Support the Asian American Writers’ Workshop

“You are a reader at a time when most Americans no longer read for fun. You are the one who stay up past your bedtime, devouring stories and poems. And you’re not just any kind of reader. You are a reader of Asian American literature, even though less than one percent of books are written by Asian Americans.”

I recently received an email from Ken Chen, the executive director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, about what the organization’s accomplished in the last year, and what he hopes they’ll be able to accomplish in the near future. In 2008, for example, the AAWW hosted more than 120 authors at various literary events—more than they’d had in the previous two years combined! They’re planning a literary festival for this winter. They’re aiming to create storytelling workshops in New York City’s outer boroughs. They’re planning to become not just an invaluable resource for Asian American writers in New York, but across the United States.

With that in mind, the AAWW has begun a $130,000 fundraising drive. They’ve already reached 20 percent of that goal in the last month, and I’m hoping to put something together for this fall that will bring them even closer (more on that when I have something to report!), but in the meantime, I hope you’ll consider contributing. The Beatrice reading series has always enjoyed a significant overlap with the AAWW community, and I hope you’ll agree with me about the importance of having an organization strong enough to support more Asian American writers as they work on sharing their stories with readers.

5 August 2009 | uncategorized |

Lady Jane’s Salon: DePalo, Diaz, & Marvelle (FREE!)

It’s the first Monday of the month, which means that I’ll be hanging out at Madame X (94 W Houston Street) tonight from 7 p.m. onward, introducing romance fans to an assortment of authors at the latest Lady Jane’s Salon. Now, usually there’s a $5 cover charge for these readings, because we’re raising money for Share the Love, a non-profit that collects romance novels for women’s shelters, but we’re going to waive the cover this month so you can try the show out for free. (Of course, if you want to donate $5, or any gently used romance novels you have lying around, we won’t say no.)

This month’s guests are, from left to right, Johnny Diaz (our first male author!), Delilah Marvelle, and Anna DePalo. And our audience is one of the friendliest you’ll find at any reading series in New York; many of them come every month, but they’re always glad to welcome newcomers—and so are we!

3 August 2009 | lady jane's salon |