Past Events

RSVP HERE! Join us as we celebrate the launch of Neel Patel's debut novel, Tell Me How to Be, with a reading and 1:1 author conversation with Neel. This "daring, hilarious, poignant" (Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies) story of the bond between an Indian-American mother...

RSVP HERE! In December we will convene a panel of Pacific Islander poets, activists, and scholars to discuss the driving forces behind their work, and their connections to Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio's forthcoming book  Remembering Our Intimacies: Moʻolelo, Aloha ʻĀina, and Ea. Incorporating discussions of their creative work and scholarship, our...

REGISTER HERE! ONLINE: 11/30, 6 PM ET - 9 PM ET SLIDING SCALE $50 - $100 *** Limited tuition support available. Please see below for instructions  *** Join us for a workshop with Arlene Ducao and Myeong Hong Hurwitz as they dive into the language of emojis and design! The...

RSVP HERE! The Asian American Writers' Workshop was founded in 1991 by four friends, who shared a passion and energy for uplifting the work of Asian American writers. Publishing literature from the Asian diaspora has been at the heart of the Workshop's mission since the organization's founding, and as we...

RSVP HERE! Join us this November for a celebration of former AAWW Margins Fellow Kyle Lucia Wu and her newly released novel, Win Me Something, a self-aware bildungsroman with a deep yearning for belonging, revealing chasms and the malleability of deep-seated relationships. Kyle will be joined in conversation with authors T...

Join us as we celebrate Mayukh Sen’s new book, Taste Makers, which brings forward the stories of seven immigrant women whose legacies are complicated and often erased, despite their outsized global influence on food. Their histories unwrap, layer by layer, issues of labor, immigration and gender. Mayukh will be joined in conversation by novelist Monique Truong.

RSVP HERE! This October, join us for a celebratory reading with our 2021 Open City Fellows, as they read from, and discuss the work they have completed over the course of their Fellowship term. We’ll hear from Open City Neighborhood Fellows Jessica Jacolbe and Teresa Mathew, who have been documenting...

For AAWW at 30, we'll celebrate with leaders of major Asian American organizations and publications the importance of finding a space of our own plus the literal and figurative definitions of home. Moderated by Cathy Linh Che of Kundiman, the panel features our very own Jafreen Uddin, Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific Center, and Snigdha Sur of The Juggernaut.

Mic Check! Are you a writer? Come share your work at our next edition of our open mic, Mouth to Mouth. Curated and hosted by the magical Kay Ulanday Barrett and Jaden Fields! This month we’re featuring Muriel Leung and féi hernandez.

As writers in diaspora, the western imagination of the “lyric I” can impose harmful and reductive gazes unto our poetry. How do we wrestle with these narratives under the failed and limited imagination of empire? In this generative and discussion-based workshop led by poet George Abraham, we will look beyond respectability, linearity, and digestibility.

Our quarterly Fireside Chat series brings an Asian diasporic author, artist, or academic into conversation with Jafreen Uddin, Executive Director of the Asian American Writers' Workshop. Jafreen will be joined by debut novelist Nawaaz Ahmed (Radiant Fugitives) to share updates from the Workshop, and to discuss uplifting the next generation of Asian American creators.

AAWW in collaboration with the Leela Dance Collective presents BECOMING THE ARCHER: a conversation on classical dance and literature between world renowned Kathak artist Rachna Nivas and author of The Archer Shruti Swamy.

Join us to celebrate Albert Samaha's powerful new release, Concepcion. This intimate and incisive memoir explores the unjust legacy of imperialism in the Philippines and the pursuit of a dream through the lens of the author's family migration history. Albert will be joined in conversation by writer and editor, Matt Ortile.

RSVP HERE! Twenty years after 9/11, leading Muslim screenwriters come together to discuss the state of Muslim American representation onscreen. Panelists will wrestle with the multi-faceted challenges of representing a tremendously diverse population, exploring how far we've come and, just as critically, how far we still have to go. Featuring...

Saturday, 9/18, Sunday 9/19 | 3 PM - 5:30 PM ET Online | 2 Sessions | REGISTER HERE! Sliding Scale $100-$200 | Limited Scholarship Seats Available This class welcomes everyone regardless of past experience with programming or game design. No previous programming or game development experience needed! Using interactive fiction...

RSVP HERE! Join us as we celebrate Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint's lyric memoir, Names for Light: A Family History, with Thirii and author Sunisa Manning (A Good True Thai). Discussing memory, family, and legacies of postcolonial violence in Southeast Asia, our panel will illuminate connections between their work and craft. ...

RSVP HERE! The Asian American Writers' Workshop is kicking off our fall events with a celebration of Shruti Swamy's forthcoming novel, The Archer. This riveting historical novel follows a young woman as she comes of age in India in the 1960s and 70s, defined by the rhythms of Kathak dancing. Shruti...

RSVP HERE! Seamlessly transitioning between the absurd and the tenderhearted, balancing acerbic humor with sharp emotional depth, Anthony Veasna So’s debut collection Afterparties offers an expansive portrait of the lives of Cambodian-Americans. As the children of refugees carve out radical new paths for themselves in California, they shoulder the inherited...

RSVP HERE! In July, the Asian American Writers' Workshop celebrates the launch of former AAWW Margins fellow Pik-Shuen Fung's highly anticipated new novel, Ghost Forest. This powerful debut explores migration and grief, joy and sorrow, through the eyes of an unnamed protagonist as she travels through the collective memories of...

RSVP HERE! This July, the Asian American Writers' Workshop brings together writers who contributed to #WeToo, a collection of essays, poems, creative nonfiction, and experimental works, published by the Journal of Asian American Studies and AAWW's The Margins in February. Edited by erin Khuê Ninh and Shireen Roshanravan, the #WeToo reader served...

PAGETURNER, the 2021 AAWW Publishing Conference, will convene experts and authors across industries and genres to share candid insights, advice, and experiences. From the latest generation of literary editors to some of the newest voices in the speculative genre, from academics to Hollywood screenwriters, we're exploring the craft of writing...

*Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic and Showcase seeks to provide a safer community space for queer and trans BIPOC folx and and rising migrant artists. We uplift these voices and ask all allies to step back and show your support by cheering our performers on.* RSVP Here!  We will send...

RSVP HERE! Our quarterly Fireside Chat series brings an Asian author, artist, or academic into conversation with Jafreen Uddin, Executive Director of AAWW. This June, Jafreen will be joined by journalist, lawyer, TV host, and award-winning playwright Wajahat Ali to share updates from the Workshop, and to discuss uplifting the...

RSVP HERE! This summer, the Asian American Writers' Workshop brings together hip-hop artist and activist Anik Khan and music journalist and writer Clover Hope to discuss the intersections in Black and Brown musical cultures. Speaking to music, community, citizenship, and more, they will dive into shared musical influences, from Bangladesh...

RSVP HERE! In June, the Asian American Writers' Workshop joins Books Are Magic to celebrate the launch of Nghi Vo's highly anticipated new novel, The Chosen and the Beautiful. This queer, speculative Great Gatsby retelling remixes and reinvents a classic, "subvert[ing] and expand[ing] the possibilities of an American story" (K-Ming...

RSVP HERE! Ishle Yi Park, the first woman poet laureate of Queens, joins the Asian American Writers’ Workshop to celebrate the launch of Angel & Hannah, a novel of dynamic free verse. The book follows Hannah, a Korean American girl from Queens, and Angel, a Puerto Rican boy from Brooklyn,...

4 Sessions, Thursdays, May 5/6-5/27, 7 PM ET Sliding Scale $100-$200  Register here! Tapping into the political power of magic and astrology for social, community, and personal transformation, Alice Sparkly Kat’s cross-cultural approach to astrology as a magical language unmasks the political power of astrology, showing how it can be...

RSVP HERE! This May, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop joins the Poetry Coalition, a vital national alliance of more than 25 independent poetry organizations, in curating a program exploring the theme “It is burning./ It is dreaming./ It is waking up.: Poetry & Environmental Justice.” The line “It is burning./...

RSVP HERE! *We will call for open mic performers closer to the date of this event. This event takes place in a Zoom Meeting-- RSVP to receive the link to the Zoom room shortly before the event. Captions provided. ASL Interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL. Mic Check! Are you...

RSVP HERE!  Our series Radical Thinkers places radical academics directly in conversation with trailblazing writers, poets, and artists, creating and nurturing two-way dialogues that will interrogate some of the most pressing issues facing Asian and Asian diasporic communities today. Featuring an interdisciplinary lineup of scholars and creatives, these unexpected pairings...