Past Events

Northern Light
Kazim Ali and Billy-Ray Belcourt
RSVP HERE! Acclaimed poet, novelist, and essayist Kazim Ali joins the Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Milkweed Editions to launch his new memoir, Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water. Northern Light, a sensitive and elegantly structured exploration of land and power, is told through Ali’s recollections of his...
March 9, 2021
7:00 PM


Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic + Showcase
Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, Faylita Hicks, Jubi Arriola-Headley
RSVP here! MOUTH to MOUTH, Thursday, 2/25/2021, 7PM-8:30PM ET Featuring Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, Jubi Arriola Headley, & Faylita Hicks **This event will be captioned** Mic Check! Are you a writer? Come share your work at our next edition of our open mic and showcase, Mouth to Mouth. Hosted...
February 25, 2021
7:00 PM


Brown Baby
Nikesh Shukla, Mira Jacob
RSVP HERE! The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is delighted to celebrate the launch of writer Nikesh Shukla’s new memoir, Brown Baby: A Memoir of Race, Family, and Home. An intimate look at love, grief, and fatherhood, Shukla’s memoir “bears witness to our turbulent times” (Bernardine Evaristo) with humor, honesty, and...
February 6, 2021
12:00 PM


My Year Abroad
Chang-rae Lee and Bryan Washington
RSVP HERE! Join the Asian American Writers’ Workshop as we celebrate award-winning writer Chang-rae Lee’s electrifying new novel, My Year Abroad. A surprising, tender, and humorous work, My Year Abroad is a story unique to Chang-rae Lee’s immense talents as a writer, and explores the division between East and West,...
February 4, 2021
7:00 PM


Radical Thinkers
Simon Han and Tahseen Shams
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...
January 26, 2021
7:00 PM


Advance virtual screening & talkback of MINARI
Lee Isaac Chung, Min Jin Lee
Tickets to the film screening are now SOLD OUT. The post-screening discussion between writer/director Lee Isaac Chung and author Min Jin Lee will be livestreamed on the AAWW YouTube channel on January 13 at 8:00pm ET. RSVP Here!  On Wednesday, January 13, we are partnering with A24 to celebrate Korean...
The Past is Not for Living In: Gish Jen and Meng Jin
Gish Jen, Meng Jin
RSVP HERE! Join the Asian American Writers’ Workshop for our first event of the new year: a joint paperback launch of Gish Jen’s The Resisters and Meng Jin’s Little Gods. These two novels, released in early 2020, sketch out a dystopian near future that takes aim at several current catastrophes,...
Radical Thinkers: Manan Ahmed & Shahzia Sikander
Manan Ahmed, Shahzia Sikander
Presented by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, this new 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...
Poignant Song
Kavita Das, Jafreen Uddin
Author Kavita Das joins Jafreen Uddin, Executive Director of the Asian American Writers' Workshop in conversation about her book, Poignant Song: The Life and Music of Lakshmi Shankar. Shankar, who was Grammy-nominated, was the most prominent Indian female musician in the movement that brought Indian music to the West in...
December 10, 2020
8:00 PM


AAWW & Kay Ulanday Barrett Present Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic and Showcase
Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, Venus Selenite, Porsha Olayiwola, and Jake Skeets
Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Kay Ulanday Barrett present Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic and Showcase! Are you a writer? Come share your work at this virtual edition of our open mic, Mouth to Mouth, a bimonthly showcase dedicated to uplifting Queer, Non-Binary, and Transgender BIPOC poets. Hosted by Kay...
Fireside Chat: R. O. Kwon and Jafreen Uddin
R. O. Kwon, Jafreen Uddin
This December, we are launching a new virtual event series at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Presented quarterly, these virtual “fireside chats” will feature a renowned Asian diasporic author in conversation with Jafreen Uddin, Executive Director of AAWW, sharing updates from the Workshop, and discussing AAWW from a writer’s perspective....
Racing the Essay
Cathy Park Hong, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Sejal Shah, and Piyali Bhattacharya
This fall, the Asian American Writers’ Workshop is celebrating the art of the essay. Featuring longtime poets and fiction writers with debut essay collections out this year, this conversation will take an intersectional look at Asian American identity, genre, gender, race, publishing, and the way the essay form allows writers...
December 1, 2020
7:00 PM


The Voice of Sheila Chandra
Kazim Ali, Sheila Chandra, and Rajiv Mohabir
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is thrilled to celebrate the launch of Kazim Ali’s newest poetry collection, The Voice of Sheila Chandra. Following a reading from Ali’s innovative and musical new collection, he will be joined in conversation by Sheila Chandra and Rajiv Mohabir to discuss sound, silence, and embodied...
November 11, 2020
5:00 PM


Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic
Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, Donika Kelly, Golden, and Mejdulene B. Shomali
Mic Check! Are you a writer? Come share your work at our first virtual edition of our open mic, Mouth to Mouth. Hosted by AAWW’s fave poets Kay Ulanday Barrett and Ashna Ali, this edition of Mouth to Mouth features Donika Kelly, Golden, and Mejdulene B. Shomali. Mouth to Mouth...
October 26, 2020
7:00 PM


"Re-:" An Open City Fellows Reading
Noah Flora, Amir Khafagy, Soumya Shankar, Preeti Varathan, Kate Zen, Noel Pangilinan
This October, join us for a celebratory reading with the 2020 Open City Fellows. We’ll hear from Neighborhood Fellows Noah Flora, Soumya Shankar, Preeti Varathan, and Kate Zen, who have been documenting the pulse of metropolitan Asian America as it has being lived on the streets of New York right...
October 22, 2020
7:00 PM


Good Talks: Tina Chang and Mira Jacob
Tina Chang and Mira Jacob
Tina Chang and Mira Jacob join the Asian American Writers’ Workshop to celebrate the paperback releases of their books Hybrida and Good Talk. Following a reading from their work, they will speak to the intersections of their experiences and creative practices, discussing race, motherhood, and hybrid storytelling structures. RSVP Here!...
October 13, 2020
7:00 PM


AGGIE Documentary Screening and Live Virtual Q&A with Film Forum
Mahogany Browne, Adnan Khan, Tanya Selvaratnam, Rachel Kuo
AAWW is partnering with Film Forum to present a screening of AGGIE, and a discussion with Mahogany Browne, Adnan Khan, and Tanya Selvaratnam, moderated by Rachel Kuo. AGGIE is a feature-length documentary that explores the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes...
Love vs. Internship
Ed Lin, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, and Ruth Minah Buchwald
In collaboration with the Asian American Writers Workshop and Kundiman, Kaya Press brings acclaimed novelist Ed Lin together with pioneering YA author and co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop Marie Myung-Ok Lee (FINDING MY VOICE (Soho Teen, 2021 re-release) in conversation to celebrate the release of Ed Lin’s YA...
October 2, 2020
7:00 PM


Burial is Beginning: K-Ming Chang and Franny Choi
K-Ming Chang and Franny Choi
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop celebrates the publication of K-Ming Chang’s debut novel, Bestiary, with a reading and conversation with K-Ming and Franny Choi. Exploring the ways writing about girlhood can reinvent our definitions of community and lineage, and the ways we can grapple with and imagine beyond threats of...
Book Launch: World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Join the Asian American Writers' Workshop and Milkweed Editions to celebrate the publication day of World of Wonders with author Aimee Nezhukumatathil and special guests Patrick Rosal, Joseph Legaspi, Sarah Gambito, Oliver de la Paz, and Jon Pineda. This event will be presented virtually at 8:00pm ET/7:00pm CT.  The evening...
The Sweat of Love & The Fire of Truth: A Reading
DJ Rekha, Faith Adiele, Leah Johnson, Jai Dulani, Lisa Ko, Nina Sharma, Daisy Hernández, Quincy Scott Jones, Serena W. Lin, Cyrée Jarelle Johnson, Cathy Linh Che, Mahogany L. Browne, and Kay Ulanday Barrett
***Broadcast on Facebook Live. Link to the event is here***   “I Believe In The Sweat Of Love And The Fire Of Truth”  ― Assata Shakur   All struggles for freedom are intertwined. We at AAWW join in freedom struggles for Black and Indigenous people and by extension all those...
The Sweat of Love & the Fire of Truth: A Conversation
Akwaeke Emezi, Elizabeth Acevedo, & Sophia Hussain
**This event will be offered as a Zoom Webinar (seat occupancy of 100) with a Facebook Livestream for overflow.** ***Titles available through Books Are Magic's webpage.*** "I believe in the sweat of love & the fire of truth." - Assata Shakur The Asian American Writers’ Workshop is thrilled to celebrate...
Virtual Intensive Poetry Workshop: Poetry & Protest, the Political & Personal
Staceyann Chin
***VIRTUAL WORKSHOP: This workshop will take place on Zoom.*** Thursday, July 2nd, 2020  11 AM - 1:30 PM EDT (2.5 hours) TUITION: Sliding Scale $50-$75 How do we create work that is deeply personal but is intended to be political? Join us for a unique virtual poetry intensive with powerhouse,...
MORE THAN ORGANS: Book Launch Reading + PRIDE Celebration
Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, Jimena Lucero, Cyree Jarelle Johnson, Natalie Sharp, Rajiv Mohabir, Jubi Arriola-Headley, Eddie Maisonet, Oliver Baez-Bendorf, & Brandon Kazen-Maddox.
**VIRTUAL EVENT: This event will be offered as a Zoom Webinar and live streamed on the Asian American Writers’ Facebook page.*** If you wish to join the Zoom webinar, please register through Eventbrite and we will send a link the day before the event. Join us on THURSDAY June 18,...
Our Home and the World: Poetry for Laal NYC
Featuring Nadia Q. Ahmad, Tarfia Faizullah, and Samira Sadeque
***VIRTUAL EVENT*** THURSDAY MAY 28, 2020 | 7-8PM EST Livestreamed on the Asian American Writers’ Facebook page. Join the Asian American Writers’ Workshop for a virtual reading and fundraiser for Laal NYC, featuring Nadia Q. Ahmad, Tarfia Faizullah, and Samira Sadeque. These accomplished journalists and poets celebrate Bengali culture in...
Poetry in Protest: A Solidarity Reading
***VIRTUAL EVENT*** Livestreamed on the AAWW Facebook page. Join us for a powerful celebration of Asian American voices, featuring an acclaimed lineup of some of our community's most prolific poets and spoken word artists. Tune in for readings by: Aria Aber • George Abraham • Kazim Ali • Hala Alyan...
Virtual Healing Circle: Mirror Memoirs
Amita Swadhin, Elliot Fukui, sethu laxmi nair, & Hyunhee Shin
April 30, 2020 6PM-8PM EST ************ Nationally-recognized survivor activist Amita Swadhin will co-facilitate a healing circle inspired by their national storytelling and organizing project Mirror Memoirs. They will be joined by Mirror Memoirs members and survivor storytellers Elliott Fukui, Sethu Nair, and Hyunhee Shin.  For this circle, we welcome all...
VIRTUAL EVENT: I Am Deliberate and Afraid of Nothing: Poetry, Prose, and Protest
Andrea Abi-Karam, Romaissaa Benzizoune, Sham-e-Ali Nayeem
***VIRTUAL EVENT*** Livestreamed on the Asian American Writers’ Facebook page. //NOTE ON ACCESSIBILITY// A live-edited accessible copy of the program can be found here: aaww.org/poetryprotestvirtual Minnesota-based Mizna joins the Asian American Writers’ Workshop to present I Am Deliberate And Afraid of Nothing: Poetry, Prose, and Protest, a reading of Mizna...
Mouth to Mouth: Open Mic
Kay Ulanday Barrett, Ashna Ali, juliany taveras, Ricardo Hernandez
  ***POSTPONED FOR A FUTURE DATE***     Mic Check! Are you a writer? Come share your work at the next edition of our open mic, Mouth to Mouth. Hosted & curated by AAWW fam Kay Ulanday Barrett and Ashna Ali, this edition features juliany taveras (jae) and Ricardo Hernandez....
March 18, 2020
7:00 PM
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop
110-112 West 27th Street, 6th Floor Between 6th and 7th Avenues Buzzer 600
New York New York 10001
AAWW at AWP: Asian American Caucus
How can Asian American writers build a more robust network? What does it mean to be a writer of color in these times? This fifth annual Asian American Caucus is a town-hall style hang out and community space. Come meet other Asian American writers and discuss fellowships, publication opportunities, and...
March 5, 2020
5:00 PM


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