“What’s at Stake in Keeping Asian American Classics in Print” via Asian American Writers’ Workshop

Author Shawn Wong at his IBM typewriter in his San Francisco apartment in 1974. The images counterclockwise over his head are: a poster from the First Asian American Writers’ Conference at the Oakland Museum, a snapshot of Shawn as a child wearing a sailor’s outfit, an oil painting by his mother of his grandfather, and a black and white photo of friend, Nancy Wong from 1969. (PHOTO BY NANCY WONG).

Asian American Writers’ Workshop published my essay on John Okada’s novel, “No-No Boy”, and my 50 year journey with the book and the University of Washington Press.

Read an excerpt:

“When I was a young writer, I recognized the importance of bringing attention to earlier generations of writers whose works lived in obscurity or were largely forgotten–writers like Toshio Mori, John Okada, Hisaye Yamamoto, and even the anonymous Chinese immigrant writers who carved poems into the walls of the Angel Island Immigration Detention Station between 1910 and 1940. Our rediscovery of these writers led Jeffery Chan, Frank Chin, Lawson Inada and me to co-edit Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian American Writers, which was published by Howard University Press in 1974.”

Read the essay.



Published on 21 November, 2019      |