20 Jun “Social media tempest brings new attention to Asian American literary classics” via International Examiner
Vince Schleitwiler wrote a piece for International Examiner about the publication history of John Okada’s “No-No Boy” and the social media storm caused by Penguin Classics’ decision to publish their own edition.
Read an excerpt:
“When Wong decided to go public with his criticism of Penguin on the last day of May, posting an image of his 1976 copyright registration on social media, the literary community responded. The post and resulting furor went viral, and was soon being reported in the New York Times, the LA Times, NBC Asian America, and the front page of the Seattle Times.
Statements of support for the campaign appeared from Pulitzer Prize-winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, Tony Award-winner David Henry Hwang, and bestselling author Jamie Ford. Four local bookstores — Elliot Bay, Third Place, Phinney and the University Book Store — returned copies to Penguin and reordered from UW Press.
“What Penguin doesn’t understand is that books belong to people, to families as well as writers,” Wong wrote in one post. In another, he asked, “Do they realize that nearly every Asian American writer has probably read a UW Press edition or CARP edition of the novel over the past 43 years?”