Past Events

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....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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!...

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...

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...

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...

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...

***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...

**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 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,...

**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,...

***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...

***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...

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*** 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...

  ***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....

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...

Four fiction writers speak to the ways they tackle questions of the frontier in their work, from immigrant families in the Alaskan wilderness, Little House on the Prairie, and the disturbing legacies of the American West.

Come celebrate the relaunch of Thaddeus Rutkowski's novel Haywire! "Fractured, witty, vibrant -- Rutkowski gives us his whole life, from stabbing butterflies to sitting through group therapy, but doles it out in bite-sized chunks that never seem forced. Fine writing and hilarity are to be expected (Ned Vizzini). Originally published by...

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 of Mouth to Mouth features Wo Chan and Catherine Chen. Mouth to Mouth seeks to...

Join us for a special night of readings and discussion to launch a new folio in the Transpacific Literary Project: Insurgent Tongues. In efforts to dismantle the languages of domination, contributors to the folio and guests will share their distinct approaches to probing the insurgent nature of language and languages...

Join Kundiman and Asian American Writers' Workshop for an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer. Nguyen's most recent book is Chicken of the Sea (McSweeney's 2019), co-authored with his elementary-aged son Ellison and illustrated by mother-son pair Thi Bui and Hien Bui-Stafford. In this...

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 Jimena Lucero, this edition of Mouth to Mouth features Danilo Machado and more. Mouth to Mouth seeks to provide a safe community space...

This event is supported by the Music of Asian America Research Center & co-sponsored by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop. Despite a presence in the world of classical music, the experiences of Asian classical musicians often go unexplored. The Asian Musical Voices of America is a platform where these stories...

“Queerness is a longing that propels us onward, beyond romances of the negative and toiling in the present. Queerness is that thing that lets us feel that this world is not enough, that indeed something is missing." - José Esteban Muñoz Queer Longings & Longevity is exploratory and generative and...

This month, we're bringing you an extra-special edition of our classic poetry reading series, Poetry Poetry: a Special Crossover Edition. Join us for a reading featuring poetry & prose writers Kay Ulanday Barrett (When the Chant Comes), Jimena Lucero, Addie Tsai (Dear Twin), & Amanda Galvan Huynh (Songs of Brujería)....

For too long, the voices of Kashmiris have been muted by India's military occupation there and the positioning of Kashmir as a pawn in the dispute between India and Pakistan.  India's clampdown on communication in Kashmir--under which writers and dissidents are under assault, internet and phone lines are cut, and...