Past Events

Searching for Sylvie Lee
Lisa Ko, Jean Kwok, and Marie Myung-Ok Lee
Join us for a special celebration of Jean Kwok’s new novel, Searching for Sylvie Lee, which follows how three women--two sisters and their mother--in a Chinese immigrant family react when the eldest daughter disappears. Julie Otsuka calls it “A heartbreaking, tumultuous ride of a novel that upends our expectations—about family...
June 11, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 West 27th Street, 6th Floor
New York New York 10001
Margins Fellows & Mentors Reading
Zena Agha, Ava Chin, Sonya Chung, Pik-Shuen Fung, Jen Lue, Hasanthika Sirisena, Ayesha Raees, and Monica Youn
    The Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s Margins fellowship was first established in 2014, as a part of AAWW’s 25 year tradition of incubating emerging writers of color. Every year since, we have awarded four writers a year-long fellowship that provides them with financial support, publication opportunities, work space, mentorship,...
June 6, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27 St, # 600
New York City NY 10001
New Work by Queer Lebanese Writers
Andrea Abi-Karam and Jennifer Camper
Join us for a special event featuring queer Lebanese writers Andrea Abi-Karam and Jennifer Camper. Selected by Bhanu Kapil for the Kelsey Street Prize, Abi-Karam’s new poetry book EXTRATRANSMISSION is a critique of nationalism, patriarchy, and gender embedded in an explosive trauma narrative. The creator of the biennial Queers &...
May 29, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th Street, STE 600
New York New York 10001
The Collected Schizophrenias
Esmé Weijun Wang & Larissa Pham
Join us for a special reading and conversation by novelist Esmé Weijun Wang, whose bestselling new essay collection The Collected Schizophrenias (Gray Wolf 2019) is a “riveting, honest, and courageously allows for complexities in the reality of what living with illness is like” (NPR). Don’t miss this nuanced discussion of...
May 9, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th Street
New York NY 10001
Asian American Melancholia & Dissociation
David L. Eng, Shinhee Han
Academic David L. Eng and psychotherapist Shinhee Han first met in the mid-1990s when they were brought together by their collective sorrow by a spate of student suicides at Columbia University. Don’t miss this special discussion of their new book, Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation (Duke University Press 2019), which explores...
May 7, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 West 27th Street, 6th Floor
New York NY 10001
Armenian Genocide Remembrance
Christopher Janigian, Lola Koundakjian, Nancy Agabian, Raffi Joe Wartanian, Alina Gregorian
Join us for a special reading marking Armenian Genocide Remembrance day, the annual holiday to commemorate the victims of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Organized by poet Alina Gregorian, this night of remembrance features Lambda and PEN finalist Nancy Agabian, poet Christopher Janigian, poet Lola Koundakjian, and nonfiction writer and...
April 24, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th St, STE 600
New York New York 10001
Guernica Magazine's "Climate Fiction": A Special Issue
Helen Phillips, Pitchaya Sudbanthad, Nathan Kensinger, Ken Chen, Karen Holmberg, Eugenia Kisin, Jerome Whitington, & Amy Brady
Co-sponsored by the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study, Climate Working Group and Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU, and Asian American Writer’s Workshop. “These stories exemplify the genre of ‘climate fiction,’ or ‘cli-fi,’ by exploring what the world might become if climate change continues unabated. Its roots are in science fiction,...
April 22, 2019
7:00 PM
Gallatin School of Individualized Study
1 Washington Place
New York NY 10003
An Evening with Han Kang
Han Kang and E. Tammy Kim
Join us for a rare American visit by Han Kang, one of the most prominent novelists in contemporary world literature. Han’s first book, The Vegetarian (Hogarth 2016)--a phantasmagoric fable about a wife whose carnivorous renunciation disrupts her marriage in ways whose consequences are ultimately grotesque--won the 2016 Man Booker International...
April 18, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 West 27th Street, 6th Floor
New York NY 10001
The Year of Blue Water: Book Launch
Yanyi, Wo Chan, Erica Hunt, and Monica Youn
Join us for the launch of The Year of Blue Water, the debut poetry collection from Yanyi, the 2018 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets and an AAWW Margins Fellow. Intimate to the reader, elusive to the colonizer, the book creates a space of integration of variegated selves—an...
April 12, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th Street, STE 600
New York NY 10001
Memory Vessels
Sham-e-Ali Nayeem, Jenifer Sang Eun Park, Hai Dang-Phan, Lawrence Lacambra Ypil, and Kaitlin Rees
Have you ever held a beloved object--say, an old photograph or a faded letter--and found yourself transported back into a space of memory? Join us for a reading featuring four poets exploring the the vessels that carry us across the waters of memory. We’ll celebrate the two winners of Singapore...
April 4, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th St, STE 600
New York New York 10001
Works of Justice, Publishing Power: Liberating Great Work
Daniel Gross, Randall Horton, Mitchell S. Jackson, Kathy Belden, Tim O'Connell, & Eli Hager
In addressing the impact of mass incarceration, there is an increasing need to center the voices of those directly impacted—not only as experts, but as integrated contributors. But for writers in prison, access to participation in the literary community is limited by not only stigma and physical restriction, but financial...
April 3, 2019
7:00 PM
Housing Works Bookstore Cafe
126 Crosby
New York NY 10012
Literaoke at AWP 2019 in Portland, OR
Esmé Weijun Wang, Andres Cerpa, Shayla Lawson, Mimi Lok, Adeeba Talukdar, Sokunthary Svay, Yanyi, and more
It’s time for another epic evening of singing, reading, and joy! AAWW is teaming up with Kaya Press, Kundiman, AALR, and the Smithsonian APA Center to bring Literaoke to AWP in Portland. SATURDAY MARCH 30TH AT CHOPSTICKS KARAOKE BAR
March 30, 2019
7:00 PM
Chopsticks Karaoke Bar
3390 NE Sandy Blvd
Portland OR 97232
AAWW @ AWP: Bona Fide Relationships
Zaina Arafat, Hazem Fahmy, Raad Rahman, and Sobia Khan
Through their prose and poetry, writers reflect on the idea of the ”bona fide relationship”—the term the Supreme Court used in 2017 to grant an exception on President Trump’s travel ban. Who counts as close family in the eyes of the state? How do our relationships transcend those recognized by the court? These readings shed light on the ways that individual writers and communities wrestle with an ongoing effort to undermine their sense of belonging.
March 30, 2019
12:00 PM
Oregon Convention Center, Level 1, D139-140
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Portland Oregon 97232
AAWW @ AWP: Poets vs. Community vs. History
Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, Yanyi, Emily Jungmin Yoon, E.J. Koh, Monica Sok
For Asian American poets, what is the relationship between bearing witness to history and giving voice to marginalized communities? Four writers talk about how their work as poets, editors, translators, and scholars allows them to uncover intimacies among seemingly disparate colonial histories and contextualize narratives of intergenerational trauma. They draw on multidisciplinary practices to explore how the individual pursuits of poets can build empathy and community. Moderated by Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, Yanyi, Emily Jungmin Yoon, E.J. Koh, Monica Sok.
March 29, 2019
4:30 PM
Oregon Convention Center, Level 1, B116
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Portland Oregon 97232
AAWW @ AWP: Book signing
Emily Jungmin Yoon
We’re hosting a book signing for Margins Poetry Editor Emily Jungmin Yoon at booth #6000 from 12:00PM to 12:30PM on Friday March 29. Come meet Emily and get your copy of her collection A Cruelty Special to Our Species signed.
March 29, 2019
12:00 PM
Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Portland Oregon 97232
Center Justify: An AWP Offsite Event
Thi Bui, Douglas Kearney, Marwa Helal, Trevino Brings Plenty, Nina Sharma, Aimee Phan, Gabrielle Civil, and more
CENTER JUSTIFY: An #AWP19 OFFSITE EXTRAVAGANZA At PSU Native American Student and Community Center 710 SW Jackson St, Portland, Oregon 97201   There will be readings! There will be unforgettable performances! There will be camaraderie! And there will be dinner! (meat + vegan DUMPLINGS & FRIED CHICKEN from XLB) Come...
March 28, 2019
7:00 PM
Portland State University Native American Student and Community Center
710 SW Jackson St
Portland Oregon 97201
AAWW @ AWP: Asian American Caucus
Asian American Writers' Workshop, Kaya, Kundiman, the Asian American Literary Review, Kearny Street, Hyphen, & Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Center
What does it mean to steward Asian American literature, organizationally, collectively, and individually. This fourth 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 resources available to support you. Organized by the Asian American...
March 28, 2019
6:00 PM
Oregon Convention Center, Level One, E147-148
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Portland Oregon 97232
Kaya Press, the Asian American Literary Review, & World Stage Press
We are going to be at booth #6000 at the AWP Bookfair, all conference long! We'll be sharing space and hanging out with our friends Kaya Press, the Asian American Literary Review, and World Stage Press. Come by and say hi!
March 27, 2019
1:00 PM
Oregon Convention Center
777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Portland Oregon 97232
MAGNOLIA SEASON: Building your creative toolkit
Larissa Pham
Six Sessions, 2.5 hours (6:30PM-9PM) Tuesdays, March 26th - April 30th Fees & Payment Options: $325 General/$295 Member (JOIN THE FANCLUB!) Registration Deadline: March 19th *This is a small class. Please apply through the link below if you are interested. Please complete this application. We will notify you if you...
March 26, 2019
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th St., STE. 600
New York NY 10001
Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network: A Discussion Among Writers
Amy Quan Barry, Matty Huynh, Violet Kupersmith, Thanhha Lai, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Vu Tran, Monique Truong, Abbigail N. Rosewood, Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis, Mimi Khúc, and Isabelle Thuy Pelaud
Co-presented by the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network and Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Co-sponsored by the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU. In the Summer of 2018, the Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network invited writers from the US, Canada, Australia, France, and Indonesia to California to participate in a writing residency, foster the Vietnamese...
March 23, 2019
5:30 PM
The People’s Forum
320 W 37th St.
New York NY 10018
Visual Breaks
Joey de Jesus, Diana Khoi Nguyen, Aldrin Valdez
How can poets of color use visual art, photos, and sound to explore absences in language? Come through for a reading featuring three multidisciplinary poets whose work embodies multiple genres of art, translation, and sound. Come see award-winning poet Diana Khoi Nguyen, whose debut collection Ghost Of was a finalist...
March 21, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
Marathon Reading of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's Dictee
John Cha, Yong Soon Min, Lawrence Rinder, Ken Chen, and more
Join us for a marathon reading of Theresa Hak Kyung Cha's avant-garde classic, Dictee, organized by Sarah Schulman at Performance Space New York. Featuring Theresa's brother John Cha, Yong Soon Min, Lawrence Rinder, Ken Chen, Nuar Alsadir, Lee Ann Brown, Alexander Chee, Ava Chin, Kandice Chuh, Una Chung, Monika Gagnon, Erica Cho,...
March 17, 2019
1:00 PM
Performance Space New York
150 First Ave, 4th Floor
New York NY
Kain Na Tayo! Meditation on Filipinx Food
Kay Ulanday Barrett, Sarah Gambito, Jessica Hagedorn & Ligaya Mishan
Have you ever written a recipe that turned out to be a love poem? Does your aunties’ fervor for seafood on sale feel like a hell-raising occasion of resistance? Join us for a meditation of Filipinx food and the immigrant experience with four romantic, melancholic, and witty gastronomical pinxys. We’ll...
February 21, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
Sea of Mirrors
Kim Hyesoon, Don Mee Choi and Jeffrey Yang
Join us for an evening of Korean poetry in translation with Kim Hyesoon, a groundbreaking feminist poet and one of the most influential contemporary poets of South Korea. Her latest poetry collection, The Autobiography of Death, is a breathtaking collective elegy inspired by the Sewol Ferry Disaster of April 2014, and a narration performed...
February 15, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
Insurrecto!
Gina Apostol and Sabina Murray
***THIS EVENT WAS POSTPONED FROM 1/31. THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON 2/07*** Join us for a reading with Gina Apostol to celebrate her latest work of fiction, Insurrecto, a tour de force about about the Philippines’ past and present told through rivaling scripts from an American filmmaker and her...
February 7, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
Invasive species Launch Party
Marwa Helal, Sahar Romani, and Belal Mobarak
Is immigration your second language? Join us for a celebration of poet Marwa Helal’s debut collection Invasive species, a bold collection that pokes holes in the English of immigration officials, lols at the false expertise of Western commentators on the Middle East — and asks for nothing less than a...
January 23, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W. 27th St, STE 600
New York NY 10001
How We Talk about Prison: Rewriting the Language of Incarceration
Nicole R. Fleetwood, Madhu Kaza, Sarah Wang, Aviva Stahl & Daniel A. Gross
There are enough people in American prisons, jails, and immigration detention centers to populate a country. And like a country, American incarceration has its own language. There's the technocratic and euphemistic language of the state—offender, felon, illegal immigrant, detainee, parolee. There's also the language that the incarcerated use to describe...
January 16, 2019
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
AAWW FAM: Critical Resistance NYC Card Writing Party
Critical Resistance
Every year in the wintertime, Critical Resistance New York City sends a note of solidarity, hope, and encouragement to all of the 1,500+ subscribers of The Abolitionist newspaper that are currently locked up in jails, detention centers, and prisons on the east coast. This year, we invite you to join...
December 16, 2018
1:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
The Caregiver: Remembering Sam Park
Alexander Chee, Eugene Lim, Mitchell Kuga, T Kira Madden, and Daniel K Isaac
Join us for an event to honor the work and legacy of the queer Korean American novelist Samuel Park, whose novel The Caregiver was released posthumously this past fall. A panel of queer and Asian American writers featuring by Alexander Chee, T. Kira Madden, Mitchell Kuga, Eugene Lim and Daniel...
December 13, 2018
7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
New York NY 10001
AAWW FAM: "Call Her Ganda" Film Screening and Talk
PJ Raval
Call Her Ganda follows the tragic murder of Jennifer Laude, a Filipina transgender woman by a U.S. marine, the community organizing and effort that brought her murderer to justice - and the role that the long US-Philippine relationship played in this. Amidst a media storm and police inquiry, as Jennifer’s...
November 27, 2018
6:30 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop
112 W 27th St Suite 600
NY NY 10001
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