More Asian American perspectives on 9-11: Asian American Literary Review special issue

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

Our friends at The Asian American Literary Review have just published their latest issue commemorating the tenth anniversary of 9-11.  Please see the press release from AALR below for information about the special issue, which includes the journal’s contact information…

ASIAN AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW RELEASES SPECIAL ISSUE COMMEMORATING TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF SEPT. 11

A critical consideration of the moment and its aftermath—the political, legal, and civil rights repercussions for the communities most directly affected: South Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim American.

As the tenth anniversary of September 11th, 2001 approaches, how can we reflect on that day and its aftermath when so many of the voices of affected communities remain unheard? In the interests of broadening the public conversation, The Asian American Literary Review (AALR) is publishing a special commemorative issue that gives voice to those too frequently unheard.

AALR’s Special Issue: Commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of Sept. 11, guest edited by Rajini Srikanth and Parag Khandhar, features a Sikh American musician on the traumas of experience, before and after; an Indian American lawyer on defending Guantánamo detainees; a Pakistani American Muslim feminist on teaching September 11th; an Afghan American poet on envisioning the first Afghan American literary anthology; an Arab American scholar on why Arab American fiction matters; and organizers and participants on the 10-year anniversary of Desis Organizing, the first gathering of NYC South Asian activists and artists.

Other features include: testimonies, essays, and dialogues by community activists Deepa Iyer, Tito Sinha, Chaumtoli Huq, Subhash Kateel, Adem Carroll, and Saru Jayaraman; writers Pico Iyer, Amitava Kumar, Rishi Reddi, Shailja Patel, and Kazim Ali;  and scholars Vijay Prashad, Sunaina Maira, Gary Okihiro, and Mary Husain.  Attached DVD includes video shorts by spoken word and performance poets Anida Yoeu Ali, Giles Li, Chee Malabar, Bao Phi, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Amir Rabiyah, Bushra Rehman, Pushkar Sharma, and Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai.

CLICK HERE to see a sample table of contents and teaser of excerpts, and to order the issue.

ABOUT:  The Asian American Literary Review, Inc. is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary arts organization, a space for those who consider the designation “Asian American” a fruitful starting point for artistic vision and community.

CONTACT: Gerald Maa and Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis, Editors-In-Chief, The Asian American Literary Review: editors@aalrmag.org

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On the Tenth Anniversary of 9-11: Asian Americans on War and Peace

Posted on September 12, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

In light of the recent commemoration of 9-11, the edited collection Asian Americans on War and Peace is a relevant meditation on the tragic events of ten years ago from the Asian American community.  Published in 2002, Asian Americans on War and Peace was the first book to respond to what happened on September 11, 2001 from Asian American perspectives, from the vantage points of those whose lives and  communities in America have been forged both by war and by peace.   It was a moment in our history described by Roshni Rustomji-Kerns as one when “the past and the future became the now.”

Asian Americans On War and Peace (2002)

Introduction
“War and Peace:  When Past and Future Became the Now” by Russell C. Leong and Don T. Nakanishi

I.  Worlds of Crisis
“Oh, Say, Can You See” by Helen Zia

“Notes from a New York Diary” by Jessica Hagedorn

“Existing at the Center, Watching from the Edges” by Roshni Rostomji-Kerns

“War against the Planet” by Vijay Prashad

“Nothing to Write Home About” by Amitava Kumar

“Today” by Russell C. Leong

II. Civil Liberties and Internment
“Thinking Through Internment: 12/7 and 9/11” by Jerry Kang

“The Loaded Weapon” by Eric K. Yamamoto and Susan Kiyomi Serrano

“Pearl Harbor Revisited” by Frank Chin

“How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?” by Moustafa Bayoumi

“What Does Danger Look Like?” by Stephen Lee

“When Mothers Talk” by Janice Mirikitani

“Why Children Did Not Knock at My Door on Halloween This Year” by Ifti Nisam

More from the book, after the jump

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“Further Desire: Asian and Asian American Sexualities”

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press announces the release of the latest issue of Amerasia Journal, “Further Desire: Asian and Asian American Sexualities.” Guest edited by Ramón A. Gutiérrez, this special topic issue is based on a conference on Asian American Sexualities held at the University of Chicago Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, which is headed by Professor Gutiérrez. “Further Desire” builds on Amerasia‘s commitment to the study of sexualities within Asian American Studies, which began with the groundbreaking 1994 volume, “Dimensions of Desire” (20:1). Amerasia‘s latest contribution to this vibrant area of inquiry offers new insights into the field with a sustained examination of the transnational, multiethnic, and comparative nature of Asian American sexualities.

The issue also includes a timely exploration of the public debate over Amy Chua’s controversial book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. Incorporating perspectives from literary criticism, cultural studies, public policy, and education, our discussion of “Tiger mothering” presents thoughtful and thorough discussions on the matter from points of view that have been left out of mainstream coverage of the public debate. Please check back here periodically as we post the Amerasia Forum on “The Year of the Tiger Mother” online, in addition to other excerpts from the issue.

View the contents of “Further Desire” below the fold…

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From the pages of Amerasia: James Kyung-Jin Lee on Russell Leong, “Anxieties of Influence”

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

Below is an excerpt of James Kyung-Jin Lee’s guest editor’s introduction for the recently published special issue commemorating the career of Amerasia Journal senior editor, Russell C. Leong.

"9th Session Trilogy," by Russell C. Leong

“Anxieties of Influence”
From Amerasia Journal 37:1 (2011)

By James Kyung-Jin Lee
University of California, Irvine

The story that Shawn Wong tells of the “birth of Wallace Lin,” Russell’s first but certainly not only nom de plume, is a bit different from the one I’ve heard from Russell himself and from others who’ve heard it too.  You will read Shawn’s version shortly.  In the version that I remember, the last name derives not from a friend, but from his uncle; the first comes from his love of Wallace Stevens’s poetry, which may be a bit surprising in 2011, but, as Karen Tei Yamashita said recently, “We all liked Wallace Stevens back then.”  I’m reminded in the slippage between these two versions—love for Wallace Stevens’s work and when he wrote to Shawn, “Wallace Stevens is a poet, right?”—of a moment in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, when the old couple in Maxine’s Fa Mu Lan fantasy laugh and say to her, “That’s funny.  You tell good stories.”  Of course, in the creative vocations in which Russell has been engaged—as writer, visual artist, editor, scholar, and activist—both stories are true, because as John Edgar Wideman has put it, all stories are true.  It’s entirely possible that all of the stories of the creation of Wallace Lin never actually happened, but to focus on the facticity of origins is to miss the point.  The point is the making of story itself, and how that story means and matters as it enters your own.  Let me share with how these stories, real or fake, but certainly all true, enter my own today.

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On the Passing of Carolyn M. Yee, Former Amerasia Journal Editor

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

On behalf of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, I am sad to announce the passing on July 26, 2011 of former staff member, Carolyn M. Yee.  Carolyn is survived by her husband Bill Lann Lee, former Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division under President Bill Clinton, and their children, Mark, Nicholas, and Angela Manese-Lee.

Carolyn Yee was a valued member of the Center, having served as the head of the publications unit and the third editor of Amerasia Journal from 1976-1977.  Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka, who had known Carolyn during her student days in Berkeley, encouraged Carolyn to work at the Center.  As co-editor with the late Megumi Dick Osumi, Carolyn helped to channel “the creative spirit of survival that is uniquely American” into Amerasia by publishing writers including Hisaye Yamamoto, Carlos Bulosan, Toshio Mori, Wakako Yamauchi, Jeffery Paul Chan, Tomas Santos, Janice Mirikitani, Lawson Inada, and many others who formed the emerging canon of Asian American literature at the time.  Carolyn and her family have long continued to support the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, most notably with an academic prize that she and Bill established in his father’s name, the Wei-Lim Lee Memorial Prize.

Carolyn would later have a long and distinguished career serving the community as an attorney, most recently as University Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel of the University of California Office of the President since 2006.  Prior to joining the office, Ms. Yee was the AV-rated (Martindale-Hubbell) Principal in the Law Office of Carolyn M. Yee in Los Angeles, specializing in all aspects of labor and employment law practice.  She has also served as in-house employment counsel for Southern California Edison Company and, prior to that, as an attorney with the National Labor Relations Board.  Carolyn was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (A.B. and J.D.).

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests charitable donations to the Berkeley Community Fund’s High Hopes Scholarship Fund, which can be sent to the following address:

Berkeley Community Fund
High Hopes Scholarships
2111 Martin Luther King Jr. Way
Berkeley, CA 94704

We are grateful to Carolyn Yee for her contributions and on-going support of our Center and are honored to have been part of her distinguished legacy of community service and advocacy.

Sincerely,
David K. Yoo
Director & Professor

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“Word & Image: Russell C. Leong”

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press announces the release of a special issue of Amerasia Journal marking the retirement of long-time Senior Editor Russell C. Leong.  Guest edited by James Kyung-Jin Lee (Asian American Studies, UC Irvine) and King-Kok Cheung (English and Asian American Studies, UCLA), “Word & Image:  Russell C. Leong” celebrates not only Leong’s immeasurable influence on the development of Asian American Studies during his thirty-three year tenure at the helm of Amerasia Journal, but also his distinguished career as an artist and writer.  As former AASC Director and the founding publisher of Amerasia Journal Don T. Nakanishi says of his friend and colleague, “Russell arguably has been the most influential and significant individual in the field of Asian American Studies because of what he accomplished as the Senior Editor of Amerasia Journal.”  “Word & Image” covers the multitude of areas in which Leong has had a lasting impact, be it in promoting Asian American poetry and prose, or scholarship and research.  The issue also speaks to how far-ranging Leong’s contributions to Asian American Studies have been, going back to the inception of the field, while moving it forward into uncharted transnational territory.

“Word & Image” includes

  • Critical explorations on Russell Leong’s career and work by leading Asian American Studies scholars King-Kok Cheung, James Kyung-Jin Lee, and Sau-ling C. Wong
  • Creative pieces inspired by Leong from some of the most prominent figures of Asian American arts and letters, such as Jeffery Paul Chan, Frank Chin, Janice Mirikitani, Shawn Wong, and Karen Tei Yamashita
  • Tributes from China and Taiwan by Yibing Huang and Te-hsing Shan
  • Art, poetry, and critical work from Russell Leong himself

A complete listing of the table of contents and ordering information are after the jump…

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Amerasia Journal Events at AAAS in New Orleans, Friday, May 20, 2011

Posted on May 12, 2011 by admin

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center and the Amerasia Journal editorial staff would like to invite you to two special events at the Association for Asian American Studies annual conference in New Orleans.

(1) AAAS Roundtable

“Amerasia Journal: Past, Present, and Future — Publishing and Consuming Asian America”

Friday 5/20/2011 at 2:45 PM in Edgewood AB

AASC Director David K. Yoo and members of the AASC Press staff will discuss current and future projects the journal is undertaking.  We also hope to seek input, ideas, and reflections from our readers and colleagues, as we enter a new era for Amerasia Journal.

(2) Amerasia Journal 40th Anniversary Reception

Friday 5/20/2011 at 4:30 PM in Bayside

Following the roundtable is a reception at the AAAS exhibitor area celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the founding of Amerasia Journal.  On hand to mark the occasion will be long-time editor Russell C. Leong, who recently retired after 33 years at the helm of Amerasia Journal, as well as Jacqueline Lo and Dean Chan, who guest edited last year’s Asian Australia special issue.  Please join the AASC staff and our special guests at the reception.  Refreshments will be served.

Please email arnoldpan@ucla.edu with any questions.  Thank you for your support of Amerasia Journal and the AASC, and we hope to see you at AAAS.

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Asian American Literary Review “8+1 Symposium” (May 7, 2011)

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Amerasia Journal blog

Our friends at the Asian American Literary Review are holding a day-long symposium on Asian American literature at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles on Saturday, May 7 2011.  Below is information on the event and the list of prominent Asian American writers who will be reading at the special event.  The symposium is sponsored in part by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, among numerous community and university supporters.

For information regarding the event and the journal, contact Editors Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis and Gerald Maa at editors@aalrmag.org.

ASIAN AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW HOLDS FIRST WEST COAST SYMPOSIUM IN LITTLE TOKYO, LOS ANGELES

When: May 7, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Where: Japanese American National Museum, 369 E. First St., Los Angeles

FREE TO THE PUBLIC

8+1: A Symposium, Voices from the Asian American Literary Review will feature Joy Kogawa (Obasan), Kip Fulbeck (Part Asian, 100% Hapa), Rishi Reddi (Karma and Other Stories), R. Zamora Linmark (Leche, Rolling the R’s), Reese Okyong Kwon (short fiction writer, recently named one of Narrative’s “30 Below 30” writers), Viet Nguyen (Race and Resistance: Literature and Politics in Asian America), Hiromi Ito (Killing Kanoko) with award-winning translator Jeffrey Angles, Ray Hsu (Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon) and Los Angeles native Brian Ascalon Roley (American Son).

These writers reflect the richness and complexity of the Asian American literary landscape. With family roots in Japan, India, the Philippines, Korea, China, and Viet Nam, these writers touch upon fluid identities and communities, erased histories, and linguistic and cultural alienation. Their work ranges from delicate to expressive, experimental to moral.

The symposium will include paired readings, Q&A sessions and book signings.  The public may attend any or all of the readings.

Some of the featured writers are included in the latest issue of the Asian American Literary Review, which has just been published.  The press release announcing the exciting new issue is below the jump…

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“What Makes Women Soldiers? Context, Context, Context: the Case of Fiji” by Professor Teresia Teaiwa

Posted on April 13, 2011 by admin

For the upcoming Los Angeles visit of Professor Teresia Teaiwa, a distinguished Pacific Islander scholar and writer, we would like to announce two events where she will be speaking.  She is a Professor of Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

On April 18 at UCLA, Prof. Teaiwa will be delivering a keynote address at Royce Hall 314, from 5:00-6:30pm (see her abstract below).  And on April 19, she will be sharing her poetry at the Pacific Islands Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM).

Monday, April 18, 2011, 5:00-6:30pm, Royce Hall 314
Professor Teaiwa’s keynote address is entitled:  “What Makes Women Soldiers? Context, Context, Context: the Case of Fiji.”

Abstract:

“‘What makes women soldiers?’ Between 2008 and 2010 I recorded a series of oral histories of women currently serving in the Fiji Military Forces (FMF), and Fiji women who had been demobilized from the British Army (BA). The oral histories cover three generations of Fiji women soldiers: a small cohort who had served in the BA between 1961 and 1964; a larger cohort who had been the first women admitted into the FMF in 1988; and then an even larger cohort of women who have been recruited into both forces since the late 1990s. This paper forms the basis of the introductory chapter to a monograph based on the research, and will examine the colonial, nationalist and post/neo-colonial contexts in which each of the cohorts is respectively located. The paper espouses a feminist analysis of women soldiers that is attentive to historical and cultural specificity, and historically specific cultural specificity, moreover.

“The work that I’m discussing here represents a shift in my own approach to studying militarism in the Pacific. Instead of trying to understand the militarization of the region from ‘without’ (as I had done in my PhD research and subsequent publications which involved a cultural studies approach based on reading and contextualizing events and texts), I have tried to understand it from ‘within’ (by conducting interviews with soldiers and officers); instead of trying to understand how militarization works from its center (through men), I have tried to understand it from its margins (through women). My assumption was that since masculinity and militarism are coterminous, and femininity and militarism are oppositional in certain ideological terms, by investigating how women from Fiji have become soldiers, I would learn more about how militarization works. By considering the changing contexts of women’s militarization in Fiji, and by illuminating a case study in which extreme forms of violence do not distract from the analysis with their spectacle, I believe I have.”

Professor Teresia K. Teaiwa is a senior lecturer and, from 2000 to 2009, was the founding director of Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.  Having trained and taught in the U.S. and the Pacific Islands, Teaiwa’s interdisciplinary work makes important interventions in the fields of Pacific, postcolonial and women’s studies. She is the author of Searching for Nei Nim`anoa, a groundbreaking poetry collection, the spoken word I can see Fiji: sound and performance, and author of numerous articles about Pacific Cultural Studies, gender, and militarization. She is co-editor of New.

New Zealand Identities: Departures and Destinations (Victoria University Press, 2005) and Turning the Tide: Towards a Pacific Solution to Aid Conditionality (Greenpeace Australia Pacific, 2002). Her recent articles include “Globalizing and Gendered Forces: The Contemporary Militarization of Pacific/Oceania” in Gender and Globalization in Asia and the Pacific (University of Hawai`i Press) and “On Women and ‘Indians’: The Politics of Inclusion and Exclusion in Militarized Fiji” in Rethinking Security: Gender, Race and Militarization (Rutgers University Press, 2008).

The Legacies of Pacific Island Militarization Project is sponsored by The Burkle Center Faculty Research Working Group Grant, The Humanities Division, The Social Sciences Division, Asian American Studies, American Indian Studies, The Department of English, the César E. Chávez Deptartment of Chicana and Chicano Studies, the Postcolonial Literature and Theory Colloquium, and the Cultures in Transnational Perspective Mellon Postdoctoral Program in the Humanities.

Both events are free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Christen Sasaki at ctensasaki@gmail.com.

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niu/beat poetry: A Reading by Professor Teresia K. Teaiwa, April 19, 2011

Posted on April 12, 2011 by admin

Please join us for an evening of poetry and conversation on April 19, 2011, from 6-9pm, at the Pacific Islands Ethnic Art Museum (PIEAM) in Long Beach, CA, with Professor Teresia Teaiwa. Writers Dan Talaupapa McMullin and Tina Taitano DeLisle will be sharing their poetry as well.

Professor Teaiwa is the founding director of Pacific Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. She is also the author of Searching for Nei Nim`anoa, a groundbreaking poetry collection, the spoken word I can see Fiji: sound and performance, and numerous articles about Pacific Cultural Studies, gender, and militarization.

An event sponsored by: UCLA American Indian Studies Center and UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Admission is free and dinner will be served.

PARKING and DIRECTIONS:

PIEAM parking is FREE at MOLAA’s parking lot (628 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802), across the street from PIEAM on Alamitos Avenue. Limited street parking is available on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Alamitos Avenue next to the museum.

For driving directions or more information,  telephone: 562-216-4170.

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