I was turned down for a grant application today, but what a gift to get comments!
There is so much I love about your work, particularly the way you've illustrated the legacy of family and tradition while rooting it all in this very specific time. Your prose is both detailed and spare, dazzling at times. The repetition in "Learning to Drive Defensively" is incredibly powerful. And yes to this: "I write myself into existence every day." Yours is an important voice that we all need to hear/read right now.
Your first piece--"Sowing Aunties"--is marvelous! Your deft weaving of tradition, voice, and prose that's humorous, and yet contains gravity, is really admirable.
What are you doing for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander Heritage Month?
I just taught a prose poetry class at New York Public Library in Mandarin Chinese to a group of lively Chinese grandmas. I was worried whether my Mandarin would hold out, but we wrote about first days in America, favorite foods missed, and hopes and dreams for beloved grandchildren. We had so much fun sharing stories. It was a great warm up for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Exhibition photographs of "Sowing Aunties" from Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC) Sowing Agency art exhibition at SOMarts in San Francisco, May 2021. Check out the virtual exhibition tour (although I think my piece is behind a wall...tell me if you figure out how to see it)
https://www.aawaa.net/sowing-agency-2021
VIDEO: Poetry Reading at the 20:00 mark https://youtu.be/uoevDCjz6kgBig Thanks to the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) and APICC for sponsoring the 2021 Sowing Agency Arts Exhibition and United States of Asian America Festival (USAAF2021). Here is the video of the Opening launch party. My artwork and poetry reading "Sowing Aunties" is at the 20:00 minute mark https://youtu.be/uoevDCjz6kg
Big Thanks also to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) for hosting IS/LAND's dance and poetry performance, "Lost Constellation," which premiered today with the beautiful talents of J. Amber Kao, Ciale, and Chien-An Yuan. You won't see me, but you will hear me and my poetry at the 3:36 minute mark. https://youtu.be/
The 24th annual United States of Asian America Festival kicks off with the opening reception to Sowing Agency, a visual arts exhibition.
The 24th annual United States of Asian America Festival (USAAF) kicks off with the opening reception to Sowing Agency, a visual arts exhibition. Join us for a night that features a showcase of literary readings, performances and presentations from artists involved in the exhibition and the festival at large.
Automatic live captioning will be available through Zoom.
Followed by an after party and social gathering (more details coming soon)!
OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCES
Rebecca Maria Goldschmidt (@bigbigbigthings) has been developing a relationship with cotton as part of her research on Philippine weaving and will be "live-spinning" homegrown cotton. She would like to acknowledge her teachers from the @hawaiihandweavershui for sharing their spinning tools, seeds, and knowledge.
Pallavi Sharma collaborates with Shailaja Dixit (performer, musician, and activist) and Sonal Sanghvi (Classical Indian dancer) for an inter-disciplinary performance. A contrapuntal reading of the mythological story of "Raktbeej" the demon who was slain by goddess Durga, the performance draws attention to the contribution of women farmers, how they are exercising their agency to activate spaces and creating discourse on the current global ecological crisis since Chipko movement in1973.
Featuring a poetry reading by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang and Narinda Heng.
With previews of USAAF events, Liwanag 3 by SOMA Pilipinas, Scattered Home Voices by Vida Kuang, The Rooted Recipes Project, Never Again Now! by Jon Jang and Paul Flores.
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Sowing Agency is inspired by the fight for environmental justice, activating our Asian Pacific Islander communities to engage in the issues of today’s climate crisis. With a number of artistic disciplines represented, the pieces featured in the show work to realign our relationships with the Earth through introspection and collective leadership. The exhibition’s broad coalition of community partners amplifies calls for increased action to challenge extractive industries, monocultures, corporate greed and colonization. Weaving local and global climate resistance into our cultural consciousness, Sowing Agency is a visual and poetic address to the grief and resiliency rooted in “seeding the future.”
This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Asian American Women Artists Association, Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, SOMArts Cultural Center, Asian Art Museum along with community partners: Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour, South of Market Community Action Network, 18 Million Rising and Survival Media Agency.
Funded in part by San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, California Arts Council and Zellerbach Family Foundation and proudly sponsored by Asian Art Museum and Rainbow Grocery.
ABOUT THE UNITED STATES OF ASIAN AMERICA FESTIVAL
This year's 24th annual United States of Asian American Festival (USAAF) presents over 20 different programs reflecting the artistic accomplishments and cultural diversity of San Francisco’s Pacific Islander and Asian American communities. USAAF showcases artists representing a diverse range of ethnic and cultural groups and aims to heighten the visibility of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) artists working in all disciplines - theater, music, dance, film, literature, visual arts, and more! Our goal is to nurture and empower these groups to be self-sufficient while providing the support they need to grow.
This year’s theme, Forging Our Futures - SoMa & Chinatown, explores how we are fostering recovery, resilience and regeneration in our communities, what place-making and community building looks like, past, present and future and how we're imagining and manifesting empowered future for ourselves and our communities.
USAAF 2021 is funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, California Arts Council, Fleishhacker Foundation, Zellerbach Family Foundation, startsmall and National Endowment for the Arts.
Get a sneak peak at Sowing Agency before it officially opens to the public in this online VIP Curator Preview!
Get a sneak peak at Sowing Agency, a momentous exhibition presented by the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) and the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC), showcasing over 20 artists and artworks engaging with themes of environmental leadership, activism and kinship.
This online VIP preview will be led by curator Lisa Pradhan and Exhibition Manager, Diana Li at SOMArts Cultural Center with artist talks by exhibiting artists Angela Han, Claire Lau, Cindy Shih and Wen-hao Tien.
This tour is open for exhibiting artists, community partners and exhibition sponsors to attend. Space is limited for 15 more people to join us at our Seed Sowing sponsorship level of $150, which comes with a number of promotional opportunities for your company or brand.
Learn more about the exhibition and read through our sponsorship kit here!
SPREAD THE WORD
www.aawaa.net/sowing-agency-2021
This exhibition takes place at SOMArts Cultural Center April 30-May 23, 2021 and is presented in partnership with APICC for their 24th Annual United States of Asian America Festival and the Asian Art Museum.
Community partners include Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour, South of Market Community Action Network, 18 Million Rising and Survival Media Agency.
Funded in part by San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, California Arts Council and Zellerbach Family Foundation.
Proudly sponsored by Asian Art Museum and Rainbow Grocery.
1 p.m.: “Lost Constellation”
o Part 1: “A Path of Lights” – Dancers J Amber Kao and Ciale Charfauros explore interdependence, healing and connection, with a poem written and performed by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang and music score by Chien-An Yuan.
o Part 2: “Singular Plural” - Charfauros leads a meditation of gender expression and persona. IS/LAND is a performance collaborative comprised of Asian American and Pacific Islander artists.
Happy National Poetry Month! Here is the link to the final FREE ONLINE class that I am teaching at New York Public Library through New York Writers Workshop today in Mandarin Chinese. Register today to come write with me!
New York Writers Workshop is an alliance of published authors and professional writers of fiction, non-fiction, journalism, poetry, plays and screenplays, who live and teach in New York City and a growing list of locales across the globe. NYWW is dedicated to offering professional guidance, resources and workshops that teach craft, foster creativity, and help writers achieve their goals.I was in the garden Friday afternoon when my friend Joz messaged from California, “Hello, checking in. What’s this about an active shooter near you?”
Luckily, the shooting was on the other side of town and the danger had already passed, but it was sobering.
Only thirty days after the spa shootings in Atlanta where six out of the eight people killed were Korean and Chinese American women (four seniors), we were already mourning another mass shooting impacting our community at the FedEx in Indianapolis. Known to have a 90% Sikh American workforce, at least four out of the eight people killed were Sikh Americans (three women, three seniors).
New York Writers Workshop is an alliance of published authors and professional writers of fiction, non-fiction, journalism, poetry, plays and screenplays, who live and teach in New York City and a growing list of locales across the globe. NYWW is dedicated to offering professional guidance, resources and workshops that teach craft, foster creativity, and help writers achieve their goals.On behalf of New York Writers Workshop, I'll be teaching three free introductory poetry writing classes at the New York Public Library in April! April 14, 21, 28, 12:00 noon EDT/ 9:00 am PDT/ 6:00 am HST. Online. Registration required. Free. (One of these may or may not be taught in Mandarin Chinese)
Check out the rest of the NYWW classes at NYPL https://www.nypl.org/events/classes/calendar?keyword=%22new+york+writers+workshop%22&target%5B%5D=ad&target%5B%5D=ya&target%5B%5D=cr&city%5B%5D=bx&city%5B%5D=man&city%5B%5D=si&date_op=GREATER_EQUAL&date1=03%2F29%2F2021&location=&topic=&audience=&series=
| DATE/TIME | TITLE/DESCRIPTION | LOCATION | AUDIENCE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wed, April 14 @ 12 noon | ONLINE Prose Poetry: Finding your Voice with Frances Kai-Hwa WangCelebrate National Poetry Month at the New York Public Library with New York Writers Workshop If you have been scribbling poetry in secret journals for years or if you have been waiting to find time to begin a memoir for your loved ones, it can take time to find your authentic voice or to have enough trust to show your writing to the world, so let’s begin here, one word, one day at a time. Hands-on workshop. What is Prose Poetry? How do I begin? How do I overcome barriers to writing? Bring a no… Registration required: Online | Webster Library Online | Adults |
| Wed, April 21 @ 12 noon | ONLINE Prose Poetry: Finding the Writer within with Frances Kai-Hwa WangCelebrate National Poetry Month at the New York Public Library with New York Writers Workshop To become a writer, one simply has to write. Regularly, weekly, daily, courageously. How do writers develop a regular writing routine or writing practice? Hands-on workshop with short timed writing exercises and tips and tricks to stretch one’s creativity. What is Prose Poetry? How do I begin? How do I overcome barriers to writing? Bring a notebook and pen. Frances Kai-Hwa Wang is a journalist, essayi… Registration required: Online | Harlem Library Online | Adults |
| Wed, April 28 @ 12 noon | ONLINE Prose Poetry: Finding your Voice with Frances Kai-Hwa WangCelebrate National Poetry Month at the New York Public Library with New York Writers Workshop If you have been scribbling poetry in secret journals for years or if you have been waiting to find time to begin a memoir for your loved ones, it can take time to find your authentic voice or to have enough trust to show your writing to the world, so let’s begin here, one word, one day at a time. Hands-on workshop. What is Prose Poetry? How do I begin? How do I overcome barriers to writing? Bring a no… Registration required: Online | Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) Online | Adults |
oh wow, looks like my article was on MSNBC w Richard Lui and Scott Kurashige
https://www.michigandaily.com/campus-life/u-m-community-and-others-gather-to-mourn-lives-lost-in-atlanta-stand-against-anti-asian-hate/
My essay for 1990 Institute Newsletter Volume 1 Issue 4 March 26, 2021
Finding Our Way Through with Books and Stories of Strength
“After covering recent mass killings, terrorist attacks, daily hate crimes, and anger from elected officials, it's clear we are living through a selfish pandemic,” Emmy and Peabody winning journalist and MSNBC news anchor Richard Lui told the 1990 Institute. “Even violence has become too cheap.”
1990 Newsletter Finding Our Way Through with Books and Stories of Strength
"Standing between two major cultural and philosophical traditions, we overlap even as we stand apart. Many of us come from both these traditions, and yet we are both here and not here, seen and not seen. We stand strong because we are woven out of the stories, traditions, food, and cultural handicrafts of our immigrant and refugee elders as we forge new identities and create lives in this new land.See the image and learn more about the artist https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/27031
The recent surge of COVID19-inspired violence targeting Asian American elders across the country has artists and activists responding with art and creative community-based solutions, interracial solidarity, and allyship. Asian American aunties sew masks for Native American communities, Black and Latino volunteers walk with Asian American elders and women, and a diverse coalition of activists and restaurants fill refrigerators and donate free meals.
Together with our elders, we step forward and weave together a beloved community where everyone is here, seen, fed, housed."
I'll be speaking at this talk at University of Michigan next week
Tonight! Thursday February 11, 2021. Registration is open now!
Copies of Meridian - the APWT Drunken Boat Anthology of New Writing are selling fast! Get your paperback or e-book copy today from the APWT website. 'The book they've made is fresh and new and thrilling.' Pulitzer Prize winner Vijay Seshadri #APWT2020
I'll be reading 'Talkin to Whypipo' from Meridian - the APWT Drunken Boat Anthology of New Writing launching Saturday December 5th Australia 10pm (AEST) China 8pm (CST) New York 7am (NYEST) Click this link to join us and hear Frances read her poem live https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/81587544915 #APWT2020
