L to R: Jade Wong-Baxter, Kyle Lucia Wu, Joseph O. Legaspi, Duy Đoàn, Margaret Rhee, Gina Chung, Vikas Menon, and Shirley Cai. Photo Credit: Hannah Kang
On April 19th, we partnered with The New School to host “Asian American Writing Now: Reflections, New Ecologies, and Futurity.” This intergenerational and inter-genre panel featured acclaimed writers and publishing professionals, including Yale Series of Younger Poets and Lammy Winner Duy Đoàn, novelist and Kundiman Deputy Director Kyle Lucia Wu, Kundiman Co-Founder Joseph O. Legaspi, and Frances Goldin literary agent Jade Wong-Baxter. Assistant Professor of Media Studies at The New School and Kundiman Fellow Margaret Rhee moderated the panel.
Margaret Rhee opens up the discussion. Photo Credit: Shirley Cai
This thoughtful and engaging discussion came at a pivotal moment of reflection for us as Kundiman prepares to enter its 20th anniversary in 2024. In this moderated panel, we engaged in a robust discussion about the changes in the way Asian American literature has been published over the years and some of the challenges of Asian American writing when it comes to race, gender, and more. We explored the politics of publishing, the poetics of community, and looked at how Asian American writing could be characterized now.
“We started Kundiman out of an immense gulf of loneliness … what we really wanted was a community and family.” —Joseph O. Legaspi
We also discussed how the addition of literary spaces and nonprofits such as Cave Canem (whom we were modeled after), the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, and Kundiman have fostered a sense of community for writers of color. Joseph O. Legaspi began the discussion by reflecting on how he and Sarah Gambito cofounded Kundiman out of a deep longing for a writing family— one that would nurture, challenge, and encourage growth for Asian American writers. As the rest of our panelists, Maragaret Rhee, Duy Đoàn, Jade Wong-Baxter, and Kyle Lucia Wu, spoke about how they became involved with Kundiman, it was clear that literary spaces like Kundiman are vital as they allow Asian American writers to find camaraderie, inspiration, and joy, which creates space for them to work together to shape the future of Asian American literature.
“It’s always about being in community even if we’re not talking about poems … the poetry is in those in-between spaces.” —Duy Đoàn
A thought-provoking Q&A with students from the New School Creative Writing Program followed our panel. It was moving to hear students discuss critical questions with our panelists that ranged from the role of Asian American writers at this moment in history to what the state of evolution could look like for new generations of Asian American writers.
Students from the New School Creative Writing Program. Photo Credit: Shirley Cai
L to R: Jade Wong-Baxter, Kyle Lucia Wu, Joseph O. Legaspi, Duy Đoàn, and Margaret Rhee. Photo Credit: Shirley Cai
Thank you to The New School for having us and to Margaret Rhee for moderating such an invigorating and attentive discussion about the changes, present, and future of Asian American literature. We look forward to catching you all at the next event!