Happy Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Happy KYLYN Festival

EVENT: KYLYN Festival | Building Media Literacy in Older AAPI Communities, Monday May 4, 2026, 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown Library, 343 South Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104, 4th Floor Program Room. Featured panelists include: Zosette Guir and Bill Kubota of Detroit PBS. Moderated by Chien-An Yuan. Join us for a panel discussion exploring the socio-cultural issues affecting the elder AAPI populations today. More than ever, this vulnerable demographic is facing a surge in being targets for scams, disinformation, and soft propaganda. These threats, often amplified through social media, exploit cultural, linguistic, and generational gaps, leading to severe financial, emotional, and social consequences. This panel discussion will focus on strategies being developed in solutions journalism to increase information literacy among AAPI elders and push back against these predatory tactics with evidence-based responses. This event is part of the KYLYN AAPI Arts & Culture Festival and is co-sponsored by Asian American Journalists Association Michigan Chapter.  https://aadl.org/node/668097

EVENT: KYLYN Festival | An Author's Journey: A Conversation on Publishing, Passion, and What Comes Next, Wednesday May 13, 2026, 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown Library, 343 South Fifth Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48104, Lower Level Program Room. Join a thoughtful conversation with AAPI authors A.H. Kim (A Good Family and Relative Strangers) and Michelle Yang (Phoenix Girl) as they discuss their journeys to get their books published, the positive reception of their work, and what comes next. Kim and Yang will offer reflections and insights on strategies for maintaining a sustained creative practice and provide valuable insight for aspiring writers and readers alike. This event is part of the KYLYN AAPI Arts & Culture Festival and co-sponsored by Asian American Journalists Association - Michigan Chapter. https://aadl.org/node/666500 

KYLYN Festival | Dance Performance: A Floating World, Friday May 15, 2026: 6:30pm to 7:30pm, Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown Library: 4th Floor Program Room. A Floating World is a movement-based performance from AAPI Performance Collaborative IS/LAND grounded in the belief that there exists an ephemeral “floating world” of ancestral consciousness and connectivity. We brush against this floating world in moments of sudden, yet inexplicable, familiarity - lucid dreaming, tasting something new that instantly feels known. These indecipherable encounters are surprising and confusing, yet they stir a profound, unconscious realization of a deeper reality that we cannot consciously understand. Intense emotional experiences, particularly grief, also evoke this connection to the 'floating world,' leaving us raw and destabilized. This event is part of the KYLYN AAPI Arts & Culture Festival. https://aadl.org/node/668218

Here are all the Kylyn events and AAPI events at AADL https://aadl.org/aapiheritagemonth 

Cluster Museum Ekphrastic Poetry Walk Author Reading Saturday, April 25, 2026, 1:00 PM

Happy National Poetry Month! Cluster Museum Ekphrastic Poetry Walk Author Reading

Saturday, April 25, 2026, 1:00 PM 2:15 PM

From 1pm-2pm on Saturday, April 25, a selection of the Ekphrastic Poetry Walk poets will perform their work in front of their chosen artwork.

Choose to walk to each location as a group or meet us there.

The Ekphrastic Poetry Walk includes CLUSTER’s Grass Grows in the Icebox, WSG Gallery’s Aesthetic Crossings: Ted Ramsey solo show and Gutman Gallery’s Process: A Human Exhibition.

Author list guest curated by Cam Finch & Katie Hartsock.

Featuring the work of James Barton, Scott Beal, Forrest Hejkal, T Hetzel, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Rachel Nelson, Isaac Pickell, Onna Solomon, Ellen Stone, Jennifer Sperry Steinorth, and Lily Tobias.

Author Reading Schedule:

1pm at CLUSTER Museum, 307 N. Main St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104

1:30pm at WSG Gallery on Ann St.

2pm at Gutman Gallery on 4th Ave. (I'll be reading at this part!)

if you haven't been to Cluster Museum yet, it's brand new, on Main and 3rd, two blocks from Kerrytown, and they're having a closing reception for their current exhibit afterwards, so join us!

https://clustermuseum.org/events/ekphrasticpoetrywalkauthorreading2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXZgHRgkSL7/?img_index=1

READING Cluster Museum 2-day Ekphrastic Poetry Walk Event

2-day Ekphrastic Poetry Walk Event

Friday, April 24, 2026, 12:00 PM to Saturday, April 25, 2026, 6:00 PM

Poetry Reading at Cluster Museum: Saturday, April 25, 2026, 307 N. Main St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104

During National Poetry Month, the 2-day Ekphrastic Poetry Walk celebrates the power of the Arts through the words of poets.

On Friday & Saturday April 24 & 25, pick up CLUSTER’s Ekphrastic Poetry Guide then head out on a self-guided scavenger hunt around the Kerrytown District’s art galleries to find the artwork written about by 12 Washtenaw County-based poets. 

The Ekphrastic Poetry Walk includes CLUSTER’s Grass Grows in the Icebox, WSG Gallery’s Aesthetic Crossings: Ted Ramsey solo show and Gutman Gallery’s Process: A Human Exhibition.

Author list guest curated by Cam Finch & Katie Hartsock.

Featuring the work of James Barton, Scott Beal, Forrest Hejkal, T Hetzel, Frances Kai-Hwa Wang, Rachel Nelson, Isaac Pickell, Onna Solomon, Ellen Stone, Jennifer Sperry Steinorth, and Lily Tobias.

HOURS: Friday 12-5pm & Saturday 11am-5pm

*Suggested sliding scale donation for the Ekphrastic Poetry Guide is $5-$15. 

*All funds go towards visual & literary Arts programming at CLUSTER Museum.

https://clustermuseum.org/events/2026ekphrasticpoetrywalk

EVENT Curtis Chin in Conversation/ Great Michigan Read 2025/26 Event

Curtis Chin in Conversation/ Great Michigan Read 2025/26 Event

Saturday, April 18, 2026, 7:00 PM  8:30 PM

307 N. Main St. Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant is this year’s Great Michigan Read choice, and CLUSTER is thrilled to host author Curtis Chin in conversation.

Chin will be joined in conversation by University of Michigan Professors Nadine Hubbs and William A. Calvo-Quirós exploring themes of immigration, identity, community and the experience of growing up queer in 1980’s American and outside its borders. Together, they will reflect on how a place of upbringing becomes the setting for an unlikely origin story: In Chin’s case a Chinese restaurant becomes the setting for how a closeted Chinese boy raised on republican politics transforms into a searingly honest Gay writer and activist for social and political activism in both the LGBTQ+ and AAPI communities.

The event is moderator by CLUSTER co-founder Chien-An Yuan.

The event is co-sponsored by Asian American Journalists Association Michigan chapter.

FREE but registration required. Register https://clustermuseum.org/events/michigangreatreadcurtischen

Doors open at 6:45.

Great Michigan Reads brings excellent and critically acclaimed books into the public zeitgeist. 

This event is made possible in part by a grant from Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

https://clustermuseum.org/events/michigangreatreadcurtischen

Write with me at WCC! ABCs of Publishing and Spring/Summer 2026

My last WCC class for winter 2026 --ABCs of Publishing

2 Sats, Apr 18, 25, 2026, 10am-12pm EDT, Washtenaw Community College, online

Register today! https://washtenaw.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassListingDisplay&int_category_id=3&int_sub_category_id=49&int_catalog_id=1

Upcoming WCC classes for spring/summer 2026

Spring/Summer 2026

Finding the Writer Within Continuing Writers Workshop
10 Suns, May 3-Jul 19, 2026, 12pm-2pm ET, Washtenaw Community College, online

Write Here, Write Now
4 Tues, May 12-Jun 9, 2026, 6:30-8:30pm, ET, Washtenaw Community College, in person

Writing to Change the World
2 Sats, June 6, 13, 2026, 10am-12pm EDT, Washtenaw Community College, online

Writing for our Lives (formerly Communication for Work and Life)
4 Tues., July 7, 14, 21, 28, 2026, 6:30-8:30 pm EDT, Washtenaw Community College, in person

Writing with style, Finding your voice
3 Saturdays, August 15, 22, 29, 2026 EDT, Washtenaw Community College, Zoom

Register today! https://washtenaw.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassListingDisplay&int_category_id=3&int_sub_category_id=49&int_catalog_id=1

Write with me at WCC! Register today

New Winter 2026 course schedule at Washtenaw Community College is out! Come write with me!

Register today. Washtenaw county residents over 65yo are free.

Writing with Style
3 Saturdays, Jan. 17, 24, 31, 2026, 10am-12pm EST, Washtenaw Community College, online

Finding the Writer Within Continuing Writers Workshop
10 Sundays, Jan 25-Mar 29, 2026, 12pm-2pm ET, Washtenaw Community College, online

Write Here, Write Now
6 Mondays, Feb 23-Mar 30, 2026, 6:30-8:30pm, ET, Washtenaw Community College, online

Writing about Home (new class)
3 Sats, Mar 7, 14, 21, 2026, 10am-12pm, ET, Washtenaw Community College, online

ABCs of Publishing
2 Sats, Apr 18, 25, 2026, 10am-12pm EDT, Washtenaw Community College, online

https://washtenaw.augusoft.net/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassListingDisplay&int_category_id=3&int_sub_category_id=49&int_catalog_id=1

1990 Institute "How do stories shape how we face the new year?" Dec 2025

My final 1990 Institute newsletter -- Volume 5, Issue 12 -- Wow, we wrote 5 volumes of newsletters since 2021! Check out my annual year-end list of book recs published this year.

How do stories shape how we face the new year?

I recently helped MC a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Lao diaspora to honor the community’s history, achievements, and vision for the future. There was storytelling, photography, poetry, food, and even a fashion show of traditional and modern Lao-inspired designs. Community members told stories about what it means to be a refugee — to leave at a moment’s notice, to only bring what you can carry, to not know where you’re headed, or if you will ever be able to come home again. A Hmong American man who was recently released from ICE detention spoke about his experience. 

I know a lot of the facts around this history, but it was so powerful and so inspiring to hear these stories told from the heart. Stories connect us and shape how we face tomorrow. 

As we head into the new year, I would like to share some books published this year by Asian American authors, including some by friends of the 1990 Institute. 

https://1990institute.salsalabs.org/1990newsletter_vol5_issue12

READING: Fall of Freedom event at Cluster Museum Nov 21

I'll be reading a new poem "JingWei tian hai" at

Fall of Freedom: Surmountable, When United PERFORMANCE, Friday, November 21, 2025, 7:00 PM 8:15 PM, CLUSTER Museum, 307 North Main Street Ann Arbor, MI, 48104

CLUSTER Museum presents Surmountable, When United, an evening of dance in conversation with poetry, and in partnership with the nation-wide creative resistance protest Fall of Freedom.
The evening’s program includes Ann Arbor-based movement ensemble Dance Uprising presenting 3 separate pieces tackling the theme of choice in challenging times, alongside poets Zilka Joseph, Leigh Sugar, and Francis Kai-Hwa Wang.
This event has a sliding scale donation-based ticket fee, made at the door or ahead of time through Dance Uprising’s website. No one will be turned away at the door.
We encourage attendees to arrive early so you can participate in one of our earlier Fall of Freedom Events, including printmaking drop-ins. *Best for ages 10 years and older.
About Dance Uprising: Dance Uprising is the voice, the rebellion, the brain child for dancer/choreographer Amy Cadwallader. First and foremost, they seek to create a human connection with every dance encounter. And to create dance works that speak to the human condition, to our current societal influences, to equality and change.

https://clustermuseum.org/events/surmountable-when-united

EVENT: IS/LAND Angel Island - Until We Fill the Ocean

IS/LAND Asian American Pacific Islander Performance Collaborative

Sat., Nov. 15, 2-3pm EST, Detroit Public Library 

https://www.eventbrite.com/o/detroit-public-library-4535003353

EVENT AADL Writing to Save the World Fri Nov 14 5:30pm

Writing to Save the World, with Frances Kai-Hwa Wang

Friday November 14, 2025: 5:30pm to 7:30pm 

Ann Arbor District Library Downtown Library: Lower Level Program Room

How do we use our writing to create real world change? How do we find our voices and get our message out? How do we use writing to touch, inspire, persuade, and provoke readers to action? Learn simple but powerful methods to get the ideas out of our heads and onto the page. Part writing, part activism, a lot of heart, this class aspires to use the written word to create the change you want to see in the world. Bring a notebook and a pen.

Big thanks to CultureSource and Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF) for the Washtenaw Artist Grant to help develop this writing workshop. 

And Thanks to AADL the best library there is!

https://aadl.org/node/646269