Cool Cover of Kimchi for Life

The cover! So excited to finally see "Kimchi for life," the latest from A Melting Pot of Thoughts 13 Minutes Books - "Pho for Life: A Melting Pot of Thoughts." and so glad to be a part! by Access Group Media and Ahn Mai Xuan Bui. Book release today in OC!

Purchase book at Kimchi for Life Launch with Special Tribute to Kim Pham - ameltingpotofthoughts | Buy Tickets, and attend the book release party at Red Carpet Celebration of the Release of "Kimchi for Life."

Kimchi for Life Launch with Special Tribute to Kim Pham - ameltingpotofthoughts | Buy Tickets

Tomorrow night in OC: Special Tribute to Kim Pham at book launch of "Kimchi for Life," third in the A Melting Pot of Thoughts 13 Minutes Books - "Pho for Life: A Melting Pot of Thoughts." series (in which I have a short short love story of sorts, "Where the Lava Meets the Sea") Thanks Ahn Mai Xuan Bui

Kimchi for Life Launch with Special Tribute to Kim Pham - ameltingpotofthoughts | Buy Tickets

more at fb event page: Red Carpet Celebration of the Release of "Kimchi for Life."

Southern California City Drops Lawsuit Against Sriracha Sauce Maker | NBC Southern California

Breaking News: The great #Srirachapocalypse comes to an end.

Southern California City Drops Lawsuit Against Sriracha Sauce Maker | NBC Southern California

Remembering Maya Angelou

so sad to hear the news about Maya Angelou today. i learned so much from reading her entire collection of (7? 8?) memoirs one autumn, about alternate perspectives and the value of all our stories. i was so proud to learn that an article i wrote that casually mentioned her work in passing that was hit by trolls inspired a lively two-day class discussion about her work and mine in which high schoolers who usually never speak spoke up. a lot. from 2010. #weneeddiversebooks 

Only in the Midwest: Trying to line up stereotypes, cultural background, intuition and reality

http://www.annarbor.com/passions-pursuits/only-in-the-midwesttrying-to-line-up-stereotypes-cultural-background-intuition-and-reality/

"Where the Lava Meets the Sea" in "Kimchi for Life."

Wow, looks great! So pleased to be a part of the A Melting Pot of Thoughts series once again, with "Where the Lava Meets the Sea" in the new book, "Kimchi for Life." Check out this sweet love letter from the editor, Ahn Mai Xuan Bui:

Dear Frances, I'd like to thank you for being a great friend of A Melting Pot of Thoughts. Your leadership in the field of Asian literature is well recognized and appreciated.

the intersections of family stories and history on Memorial Day

Remembering my maternal grandfather this Memorial Day, who was a fighter pilot with Chennault’s Flying Tigers during WW2, who took a train across the American South in 1945 to train in Texas for a year (with Connie Chung's dad!), who flew the last plane out of China in 1949... Thanks to all our vets as we think about the intersections of family stories and history in "Grandfather Walking" on page 109 of Kartika Review http://issuu.com/kartikareview/docs/kartika_issue16

UCSB

My heart is heavy and my thoughts are with all the families in Santa Barbara.

Speaking today for AAPI Heritage Month

And that's it for APA/AAPI Heritage Month for me. Broadcast to US military worldwide, they told me afterwards. With shoutouts to "Fresh off the Boat" and Corky Lee's new Transcontinental Railroad photograph, although they said they'd have to bleep out my calling Tammy Duckworth "totally badass." oops. Even though she is. (Go Google "Tammy Duckworth eviscerates contractor" and smile).

EATING CULTURES: Literary Sriracha - A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction

"Poignant Truth, Precarious You (and preparing for the Sriracha Apocalypse)" at EATING CULTURES: Literary Sriracha - A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction with the great folks at Asian American Women Artists Association at SOMArts Gallery. Thanks for a great event! Thanks May-lee Chai for curating such a great reading! Thanks Michelle Lee for curating such a thought provoking art exhibition. So pleased to be a part.Thanks HoChie Tsai and Grace Hwang Lynch and Reiko Fujii for the great photographs!

EATING CULTURES: Literary Sriracha - A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction

AAWAA Eating Cultures final day May 31

from Asian American Women's Artists Association (Must be May 31, 2014):

"Join us in celebrating the final day of EATING CULTURES with a Community Potluck co-hosted by Community Health for Asian Americans. Bring a special dish to share and a personal recipe for our community recipe wall!

SPECIAL PERFORMANCE | Genevieve Erin O'Brien in “Sausage Homage”.

GALLERY HOURS | May 1-30, 2014. Tuesday through Friday from 12-7pm, and Saturdays from 12-5pm.

CURATOR | Michelle Lee
CURATORIAL ADVISORS | Linda Inson Choy & Cynthia Tom

JUROR | Dr. Margo L. Machida, Professor of Art History & Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut

FEATURED ARTISTS | Susan Almazol • Sigi Arnejo • Jung Ran Bae • Mitsuko Brooks • Ka Yan Cheung • Karen Chew • Flora Choi • Melissa Chow • Samantha Chundur • Kay Cuajunco • Alison Ho • Grace Jahng Lee • Zilka Joseph • Juliana Kang Robinson • Larry Lee & Jason Dunda • Theresa Loong • Alana Lowe • **Cathy Lu • Mieko Meguro • Michiko Murakami • Chee Wang Ng • **Genevieve Erin O'Brien with Aaron Henderson & Grace Umali • Jessica Redmond • Margaret Rhee • **kate hers RHEE • Yoshie Sakai • Shizue Seigel • Pallavi Sharma • Jessica Tang • Cynthia Tom • Christine Toy Johnson • Frances Kai-Hwa Wang • Michael Watson • Maggie Wong • Leslie Zeitler • Sara Zin

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION| AAWAA and Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (APICC) join forces to present the multidisciplinary art exhibition Eating Cultures, for the United States of Asian America Festival throughout May 2014. Featuring over thirty emerging and established Asian Pacific American artists from around the country, Eating Cultures is a deliciously provocative multi-disciplinary arts exhibition of artworks inspired by Asian American food and foodways. Using food as a lens, artist share stories of global migration, adaptation, entrepreneurship, and the central importance of food in Asian communities around the world.

In addition to over fifty art, film, and literary works, Eating Cultures will feature Asian American oral histories provided by Southern Foodways Alliance via Guide by Cell, dynamic programming co-presented by Asia Society and the Culinary Historians of Northern California, a pop-up shop, and a recipe wall for audiences to share their favorite family recipes.

INVITED ARTISTS|
Cathy Lu • http://www.cathyclu.com/
Cathy Lu is a Chinese American San Francisco based painter and sculptor. Using traditional Chinese iconography and symbolism as jumping off point, Lu explores ideas of gender, cultural identity and global patterns of migration. She received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Jingdezhen Contemporary International Ceramic Exhibition in China.

Genevieve Erin O'Brien • http://www.erin-obrien.com/
Genevieve Erin O’Brien is a Queer Vietnamese-Irish American Los Angeles based artist, community organizer, and educator. She received her MFA in Studio Art/Performance from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 2009 she received a Fulbright Fellowship to travel to Vietnam to conduct research for her Nu’ó’c Nào? project. She has presented work nationally and internationally, including at at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

kate hers RHEE • http://www.estherka.com/
Kate Hers Rhee is a Korean American Berlin and Detroit based visual artist and cultural producer who works in the field of social art practice. Her work seeks to rethink and reshape notions of transnational and cultural identity, often through different modes of communication and public/private interventions. She received her MFA from the University of California at Irvine. Her work Dr. Rhee’s Kimtschi Shop has been shown internationally and featured on PRI’s “The World”.

ABOUT AAWAA | Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA) is a national non-profit arts organization dedicated to ensuring the visibility and documentation of Asian Pacific American women in the arts. Since 1989, AAWAA has been a resource for the arts and academic communities, working to further the recognition of Asian American women artists. Through exhibitions, literary readings, speakers' bureau, publications, and educational programs, AAWAA offers thought-provoking perspectives that challenge societal assumptions and promote dialogue across cultures and generations. For more information on AAWAA and its mission and programs, please visit www.aawaa.net.

ABOUT APICC | This program is co-presented by API Cultural Center- San Francisco (APICC) mission is to support and produce multi-disciplinary art reflective of the unique experiences of Asian Pacific Islanders living in the United States. Since 1998, the Center has promoted the artistic and organizational growth of the City’s Asian/Pacific arts community by organizing and presenting the annual United States of Asian America Festival. For more information on APICC and its mission and programs, please visitwww.apiculturalcenter.org.

ALL ADMISSION TO EATING CULTURES EVENTS AND PROGRAMS ARE FREE TO THE PUBLIC."

arborweb.com TechTwilight - Ann Arbor Observer

My memories of the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum begin in the old museum's preschool room, with my toddlers crawling on and around the big red fire truck, trying on different firefighter coats, and cooking up strange concoctions in the play kitchen. But as the children have grown up, so has the way we love our museum.

TechTwilight is an evening of nerdlicious fun for all ages featuring more than thirty local tech companies and nonprofits showing off their latest innovations and interactive technologies, sharing their excitement about science and technology with the community, and fundraising to support the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum and its mission to educate young people about science, technology, engineering, art, and math.

Click here for whole article: arborweb.com TechTwilight - Ann Arbor Observer

Official list of readers for EATING CULTURES Literary Sriracha

Looking forward to meeting all these good folks! Check out the official list of readers for Saturday's EATING CULTURES: Literary Sriracha - A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction!

WINBERG CHAI is the author of more than twenty books on Asia and co-author, most recently, of a family memoir, The Girl from Purple Mountain as well as China A to Z. Born in Shanghai, he immigrated to the United States after World War II in 1950. He is a professor emeritus of political science from the University of Wyoming.

QINGMEI CHEN is a practicing acupuncturist. Born in Guangdong Province, she immigrated with her family to San Francisco when she was seven. She has a BA in Psychology from UC-Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Traditional Chinese Medicine from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She is currently at work on a novel.

GWYNN GACOSTA has a B.A. in political science from UC-Berkeley and an M.A. in English-Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. She works as a Special Education para educator for the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, as well as a tutor for Sylvan Learning Center's after-school literacy program. She is the mother of two boys. She writes frequently about the Filipino Diaspora.

GEORGE LEW has studied at Amherst College and Peking University. A native of San Francisco’s Chinatown, he has traveled worldwide and speaks five languages. He is currently working on a research project on the all-too-often overlooked Maritime Silk Road. In his spare time, George enjoys used bookstores, horticulture, and rare hand-woven textiles from around the world.

SHIZUE SEIGEL is a third-generation Japanese American who explores history, place and spirituality through visual art, prose and poetry. She was chief cartographer for “Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas” and recently spoke at the National World War II Museum about her book In Good Conscience: Supporting Japanese American during the Internment .

DEBANTI SENGUPTA is a scientist by training. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Amherst College, and a PhD in Chemistry from Stanford. She has also lived on three different continents, and has been nourished by Indian achaars, African piri piri, Thai nam prik pao, and American hot sauce.

FRANCES KAI-HWA WANG is a second-generation Chinese American from California who now divides her time between Michigan and Hawai'i. She writes for ethnic new media, teaches Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies at University of Michigan, has published three chapbooks of prose poetry, and she will have a multimedia artwork with Jyoti Omi Chowdhury entitled, “Dreams of the Diaspora,” as part of a Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center Indian American Heritage Project online and traveling art exhibition. Check out franceskaihwawang.com.

Photo of Shizue Seigel's My Mother and Betty Crocker, courtesy of Cris Matos.

Art for "Poignant Truth, Precarious You (and preparing for the Sriracha Apocalypse).” AAWAA EATING CULTURES

ok! my three trusted readers have ok'd my poem for May 17 in sf EATING CULTURES: Literary Sriracha - A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction curated by May-lee Chai for Asian American Women Artists Association "Poignant Truth, Precarious You (and preparing for the Sriracha Apocalypse).” Here's the art it is based on.

BaeJ1poignanttruth | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

More information about the EATING CULTURES art exhibition here: http://www.somarts.org/eatingcultures/

Happy Taiwanese American Heritage Week May 11-18

Thanks to Hochie Tsai at TaiwaneseAmerican.org:

#LifeAPA: A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America | Flickr Blog

So much fun to be a part of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America #LifeAPA today! We took photos on the soccer field, at an APA Heritage Month and Taiwanese American Heritage Week event, and getting Korean fried chicken at Seoul Street! Now kids are studying for AP Exams. Can't get more APA Heritage month than that!

#LifeAPA: A Day in the Life of Asian Pacific America | Flickr Blog

Storytelling today at Bookbound with FASCA

The students of FASCA will be joining me today with crafts and storytelling! (and maybe Chinese Yo-Yo too). Happy Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Taiwanese American Heritage Week, and Children's Book Week! Stories on Saturday, May 10, 2014, 2:00 pm, Bookbound, 1729 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor.

Did you eat? means…I love you. | AAPI Voices

Thank you AAPI Voices for including my poem, “Did you eat? means…I love you,” and Hao Hao's photographs in today's Art Friday! Inspired by Ryan Suda Blacklava and originally published in Kartika Review and currently on exhibit at Asian American Women Artists Association EATING CULTURES in SF, I am so pleased to be a part of this hot new data journalism project with Karthick Ramakrishnan CM Samala et al. Aren't I so cute in this picture?http://aapivoices.com/did-you-eat-meansi-love-you/

Did you eat? means…I love you.

And you know y'all want the T-shirt

http://www.blacklava.net/.../did-you-eat-means-i-love.../

Did you eat means I Love You T Shirt by Blacklava

Just got word that my prose poem, "Did you eat? means...I Love You," inspired by the Blacklava T-shirt of the same name (and originally published in Kartika Review) will be published this Friday at the hot new AAPIData journalism project, AAPIVoices, for Art Friday! Do you have this T-shirt? Get one for your mom for mother's day! They have buttons too!

Did you eat means I Love You T Shirt by Blacklava

Eating Cultures: A Deliciously Provocative Art Exhibition

Thanks Angry Asian Man for the plug! I'm so pleased to be a part of this Asian American Women Artists Association art exhibition and reading!
Eating Cultures: A Deliciously Provocative Art Exhibition

And I just finished writing my poem! “Poignant Truth, Precarious You (and preparing for the Sriracha Apocalypse)” based on this artwork, “Poignant Truth”:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aawaa_sf/13441884895/in/set-72157642991346933/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aawaa_sf/13442122713/in/set-72157642991346933/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aawaa_sf/13442122693/in/set-72157642991346933/

So, California friends, don't forget to come to Literary Sriracha on Saturday May 17 2-4 pm at SOMArts in The City!
EATING CULTURES: Literary Sriracha - A Spicy Mix of Poetry, Mini-Memoirs, and Flash Fiction

Here's the first love letter from the exhibition so far...
"I was visiting my friend...at the opening reception for Eating Cultures at SOMArts (what a mouthful!) when I saw your piece up on the far wall. I loved it, and I stood there staring at your name trying to figure out how I knew you!"

I can't wait to see it!

Race integral part of Vincent Chin case | The Detroit News

Per American Citizens for Justice: "The Detroit News agreed to have a rebuttal article following Neal Rubin's article after discussions with AAJA National, and invited Frank Wu to write an article. Here it is in today's Detroit News."

Race integral part of Vincent Chin case | The Detroit News