apparently is dating a Nobel laureate and another was one of Time Magazine's World's Most Influential People 2010. Intriguing.

"Indian writing in English has been acclaimed around the world for its innovation, radical new approaches to the art of story telling and reworking of language. While the older generation continues to produce literary masterworks, a newer generation of writing talent has emerged, ensuring that the fount of imagination in the country has not run dry."
-Chilli Breeze

Here's a few other links to South Asian writers' sites as I was skimming around:

DesiLit: Their tagline is "Celebrating South Asian and diaspora literature." I think DesiLit is still live as they have nine chapters around the country. They have a Facebook, a Twitter, and a blog, but the last two haven't been updated since 2009. They produce a biannual online magazine and are/were up to issue six. Here's an interview with Dr. Mary Anne Mohanraj, the executive director of DesiLit, from 2007. Also, a longish list of South Asian literary journals and a literature bibliography seem handy.

South Asian English Literature: A dead site with broken images but there are quite a few interesting links/lists to dig through.

The SASIALIT mailing list: An email digest for discussion of contemporary literature in South Asia. I just subscribed and will tell you all about it once I get a few emails in. Mailing list discussions! These things still exist? Also on the SASIALIT site there's a list of online South Asian literature resources.

South Asian Women Writers Network: Recently updated and featuring information and resources for South Asian women's writers. There's a list of authors, a list of organizations, links to news and articles, and a who's who. They too have a mailing list.

Y.S. Lee

2010-08-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Y.S. Lee's second book is out, The Agency 2: The Body at the Tower, seemingly right on the heels of her debut, The Agency: A Spy in the House. The Agency series follows Mary Quinn, former pickpocket and now member of a secret all-female detective unit operating out of Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls.

Lee's books are steeped in a fantastic and realistic setting because hey, she's got her PhD in Victorian literature so please be respectful and call her "doctor." Here's an interview with Lee over at Wondrous Reads where she reveals the kinds of research she has to do for her books.

"Researching a PhD leaves you with incredibly specific knowledge about a particular subject, but also with amazing blind spots, especially about the practical aspects of nineteenth century life. I started the novel with a strong general knowledge about the Victorian era – about women’s rights and their political limitations, for example. But I had to do quite a bit of research to fill in the gaps – for example, about marine insurance, the early days of engineering, and when specific bridges were built. This wasn’t a problem – I love research, and will seize any excuse to dive into a box of dusty papers!"
-Wondrous Reads-

Since detective novels are right up my alley, I need to get this one right away. You should too right?

Vote for Hyphen's Lisa Lee & Melissa Hung to win 7x7's Hot 20 Under 40 Contest

2010-08-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

Everyone's making their own "20 Under 40" lists aren't they? Leading off their Summer Fiction issue, The New Yorker released their top twenty to much buzz (and some jealousy) a few months ago. Then The Millions released an alternate list. Not to be left out, Granta Magazine put out their list of the twenty best young British novelists. And I'm sure somewhere along the way US Magazine probably did one too.

Well now San Francisco's 7x7 recently announced their "Hot 20 Under 40 Reader's Choice" and they've already gotten into the top twenty tier. Which begs the question why there are more rounds of voting to get to ten, five, and eventually one "winner." I'd probably say the motivation is for more web hits but that would be completely cynical.

Regardless, Hyphen Magazine's publisher and founding editor are on the list and if you know what's great in the world, you should jump over to 7x7's site and vote for them. Lisa Lee and Melissa Hung are competing versus winemakers, non-profit startups, career coaches, fashion bloggers, a drag queen legend, yoga teachers, and photographers. While these are all worthy pursuits and hot in their own right, there's something about running an entirely volunteer staff and producing the premier Asian American magazine that just strikes me as win worthy. I'm sure you agree.

The winner will be announced next Wednesday, August 11th, and there are three round of voting till then. I know I'll be waking up each morning (or more likely afternoon) and immediately casting my vote. Won't you join me?

Charles Yu

2010-07-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Listed alongside geek buzz like the unveiling of Thor, Avengers, and Green Lantern, Charles Yu's How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe was named one if io9's biggest winners of Comic Con 2010. And then I saw Yu's changed cover art over at Caustic Cover Critic.

How to Live... comes out September 7, 2010 and the description says that his debut novel is "a razor-sharp, ridiculously funny, and utterly touching story of a son searching for his father...through quantum space–time."

From his Random House author page: "Charles Yu received the National Book Foundation’s 5 Under 35 Award for his story collection Third Class Superhero, and he has also received the Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award. His work has been published in the Harvard Review, The Gettysburg Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Mississippi Review, and Mid-American Review, among other journals. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Michelle, and their two children."

He had me at "quantum." I'll look forward to reading both of Yu's books.

Kartika Review

2010-07-15T02:29:00.000-07:00

A quarterly publication, Kartika Review is an Asian American literary journal started in 2007. Their first issue featured an interview with Gene Luen Yang, creator of American Born Chinese. The journal is currently on issue seven and publishes book reviews, author interviews, poetry, essays, and artwork. Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis so you can visit Kartika's submissions page to submit, advertise, or subscribe to their mailing list.

Kartika's mission statement:

"Kartika Review serves the Asian American community and those involved with Diasporic Asian-inspired literature. We scout for compelling Asian American creative writing and artwork to present to the public at large. Our editors actively solicit contributions from established virtuosos in our community in hopes their works here will inspire the next generation of virtuosos. We also want to promote emerging writers and artists we foresee to be the future powerhouses of their craft. Ultimately, Kartika strives to create a literary forum that caters to and celebrates the wordsmiths of the Asian Diaspora."

Also, the meaning behind Kartika's name is quite cool.

"In Vajrayana (or Tibetan) Buddhist tradition, the kartika, a crescent-shaped knife, symbolizes the cutting away of ignorance and superficiality, with the hopes that it will lead to enlightenment. The kartika is kept close during deep meditation or prayer. It serves mainly as a metaphorical reminder of our self-determined life missions and never is it actually wielded in the offensive against others. We took on this namesake because the kartika best represents this journal’s vision."

Website | Blog | Facebook
Past issues archive
Link from Angry Asian Man
Kartika's page on Duotrope Digest
Post from Kartika about KWELI's call for submissions. KWELI is an online literary journal established to identify, promote, and nurture emerging writers of color.

Hyphen's 10 Notable Asian American Books of 2009

2010-05-01T03:54:00.000-07:00

And the link.

Here's Looking At You

2010-01-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

Hey, I'm trying to get this site up by February 1st. I felt like there was a need for a site that highlighted and focused on Asian American writers. Since I'm a one person show the current plan is just to focus on authors and take it from there. If you're interested in helping out, have suggestions, or want to review, write, anything, email me! Ideally the site will just serve as a resource to find Asian American writers and such. Thanks!

[7.15.10 update] Annnd it's July and I finally have some time to get it started.