News

December 11, 2023

Through AAWW’s programming, publications, and partnerships, we reach every day for more ways we can tangibly support organizing efforts that demand true and lasting dignity and sovereignty for Palestine and for Palestinians across the globe.
Read our full statement in solidarity with Palestine here.

March 31, 2023

On March 20, 2023, in time for Nowruz, the Iranian (Persian) new year, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s award-winning digital magazine, The Margins, published “Spring Will Come: Writings from East Turkistan.”  Read more here.

October 5, 2021

Today, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop reveals AAWW at 30, a series of signature events, fundraising campaign, and thematic notebooks that explore the values and ideas at the heart of the Workshop’s mission since its founding in 1991.
Read more here.

June 10, 2021

Announcing Page Turner, the 2021 Publishing Conference. From literary editors to speculative writers, from academics to Hollywood screenwriters, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop invites conference attendees to explore the craft of writing and publishing.
Read more about our line-up here.

March 17, 2021

Our hearts are broken at the news of last night’s murder of eight innocent victims in Atlanta, GA. Read our full statement here.

January 28, 2021

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is thrilled to introduce our 2021 Fellows. These nine emerging writers will receive an innovative mix of community, publication, and career development. Meet our 2021 Margins and Open City Fellows!

September 3, 2020

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is thrilled to introduce the newest members of our team—Programs Manager Lily Philpott and Digital Communications Manager Esther Kim.
Read more about our new staff.

May 31, 2020

As an organization dedicated to the empowerment and amplification of marginalized voices, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop recognizes that silence is not an option.
Read more.

May 25, 2020

Join Riz Ahmed, Ayad Akhtar, Alexander Chee, Min Jin Lee, Celeste Ng, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and C Pam Zhang, and add your name to the list of signatories in this statement of solidarity against hate in the time of COVID-19, organized by AAWW and PEN America.

“Together we can use the power of our collective voices to call for a more just, equal, and inclusive society. As members of the global literary community, we know well that diversity is a pillar of any liberal democracy, providing rich and varied stories to celebrate.”
Read the full statement here.

March 13, 2020

AAWW and Coronavirus (COVID-19) Press Release

With concerns about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic growing each day, here are the steps AAWW is taking in response.

“As a sanctuary for our collective imaginations, stories, and voices, there is nothing more important to the AAWW team than our community’s safety and well-being…. We are suspending all live public programming, effective immediately through March 31.”
Read the full Press Release here.

January 3, 2020

AAWW Board Annouces New Executive Director — Press Release

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) Board of Directors announced that they have appointed Jafreen M. Uddin as their new Executive Director.

“The Workshop’s core mission of amplifying Asian American voices is needed now more than ever, and I am humbled to have the opportunity to lead the organization into a new era,” says Ms. Uddin. “I am especially honored for the chance to work with and on behalf of our community and its storytellers, building on the incredible momentum of the Workshop’s rich history and success.”
Read the full Press Release here.

July 18, 2019

The Whiting Foundation — The 2019 Whiting Literary Magazine Prizes 

The Margins was one of five recipients of a 2019 Literary Magazine Prize from the Whiting Foundation. 

“An indispensable incubator for audacious intellect and human complexity, The Margins reshapes literature even as it creates space for nuance, voice, imagination, and connection. As an institution, it has a profound impact on our cultural consciousness: the legion of writers The Margins has nurtured redefines our understanding of what it is to be Asian American in this country, and in the world.”

October 24, 2019

PEN America — Works of Justice: Sarah Wang on Bearing Witness

AAWW supported five writers, including writer Sarah Wang, through A World Without Cages’ Witness Program, which brought together writers both in and outside of prison through correspondence and creative collaboration.

“I cried a lot when I wrote letters to my pen pal and when I read the letters she wrote to me—not due to pathos or anything horrible like that but because different channels of possibility had opened up between us, two people who had never met before, who live quite different lives but who also share similar histories. Giving this kind of space to another person, and having it given to you, is deeply moving.”