Call for Submissions: Kartika Review

Kartika Review is accepting submissions for upcoming issues of our online Asian-American literary magazine.

We accept fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual art by Asian-American (west, east, central, south, and southeast Asian) writers and artists.

We are a quarterly journal. We read submissions all year. Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please notify us immediately if your work has been accepted elsewhere.

Full submission guidelines and the email addresses for submitting work are available at our website: http://www.kartikareview.com/submit.html

Kartika Review serves the Asian-American community and those involved with Diasporic Asian-inspired literature. We scout for compelling Asian American creative writing and artwork to present to the public at large. Our editors actively solicit contributions from established virtuosos in our community in hopes their works here will inspire the next generation of virtuosos. We also want to promote emerging writers and artists we foresee to be the future powerhouses of their craft. Ultimately, Kartika strives to create a literary forum that caters to and celebrates the wordsmiths of the Asian Diaspora.

Coming Soon: Asian American Literary Review

http://www.asianamericanliteraryreview.org/

The Asian American Literary Review is a space for writers who consider the designation "Asian American" a fruitful starting point for artistic vision and community. In showcasing the work of established and emerging writers, the journal aims to incubate dialogues and, just as importantly, open those dialogues to regional, national, and international audiences of all constituencies. We select work that is, as Marianne Moore once put it, "an expression of our needs. . . [and] feeling, modified by the writer's moral and technical insights."

Book Dragon: Leaving Yesler by Peter Bacho + Author Interview

Leaving Yesler by Peter Bacho + Author Interview:

On Old-Timers, Boxing, and Lots of Sex (mostly off the page …)

Next April, if you happen to be in the DC area, you might be lucky enough to meet Peter Bacho at the Smithsonian as he presents Leaving Yesler, his first foray into the young adult readers market which debuts late March 2010 from Pleasure Boat Studios out of New York. “I’ll read for food,” Bacho promises.

Bacho’s been here at the Smithsonian before, back in December 2006, as a panelist for “Filipino American Literary Writers,” together with M. Evelina Galang, Marianne Villanueva, and Luis Francia. Truth be told, he and Villanueva had the audience giggling and occasionally wide-eyed with shocked surprise. Model minorities don’t say those things.

In spite of his immigrant roots (Bacho’s parents are both from Cebu, Philippines, although his Wikipedia entry erroneously claims him to be half-Filipino and half-Yakima Indian), his summa cum laude undergraduate degree from Seattle University, his JD and LLD from the University of Washington, his experience in Seattle’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and his various professor-ships in Washington universities and colleges, Bacho is anything but model minority, truth be told … nor are his characters, thank goodness!

His first book, Cebu (1991), about a Filipino American priest who arrives in the Philippines to bury his mother in her homeland, won him an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. He won both a Washington Governor’s Writers Award (renamed the Washington State Book Award) and The Murray Morgan Prize for his collection of short stories, A Dark Blue Suit (1997). Then he did a children’s title, Boxing in Black and White (1999), which got him on the Center for Children’s Books Best Books List. Next came Nelson’s Run (2002), about an oversexed young man who travels to the Philippines after the accidental death of his father, followed by my personal favorite, Entrys (2005), about a teenaged Filipino Native American hapa Vietnam War veteran’s challenging attempts to re-enter civilian life.

Leaving Yesler definitely treads on familiar Bacho territory: religion, boxing, immigration, and – of course – lots of sex (“mostly off the page,” Bacho insists in this case for the sake of younger readers, ahem!). Bobby Vicente is five months shy of turning 18. His family has just shrunk by half, after losing his mother to cancer and his older brother to Vietnam. His father, Antonio, an old-timer Filipino American immigrant who once had a glorious boxing past, is determined that his only family will not only avoid war, but somehow make it out their Yesler housing project in Seattle. Antonio doesn’t have a whole lot of time left to both educate and train sweet, kind-hearted Bobby. What happens in that fast-forward week before Bobby takes his GED – from falling in love, to having conversations with a dead brother not to mention a martyred saint, to witnessing murder – will literally determine the rest of Bobby’s life.

“The kid survives,” Bacho quips. “Gotta give the little kiddies hope and all!”

BookDragon: I have to ask … now that you’re moving into the young adult market … do you have kids yourself?

Peter Bacho: Yes, one daughter [now 27 years old] from a former marriage. I like to say I’ve been married 35 years – if I put them all together, that is.

BD: Why write for young adults now?

Bacho: Why not? It’s getting increasingly edgier and, I think, more interesting. I mean, Yesler is a Filipino American novel without a Filipino protagonist.

BD: Oh, no … you can’t give TOO much away … besides, culturally, that protagonist is all Filipino American!

Bacho: True. For some Filipinos, especially those arriving after 1968, there’s almost a racial and linguistic purity – stuff we never bothered with.

BD: Purity … that’s ironic, given the tragic history of Filipino colonialism, no?

Bacho: It is that, but it’s expected because colonized people imitate the colonizer. …[click here for more]

Readers: Young Adult

Published: 2010

Eileen Tabios: ROMAN HOLIDAY

[Please Forward]

NAISSANCE CHAPBOOKS ANNOUNCEMENT

Naissance Chapbooks (Kingston, PA) is pleased to announce the release of

ROMAN HOLIDAY

By Eileen R. Tabios

In ROMAN HOLIDAY, Eileen R. Tabios brings us a numbered sequence of prose poem Synopses that strike the mind's eye like an oil-filled kaleidoscope. Patterns merge and emerge in shifting repetitions that succeed in what all poetry attempts: to cover more ground than they should have been able. An excerpt:

from Synopsis #7

It transcends the feminine gesture. [Consolation defined as the bat never reappeared]. She totters on ice despite thick ankles. [By his face, one can tell he's about to deliver the boot.] He has a gaze like a mirror. [There is nothing like an infant tugging on a daddy's white whiskers.] "Sulpicia, a Roman woman writer, wrote elegies in Latin that had been attributed to Tibullus." [Whatever. True love is never chaste.]

*****

ROMAN HOLIDAY is Tabios' 17th print poetry collection. It features a front cover reproduction of a drawing by her 13-year-old son Michael, as well as a back cover reproduction of a photograph of the author's family during a "Roman Holiday". The chap's witty design facilitates the author's long-held ludic approach to mixing real-life references with poetic personas.

ROMAN HOLIDAY can be ordered through the Naissance Chapbooks site at http://chapbookpublisher.com/shop.html for $10 (includes standard shipping within the continental USA). Other new releases are No L by Jennifer Hill and Two Poems by Michael Aro.

For more information: chapbookpublisher@gmail.com

Lantern Review Blog: A Conversation with Joseph Legaspi

A Conversation with Joseph Legaspi:

"Just persist on writing. I know so many talented writers across cultural lines who just stop writing. In a way, it becomes an endurance game. So just continue writing our stories.

Support other Asian American writers. Buy their books, go to their readings, teach Asian American literature. Be community leaders, be in academia, be community activists. The more of us out there, the better.

But definitely, the root of it is, just keep writing. Sit down at that desk, and tackle that blank page."

Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent (MAPID): API Writers Group (Studio City, CA)

Mavericks of Asian Pacific Islander Descent (MAPID), the producer of Breaking the Bow, announces the Asian Pacific Islander Writers group. Focus is on new and emerging writers but all are invited to apply. Due to space restrictions, the group will be limited to 10 at this time and will be formed by an application process. The group will explore varied forms of written expression including but not limited to playwriting, screenwriting, short story and long form writing. The group will concentrate on individual and collective writings with a possible project arising from the group for production at Breaking the Bow 2010. Commitment and a supportive nature are imperative. The group will also participate in giving back to the community which may include volunteering opportunities. Diva attitudes and selfish personalities need not apply.

Meetings are slated to be held evenings of every 2nd Monday of the month in Studio City, CA. Meetings will begin in January 2010.

More info here.

Philippine Speculative Fiction and/or Magical Realism

Thank you to Charlie Jane Anders at the very popular science fiction website io9 for featuring Dean Francis Alfar's "Six From Downtown," artist Kevin Lapeña, and my thoughts on magical realism. Links: io9 | Philippine Speculative Fiction | Rocket Kapre.

Patrick Rosal: TerraNOVA Dec. 3 (NY)

TerraNOVA Dec. 3

TERRANOVA COLLECTIVE PRESENTS

SUBTERRANEAN LPFUNK http://www.lpfunkrocks.com/
MARTIN DOCKERY http://web.me.com/martindockery/Martins_Site/Welcome.html
PATRICK ROSAL http://kutibeng.blogspot.com/

Thursday, December 3, 2009
10:00pm
$10.00 Entry + 1 Drink Minimum
D-Lounge 101 East 15th Street
beneath the Daryl Roth Theatre
Just off Union Square

TERRANOVA COLLECTIVE
TO PURCHASE TICKETS VISIT http://www.smarttix.com

Tabi-Tabi Po at 1AM Gallery

The vibe was positive, the art was dope, and a lot of artists were on hand to answer questions about their art. The best part of the night was the people in attendance. They were inquisitive and genuinely wanted to learn more about the Filipino culture. Also, another high point in the evening was seeing James “gaNyan” Garcia be able to relax and enjoy his time with his friends after a long week of building and setting up for the show. Cheers to James for making this happen!

Recap of opening night with photos here.

Today - Rachelle Cruz reads for the Light the Sky Poetry Series

Wed., Nov. 18th, 7-10 p.m., for the LIGHT THE SKY POETRY SERIES @ EAGLE ROCK PLAZA -- our featured poets will be:

William Archila,

Jamie Asaye FitzGerald,

Lory Bedikian,

Rachelle Cruz.

Logistics for Wed., Nov. 18th, 2009:

Light the Sky Poetry Series @ Eagle Rock Plaza

Metro Café, Upper Level, 7-10 p.m.

2700 Colorado Blvd. (where the 134 meets the 2)

Los Angeles, CA 90041 (323) 256-8763

Map of the Area: http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Los+Angeles+&state=ca&address=2700+Colorado+Blvd&zipcode=90041

The Poets:

William Archila was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador, and earned his MFA in poetry from the University of Oregon. His poems have been published in The Georgia Review, AGNl, Poetry International, The Los Angeles Review, Notre Dame Review, Crab Orchard Review, Rattle, Poet Lore, Poetry Daily and Portland Review among others. He is a PEN Center USA West Emerging Voices fellow. In his first book, The Art of Exile, Archila asks readers to engage with a subject seldom explored in American poetry: the unrest in El Salvador in the 1980s and its impact on Central American immigrants who now claim this country as home. The Art of Exile is the recent winner of the Emerging Writer Fellowship Award from the Writer’s Center. "A poet of the heart and head, of the personal and public, at times William Archila's poignant poems make me hear and feel an echo of Pablo Neruda and Cesar Vallejo," from the introduction by Yusef Komunyakaa, Pulitzer Prize winner.

Jamie Asaye FitzGerald was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She has published poetry in journals Snow Monkey, Ariel, LORE, Speechless the Magazine, Poetic Diversity and Media Cake; and in the anthologies Hunger and Thirst (City Works Press, 2008) and Return from… Beyond the Valley of the Contemporary Poets (tcCreativePress, 2008); and on Seattle’s public buses. She has received an Academy of American Poets College Prize and the Edward G. Moses Poetry Prize from the University of Southern California, and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Diego State University. She currently works for Poets & Writers in its Los Angeles office.

Lory Bedikian received her BA from UCLA with an emphasis in Creative Writing/Poetry where she was twice nominated for the Ina Coolbrith Memorial Prize in Poetry. She earned her MFA in Poetry from the University of Oregon, where she was awarded the Dan Kimble First Year Teaching Award for Poetry. Her manuscript has been selected several times as a finalist in both the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition and in the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award Competition and has received grants from the Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial fund as well as from AFFMA: Arpa Film Foundation for Music & Art. Her poems have been published in the Connecticut Review, Poetry International, Poet Lore and Heliotrope among other journals, have been included in Blue Arc West: An Anthology of California Poets and are forthcoming in the Portland Review. She currently teaches poetry workshops in Los Angeles.

Rachelle Cruz is from Hayward, California. She has taught creative writing, poetry and performance to young people in New York City, the Bay Area and Los Angeles. She has self-published many chapbooks, in addition to being featured in Dark Phrases Magazine and Maganda Magazine. She hosts “The Blood-Jet Writing Hour” Radio Show on Blog Talk Radio. She recently received the PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Rosenthal Fellowship in 2009, and is working towards her first collection of poems, tentatively titled Ascela at the World's Greatest Fair.

LIGHT THE SKY POETRY SERIES takes place the 3rd Wednesday of every month at the Metro Café on the Upper Level of Eagle Rock Plaza, 2700 Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90041 (323-256-8763). Featured readings are 7-10 p.m. There is no cover charge, and--due to time constraints--there is no open mic at this time. Parking is best on the Upper Level; enter through the center doors -- the Metro Cafe is the first on the right.

For more information about the series and directions visit: www.LightTheSkyPoetrySeries.com.

Bino A. Realuyo wins Philippine National Book Award

Congratulations to Bino A. Realuyo! From Bino's blog:

thank you philippines!!!:

for the national book award for poetry for the philippine edition of the gods we worship live next door! i'm deeply honored and humbled!

my running thoughts:

the american edition of gods we worship live next door was released in 2006. i negotiated to have 'the philippines' be removed from my u.s. contract so that i could publish a philippine edition that could be more affordable to filipino readers. u.s. books are very expensive there. the umbrella country does not have a philippine edition, although it is taught in many universities in the philippines. to get a personal copy there is quite a sacrifice for many. thus, the endless borrowing and photocopying of pages. i don't understand why filipinos shouldn't have access to books written by their own people abroad. having learned from that experience, i made sure that an edition of my poetry collection be released in the philippines as well. http://www.anvilpublishing.com/bookdetails.php?id=2008000021

with this award, i do hope that the gods we worship live next door reaches a wider audience in the philippines, where i thought it would mean more. publishing a non-american book in the u.s. is a challenge for many of us with international origins. we try to bring light to the stories of our people, of our birth countries, so that the more insular world of america would understand a little more about the global villages that are so much a part of their rhetoric but can't leave the parameters of myths, wars, and symbols. there are real people in the philippines; most of us touched by american imperialism. i write in english for this reason. my father fought for this country during world war II. and i am on american soil because of this common history and for the love of american democracy. the smallest stories of the other can teach us so much about ourselves.

and oh, the trophy! i thought this sculpture was especially moving. i immediately see the metaphors of roots, uprooting, branches and branching out, the eventual return to soils of origin, and the life learned from such movements.

links:

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=523362&publicationSubCategoryId=90

http://nbdb.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=753&Itemid=1

congrats to all the other winners and finalists:

http://criticplaywright.blogspot.com/2009/11/28th-national-book-awards.html

Manilatown: My Story: Documentaries of Filipinos in the Bay Area

Click on image, for more information:

How to Ignore the First Lesson in Boxing—and Make History

Poet Patrick Rosal examines the sweet science behind last night's Pacquiao-Cotto fight.

Pacquiao's preparation clearly was not just physical. One gets the sense that boxing has yet to show Pacquiao anything tougher than he has lived in the streets as a kid of General Santos, a tough Philippine city that has apparently shaped the man’s good-natured temperament. At every bout, he ascends and descends the stairs to the ring with a smile. And the smile isn’t a contrivance or a game, but an honest expression of his inner self and the sign of the kind of mental edge Pacquiao has cultivated as he’s matured—confident and always loose.

Complete article can be found here.

BARE KNUCKLE, Anthem Salgado's first-ever full length one man show!

Brava Theater presents

BARE KNUCKLE
written and performed by Anthem Salgado, directed by Evren Odcikin



photo by nara denning of distiller films


November 21 – December 3, 2009
Brava Theater, 2781 24th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Tix: 415.641.7657, www.brava..org

Cool Videos and Press!
Livingroom Sessions with Caitlin Meissner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_v4PCQV0p4

Highlighted in the SF Weekly
http://www.sfweekly.com/events/me-myself-and-i-1748907/

On KUSF radio's "Words on Theater"
http://www.kusf-archives.com/2009/11/kusf-111209-7-8-pm-words-on-theatre-dj.html

*****************************
BARE KNUCKLE is a 'mixtape' of text – coming-of-age stories and travelogues – wherein one man dreams himself a fighter and sets off on a mystical journey that traverses between the volatile suburbs of New York City and the dense jungle of World War II Philippines. Filled with fateful encounters with psychics, aliens, and even one man who strangely resembles Mike Tyson, BARE KNUCKLE chronicles this individual's quest for balance between his concept of manhood vs. his relationship with mankind.

Evren Odcikin: "Anthem is an accomplished MC and a very charismatic storyteller. It's personally been thrilling to work with an artist that has such a wide base of inspiration in his creative process---from his own bad-boy adolescence to "The Art of War", from found poetry to the always cryptic words of Mike Tyson. The play deals with any modern man's journey in coming to terms with his own misconceptions of what it means to be a man -- it's hard-hitting, emotional, and funny as hell."

BARE KNUCKLE shares billing in Brava Theater's ME, MYSELF, AND I solo theater artist series featuring world and regional premieres, and will appear specifically on the following dates:

Sat, Nov. 21, 8pm:
D'Lo / ANTHEM

Sun, Nov.. 22, 8pm:
ANTHEM / D'Lo

Mon, Nov. 23, 7pm:
Rachel / Jeanne / ANTHEM

Tues, Nov. 24, 7pm:
Rachel / ANTHEM

Sun, Nov. 29, 3pm:
Jeanne / ANTHEM / Rachel

Tues, Dec. 1, 7pm:
Jeanne / ANTHEM

Thurs, Dec. 3, 8pm:
Jeanne / Rachel / ANTHEM
*****************************
ANTHEM SALGADO (Writer/Performer), a multi-disciplinary artist and educator, has performed his original solo-theater creations on the stages of Asian Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Intersection for the Arts, and Kearny Street Workshop. He made his ensemble member debut as the lead player in Friends written by Kobo Abe and directed by Raelle Myrick-Hodges, which opened Brava Theater's '08-'09 season. Salgado has presented his spoken word throughout the Bay Area, New York, Honolulu, and Manila. As a literary artist, his fiction appears in the anthologies Field of Mirrors and I Saw My Ex at a Party.. He has held teaching artist residencies at Brava Theater and at Downtown High School. Salgado was awarded a Philippines Fulbright-Hays scholarship via Sonoma State University's North Bay International Studies Program, and was elected Young Leader of Color by Theatre Communications Group.

EVREN ODCIKIN (Director) is a San Francisco-based director, dramaturg, and set designer. He is thrilled to return to Brava after his critically-acclaimed production of Machinal last season. His other new play credits include the world premieres of Denmo Ibrahim's Ecstasy | A Waterfable (Golden Thread Productions), Sue Butler's The Greek Play (elastic future), Ignacio Zulueto's 22 Minutes Remaining (Golden Thread Productions), Jennifer Williams' Edge (Phoenix Arts Theatre), and the ensemble generated Heavy Days (Shotgun Theatre Lab). In the Bay Area, he has also directed Blood Wedding (Shotgun Players), Road to Mecca (Secondwind), and Death of Yazdgerd (Darvag). He was the dramaturg on Mother Courage and Her Children, Owners, and Quills at Shotgun Players and Blue/Orange at Aurora Theatre Company. He has directed numerous readings and workshops at Magic Theatre, TheatreFirst, Golden Thread Productions, and Bay Area Playwrights Festival and designed sets for Crowded Fire, mugwumpin, elastic future, Golden Thread Productions, and Shotgun Players. Born and raised in Turkey, he is an associate artist with Golden Thread Productions, a founding company member with elastic future, and is a graduate of Princeton University.

Save The Date 12/06/09: PAWA & Achiote Press Panel for Emerging Writers of Color FREE (SF)

PAWA (Philippine American Writers and Artists) & Achiote Press Presents:

Community & Academic Writing Programs:
A Panel for Emerging Writers

When: 12/06/2009, 2 pm
Where: San Francisco Public Library, Latino Room B (lower level), 100 Larkin at Grove
Free and Open to the public, refreshments will be provided

The California Bay Area houses a diverse array of writing programs, both community-based and academic. For this event, an exciting panel of writers will provide information to emerging writers of color who are thinking of applying to various writing programs and need some guidance. We believe it’s so valuable for writers of color who have gone through community based writing programs and MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) programs to share their knowledge and experiences with others. A question and answer session will follow.

Some questions that will be discussed: Why did you decide to attend a community based writing workshop and/or an MFA program? How did you decide on where to apply? Why did you attend the program you attended? What was the structure of your program? What were the positive and negative aspects of your program?

Panelists include:
Rashaan Alexis Meneses (St Mary’s, Fiction MFA)
Claire Light (San Francisco State University, Fiction MFA)
Vickie Vertiz (VONA, KSW IWL)
Craig Santos Perez (University of San Francisco, Poetry MFA)
Oscar Bermeo (VONA, KSW IWL, louderArts)
Vanessa Huang (VONA, KSW, Kundiman)

November 21st (Saturday) at Hanuman Center in San Francisco

From Baylan Megino:

Hello Everyone!

Please help us spread the word for next Saturday, November 21st:

You are invited to a Ritual Gathering

being held to raise funds for the

1st International Babaylan Conference
organized by the Center for Babaylan Studies.

"Babaylan is a Filipino word that refers specifically to an individual or a group of healers, mostly women, who were acknowledged by friends and family as possessing extraordinary gifts… having a gift of vision; an ability to see through schemes or situations and later advise on future plans... or the gift for healing; a specific touch or intuited or passed-on knowledge to specific processes of 'fixing' and 'putting' people and things together. The first priority of all Babaylan [is] her community." --Carlos Villa

The Gathering will be held Saturday, November 21st at

Hanuman Center
4450 18th Street (by Douglass)
San Francisco, California.

5pm Reception
Becky Lloyd DesRoches will provide music
Light snacks will be served at the Reception, provided by J. Stewartz Catering.

6pm Program includes:

Baylan Megino, Dugso Ritualist
Titania Buchholdt, Dancer
Holly Calica, Dancer

Napoleon Batalao, Kalinga Elder

Jenny Bawer Young, Kalinga Community Member

Jodie Olympia, Spoken Word

Aimee Suzara, Well-known Writer/Performer/Educator

Diwa, Women's Kulintang Ensemble with Guest Dancer, Patrick Tamayo

"From deep within the earth
She draws strength.

From the surrounding world
She gathers information.

From the Spirit World
She receives guidance.

With willingness to be
Loving
Compassionate
Generous

With intent to facilitate
Clarity
Healing
Harmony

This sacred channel
Weaves her dance
Spills forth her song
Creates her story."

by Baylan Megino

$20 minimum requested donation.
(Make checks payable to "IHC" and include in the memo: "Center for Babaylan Studies")

Space is limited, and reservations are encouraged.
RSVP: baylan@babaylan.net

We offer our sincere gratitude to Arch and Rube de Leon for hosting us in their beautiful space at Hanuman Center.

For more information about the conference to be held at Sonoma State from April 17th to 18th, 2010, visit http://www.babaylan.net

The Center for Babaylan Studies (CfBS) is a 501c3 tax-exempt nonprofit activity of
the International Humanities Center (IHC) http://ihcenter.org/.

Bino A. Realuyo: National Book Awards (Philippines)

Congratulations to Bino A. Realuyo, whose The Gods We Worship Live Next Door, which was published in the Philippines by Anvil, is a finalist for the National Book Awards (Philippines).

List of finalists is here.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Dean Francis Alfar (SF Signal)

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Dean Francis Alfar

... how did you first become acquainted with speculative fiction? What's the appeal of the genre for you?

I've always loved speculative fiction, fantasy in particular. I was exposed to it when I was a child, in the form of fairy tales. As a teen, fantasy novels and comics keep the sense of wonder alive. As an adult, short fiction from writers around the world both sate my appetite for the wondrous and encourage me to tell stories of my own.

The multiple genres of speculative fiction are trapdoors to other places that I willingly fall through. The appeal lies in the marvels of another author's imagination, in their capacity to articulate observations of what it means to be human - but through different lenses than the real.

Read more.

interview with Michelle Cruz Skinner at HawaiiReaders.com

In the Company of Strangers ... interview with Michelle Cruz Skinner
Posted by Michael Little

In the Company of Strangers, Michelle Cruz Skinner's new collection of short stories from Bamboo Ridge Press, is set to launch on Tuesday, November 17 (6:30 p.m. reception and book signing; 7:00 p.m. book launch and reading by Michelle; Luke Lecture Hall, Wo International Center, Punahou School; free and open to the public).

R. Zamora Linmark, author of Prime Time Apparitions and The Evolution of a Sigh, describes the book this way:

“Sixteen deceptively simple stories comprise Michelle Cruz Skinner’s much-anticipated follow-up to Balikbayan and Mango Seasons, many of them about Filipinos tongue-tied and alienated in the motherland, or scattered across the map of heartaches and homesickness in the company of strangers called countrymen, family, lovers. A book of quiet gems definitely worth the wait.”

Michelle Cruz Skinner teaches at Punahou School. She was born in Manila and raised primarily in Olongapo City, Philippines. A short story from her first collection was selected for the PEN Syndicated Fiction Project and her second book was nominated for the 1996 Philippine National Book Award. Her work has been adapted for stage and public radio and she has read extensively at universities and conferences, both in the Philippines and on the mainland.

Read more.

FACINE16: The 16th Annual Filipino American Cinefest (SFPL)

FACINE16: The 16th Annual Filipino American Cinefest

The FACINE festival is the longest-running festival of its kind in North America that features films by and/or about Filipino/a and Filipino/a Americans. Now on its 16th year, the festival runs for two days, November 20-21, 2009 at the San Francisco Main Library.

Click here for schedule of screenings.