08/01 - 12/05/2010: Weavers' Stories From Island Southeast Asia at the Fowler Museum at UCLA

Weavers' Stories From Island Southeast Asia
(Aug. 1–Dec. 5)

In "Weavers' Stories From Island Southeast Asia," weavers and batik artists speak for themselves in videos produced at eight sites in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and East Timor. What motivates women to create new patterns? How do they adjust to changing social and economic situations?

A panoply of human emotions and experiences — determination, longing, dream inspiration, theft, war and more — emerge from the stories of these remarkable women. In one video, for example, a weaver in Tutuala, at the far eastern tip of Timor, describes how she designed a cloth pattern by copying the skin of a snake. She recounts that this "snake cloth," now served by the snake spirit, became an object of such power that when one was stolen during a militia rampage in 1999, the snake destroyed all the coconut trees in Baucau in revenge. Another weaver tells of learning weaving patterns from her deceased mother, an expert weaver, when her mother visits her in dreams.

These seven- to 10-minute oral histories include interesting footage of daily life with extended families and the interplay of generations, detailed looks at weaving and dyeing techniques, and unique celebrations, such as a wedding in a sultan's palace. Textiles created by the featured weavers and batik makers accompany each video.

News Release Link
News Release PDF


Exhibition Trailer: Weavers' Stories from Island Southeast Asia from Fowler Museum on Vimeo.

Report back: Lisa Hsia on "The Art of Hustle"

Today's guest post is from "The Art of the Hustle" participant, Lisa Hsia, a local artist who blogs at http://satsumaart.wordpress.com.

The first thing we did in the workshop was go around and introduce ourselves. Anthem Salgado asked us to briefly describe our reasons for attending the workshop and our end goals. Except for my name, I didn't have solid answers for any of the intro questions, which was itself a wake-up call.

I signed up for the workshop because of a gut feeling. Anthem's promise to teach us "fundamental, not elective, skills" resonated with me, as well as his implicit assertion that it's possible to succeed as an independent artist (one without institutional support). Since I have no art school or MFA background, this appealed to me very much. It was as if Anthem knew the path I'd chosen and said, "I can give you the skills you need to succeed on this path." Better yet, there was a money-back guarantee, so I had nothing to lose.

The workshop provided what it said it would: inspiration, encouragement, and a friendly nudge in the artistic ribs; a crash course on writing artist statements, press releases, and letters of agreement; and a primer on how to market ourselves to the public. It's all about telling a story, Anthem explained; the tools are secondary. With artists there from many disciplines, the workshop also created great (and fun) networking opportunities: an installation artist met a musician, crafters connected with photographers, poets and memoirists discussed starting a writing group. But the best thing I got out of it was figuring out why I was there in the first place. My favorite way to uncover my goals is to ask myself, "What am I not happy about, when it comes to ____?" When I got to the Kearny Street Workshop space that morning, I still hadn't asked myself that question about hustling my art out in the world. But the workshop forced me to ask it, right in front of about twenty other people! Listening to others state their goals and ask their questions, vague thoughts formed and began to come together.

During the last portion of the workshop, we did a group brainstorming exercise called Idea Table, in which we all had five minutes to ask the group a single question and get their collective feedback. At that time my question still wasn't fully articulated, so it came out awkward and only half-coherent, but somehow people still came up with really helpful responses. The question I asked (or what I would have asked, if I'd had days to think on it!) was: "How can I consolidate my scattershot online presence into something coherent that has a following?" I have a website, two blogs, a Facebook page, an Etsy shop, a flickr... I think that's it, but I'm not even sure! And since I write, draw, and craft, this covers a lot of potential audiences, but right now the sites are fragmented and so is the audience. Not only did Idea Table give me advice that I've since made into a long-range, multi-phase plan, the workshop as a whole helped me realize just how much the issue bothered me. That is amazing. Next week, I'm launching a new format on my blog that will better serve my range of interests (and audiences) -- including a regular Friday "open mic" where writers can share what they've been creating that week. So, fellow writers and readers, come on down to http://satsumaart.wordpress.com on August 6!

Best of all, the plan I made after the workshop dovetails perfectly with another one of my recent realization-inspired projects: prioritizing my life and my art. As I kept saying in the workshop, my interests go in too many directions; it's only recently hit me that if I don't pare away the inessentials and focus on the core of what I'm doing, I risk mediocrity at everything. So, even though The Art of the Hustle kind of shook me up, it was in the best possible way, and it's actually cleared the way for me to keep moving forward more effectively and happily than before. I'm very glad I went -- and finally I know why I did!

Review: On Rafe Bartholomew's 'Pacific Rims' (2010)

From The Wily Filipino:

But back to the book, which I love, and maybe not for the right reasons: Pacific Rims is very well researched, for starters. The history of basketball and the American educational system in the Philippines, long-standing rivalries between teams, local politics in Boracay, the elaborate import system (where a player from America gets to play for a Philippine team during a so-called “reinforced conference”, Robert Jaworski as a phenomenon, the meaning of diskarte and gulang, corporate sponsorship, the relationship between players and their loyal fans, the tragic tale of Billy Ray Bates – they’re all here. And I write this with barely disguised professional envy because the social-history aspect of Pacific Rims is all so breezily and skillfully done.

No, it’s not the sort of book that would satisfy a history or political science requirement; there just aren’t enough numbers in it. (And yes, the former academic in me would cite that as a bit of a problem: I wanted citations; I wanted statistics.) But it’s such an enjoyably written chronicle of lived experience, stuffed with observational detail, that it’s hard not to want students to read it in order to understand the Philippines a little more. It’s something academic writers could learn from, really. The humor (and Pacific Rims is frequently hilarious, so funny I would laugh out loud on the train) – well, that’s a little more difficult to learn.

Read more.

Come and see Rafe Bartholomew, who will be reading from Pacific Rims at Eastwind Books of Berkeley on Tuesday August 3rd at 6:30 pm.

Off the Shelf: Sleep in Me by Jon Pineda

From the University of Nebraska Press blog:

Read the beginning of "Sleep" from Sleep in Me by Jon Pineda:
 
"A week later I would start seventh grade at Great Bridge Junior High. The building had actually been the high school building from the year before. The new one was down the road on Hanbury, the one Rica would have graduated from. As I walked the hallways of my new school, I couldn’t help but wonder which of these lockers had belonged to my sisters. I would have given anything to know. In which shadowy corner had each of them kissed their boyfriends, whispered plans to skip, or just meet up with friends after school.

The other kids all knew each other, had all gone to school together at the feeder school Southeastern Elementary. I was the new kid. But it was worse; whenever I started class, the teacher would say my name and pause and then ask, Isn’t your sister one of the girls who — ? I would nod before they could finish, before they would suddenly express concern with their eyes. I would look away and then back at them to see if they had moved on, and if they were still studying my face, I would smile weakly, shrug until they would become aware they were staring.

Read more.

Jon Pineda's Sleep in Me is forthcoming from University of Nebraska Press in September 2010.

On NPR: Sugar Pie DeSanto: After 50 Years, 'Go Going' Strong

Sugar Pie DeSanto was born in Brooklyn in October 1935, and was christened Umpeleya Marsema Balinton. Her father was Filipino, her mother African-American. Her mother had been a concert pianist, but DeSanto says her father couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. He moved the family to San Francisco when Peliya, as they called her, was 4, and soon enough, the young girl discovered dancing and singing and made a fast friend with a neighbor named Jamesetta Hawkins, who was a member of a girl gang called the Lucky 20's.

Hawkins wound up in jail for her gang activities, and when she got out, she formed a singing group with one of Peliya's younger sisters. Peliya looked on in envy as Hawkins was discovered by bandleader Johnny Otis and re-christened Etta James. She started entering talent contests in San Francisco, and won so often, they told her to stop entering. At another talent contest in L.A., Otis saw her again and offered to record her. He made good on his offer, and gave her a stage name, too: Little Miss Sugar Pie.

Read more.

Hyphen Magazine: 'Walang Hiya' Book Launch

From Hyphen Magazine:

“Walang hiya” is one of the worst insults thrown in the Tagalog language. The phrase means “(You have) No shame,” and behind this insult resides a cultural dictate to respect those in positions of authority or higher social standing.  This dictate was overturned at the book launch for Walang Hiya … Literature Taking Risks Toward Liberatory Practice which took place earlier this month at the Bayanihan Community Center in San Francisco.  Artwork and readings demonstrated that resistance to unfair dominant control and representation leads to empowerment.  Editor Roseli Ilano and president of Philippine American Writers & Artists, Inc. (PAWA) Edwin A. Lozada hosted the event.

Walang Hiya adds to the number of Filipino American anthologies that have proliferated in the last decade, including  Babaylan,  Pinoy Poetics, and  Field of Mirrors. The success of these anthologies attests to the enormous efforts made by Filipino American writers in establishing an identity and community. These great strides mark an improvement from only ten years ago when literary critic Oscar V. Capomanes proclaimed “the incommensurable sense of nonbeing that stalks many Filipinos in the United States,” referring in part to the invisibility of Filipino Americans in American history and discussions of Asian American literature.

Read more.

08/04/2010: Eviction Commemoration at the I-Hotel (SF)

Aileen Ibardaloza on "The Blood-Jet Writing Hour"

Join Rachelle as she talks with Aileen Ibardaloza, author of Traje de Boda.

This Friday, July 30th at 10 am PST, 1 pm EST
To listen live: www.blogtalkradio.com/onword

Aileen Ibardaloza is a poet and memoirist who first trained as a molecular biologist. She grew up in Manila, and lived in parts of Asia and Europe before joining her family in the United States in 2000. She was married in 2009; she and her husband are based in Northern California with their two cats. Also the Associate Editor of Our Own Voice Literary Ezine, she has seen writings appear in various online and print media including Manorborn; 1000 Views of Girl Singing (Leafe Press, U.K. and California, 2009); A Taste of Home (Anvil, Manila, 2008); Fellowship; Moria Poetry; and Galatea Resurrects. traje de boda is her first poetry collection.

For more information, visit thebloodjet.wordpress.com

07/29/2010: Little Brown Brother and Myrna del Rio in the Park (SF)

Myrna Del Rio
Little Brown Brother Quartet
LBB Quartet w Bo Razon
FREE CONCERT IN THE PARK
Thursday, July 29 12 noon to 1 PM
Boeddeker Park
240 Eddy Street @ Jones
San Francisco

The San Francisco Fiipino American Jazz Festival is proud to present the Little Brown Brother Quartet with Myrna Del Rio at Boeddeker Park on Thursday July 29th from 12 noon to 1 PM. The LBB Quartet will feature ethnomusicologist and multi-instrumentalist Bo Razon on guitar. Myrna Del Rio is a show stopping vocalist, a sensation in recent performances at the FANHS Convention in Seattle, the Cadillac Hotel in San Francisco and the 2010 SF Asian Heritage Street Celebration.

Boeddeker Park is located at 240 Eddy @ Jones Streets in San Francisco. This free outdoor event is sponsored by Friends of Boeddeker Park and the North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District.

For more information on the Friends of Boeddeker Park- visit http://sites.google.com/site/friendsofboeddekerpark The Tenderloin District of San Francisco is one of the oldest, most diverse, and most densely populated neighborhoods in the entire Bay Area. More information on The North of Market /Tenderloin Community Benefit District is available at http://nom-tlcbd.org.

The mission of People in the Plazas is to activate public spaces through events which generate social congregation. It is their goal to bring these spaces to the status of "everybody's neighborhood." People in the Plazes supports live music performances and embraces the diversity and wealth of the Bay Area music community. The "People in Plazas" series is supported by the Mayor's Office of San Francisco, the San Francisco Art Commission, Musicians Union Local 6, AFM, the San Francisco Police Department, the SF Entertainment Commission, and with a grant from the Hotel Tax Fund /Grants for the Arts. Take BART and public transportation to People in Plazas Concerts

www.peopleinplazas.org
www.littlebrownbrother.com

Little Brown Brother performs throughout the Bay Area at numerous events and nightclubs, showcasing their unique fusion of jazz, latin, blues, and Filipino music. They recently performed at the 6th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration on May 15th as part of the SF Pinoy Jazz Revue that also featured Bo Razon, Myrna del Rio, Jonathan Bautista, Anna Maria Flechero and Annie Brazil. It was held in the Civic Center / Little Saigon area of San Francisco.

07/29/2010: Maiana Minahal at the Kaleidoscope Reading Series (SF)

From Asia Writes:

July 29· 7:30pm - 10:30pm
3109 24th St @ Folsom, Mission District, SF

Come support your people! This month features Maiana Minahal (VONA alum) with Michael Zhai, Elissa Perry (VONA alum), and Richard D'Elia and Scott Duncan (also a VONA alum)

About Maiana Minahal

Maiana Minahal is a poet, interdisciplinary artist and educator. She is the author of the poetry collection Legend Sondayo (Civil Defense Poetry 2009), and of the chapbooks closer and Sitting Inside Wonder (Monkey Press 2003). She was born in Manila and currently lives in Oakland, where she teaches writing. In Fall 2009, she will teach in the English Department at the University of Minnesota.

Minahal received her MFA from Antioch University; she was formerly director of the Poetry for the People program at the University of California, Berkeley. Her essays are forthcoming in the anthologies Reclaiming the Now (ed. Strobel, Ateneo de Davao University Press) and Experiments in a Jazz Aesthetic (ed. Jones, University of Texas Press). Her work has most recently been published in Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sounds (ed. Sweeney, City Lights Press), Going Home to a Landscape (ed. Villanueva, Calyx Press), Screaming Monkeys (ed. Galang, Coffee House Press) and Berkeley Poetry Review (no. 37). As an interdisciplinary artist, she created a collaborative, multimedia performance called before their words that combined poetic narrative with pre-colonial Philippine cultural traditions. Minahal has performed and taught poetry workshops throughout the US and in the Philippines.

More information here.

Call for Submissions: Luna Park Still Accepting Submissions for Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality in Indie Publishing

From the Asia Writes blog:

We are still accepting submissions for our current series on Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality in Indie Publishing.

Luna Park would like to invite editors and writers to participate in their new series on issues and representations of race, class, gender, and sexuality in independent publishing. How do these issues affect you as a literary magazine editor interested in publishing underrepresented communities, or a writer who wants to challenge dominant notions of identity? What are your thoughts, concerns, ideas about how literary communities reinforce, respond to, and confront racism, classicism, sexism, and homophobia? Contact Marcelle Heath at lunaparkonline@gmail.com.

More information here.

Call For Submissions: On "The Depiction Of Indigenous Bodies"

From the Asia Writes blog:

The online journal “Jura Gentium Cinema” (www.jgcinema.com) is seeking articles (3,000-5,000 words) for a special issue on the depiction of Indigenous bodies in motion pictures, from “Apocalypto” to the “Whale Rider”.

The articles should critically address cinematic representations of Indigenous cultures that either idealize or negate the Other, while also drawing attention to how films subvert and re-write these representations as part of Indigenous people effort to reclaim their own images and rendering on the silver screen.

Film reviews should be informative and evaluative, without being dismissive: that is, the reviewer should find some value in the work being reviewed.

Deadline for submission is September 1st, 2010.

Please contact Lorenzo Rinelli (rinelli@hawaii.edu) for submission
Lorenzo Rinelli
University of Hawaii
Email: rinelli@hawaii.edu

More information here.

Call for Submissions to REFUSE THE SILENCE: Women of Color Speak Out

From the Asia Writes blog

«Refuse the Silence» is a project that encourages women of color who are currently enrolled in or have attended elite liberal arts colleges in the United States to share their stories. These stories will be presented, in the form of a book, to college administrators with a suggested plan of action to improve the college climate for women of color.

We are looking for vivid and honest personal stories and essays about the experiences of women of color in elite liberal arts colleges throughout the United States.

We are looking to attract submissions that reflect experiences, friendships and realizations made during the college years. Themes to consider include but are not limited to,

• identity
• socioeconomic, cultural, racial issues
• classroom dynamics
• turning points
• depression
• challenging moments
• friendships
• dating
• student/professor dynamics
• sex, sexuality

Contributions will be accepted in the form of a letter, journal entry, video, personal reflection, and/or essay. Entries should not exceed ten pages. Your submisions will be cautiously edited for grammar and comprehensibility. Unfortunately, we will not be able to include everyone's submissions. Priority will be given to those who submit their work before the September 1st, 2010 deadline.

We hope that you will use your voice and share your story with us. Let us refuse the silence and show the world who we are, who we are becoming, and how we can help others.

We invite you to share this information with your friends, family members, and classmates so that we can have as many voices possible involved in this important discussion in our communities.

07/30/2010: Tawa nang Tawa - Kevin Camia at I-Hotel Manilatown Center (SF)

07/28/2010: The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW (Manilatown, SF)

http://www.manilatown.org
I-Hotel Manilatown Center | 868 Kearny Street • San Francisco CA 94108 • 415-399-9580

08/08/2010: Nicole Maxali, I Heart Lola @ SF Theater Festival

NICOLE MAXALI
in her one-woman show

"I HEART LOLA"

SF Theater Festival has selected Nicole Maxali to perform 20 minutes of "I Heart Lola" on Sunday, August 8th - 12:20pm at

Historical Society
785 Market Street
San Francisco, CA

"I Heart Lola" captures the impact of losing a beloved “lola” (lola is the Filipino word for Grandma) to Alzheimer's. This piece pays tribute to all of those who suffer from Alzheimer's by reminding us that their dementia does not define who they are. Did I mention, it's funny too?

08/08/2010: Bindlestiff's Taste Better Wit @the SF Theater Festival

From Bindlestiff Studio:

Bindlestiff Studio's sketch comedy group TASTE BETTER WIT (the artists formerly know as PORK IN THE ROAD) will be performing in the 7th Annual San Francisco Theater Festival on Sunday, August 8th 130pm at the SPUR - 654 Mission St. Between 3rd & New Montgomery in San Francisco's SOMA district. Come early and check out the entire festival. IT'S FREE! Log onto: http://sftheaterfestival.org/ for more information.

The Phenomenal Artist: Francis Manapul

From Asian Journal:

ONE by one, they wait.

Holding sketchbooks, comics and other paraphernalia, fan boys (and girls) of The Flash, Superman, and Batman wait hours in line for an original sketch or an autograph from a Fil-Canadian artist.

At this year’s Comic Con 2010 in San Diego amongst the hundreds of artists, illustrators and writers along Artists’ Alley, there’s no one hotter than Francis Manapul, a DC Comics illustrator and host and artistic director of a new show called Beast Legends.

And he has the envious line to back it up with people waiting hours just to shake his hand.

"My friend and I waited more than an hour and a half for this," said a giddy James Tomsicek, a 31-year-old sales supervisor, as he holds up a newly done black and white sketch by Manapul of Captain Cold, one of the Flash’s archenemies. "He does phenomenal work. He’s just amazing. I’m just blown away by this drawing."

"This guy is the man right now," said Bret, a Comic Con attendee who craned his neck around a group of people watching Manapul draw. "DC chose him to do Flash and that’s a big deal."

Famed Pinoy comic artist Whilce Portacio, who shares a booth adjacent to Manapul and will be in a panel together this weekend, described Manapul as one of the comic industries "rock stars."

Read more.

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz: Finding Our Stories (On Filipinos Writing Speculative Fiction)

I found myself thinking, yet again, on what kind of science fiction a Filipino would write, and how a writer can break free from being someone who emulates the works of writers he or she has admired to become a person who writes with a voice and with a story that comes from the writer’s own soul.

What things influence the Filipino writer then? What’s our backstory? How can I as a writer coming from a country that has been so colonialized and that is still trapped in a colonial mindset free myself so I can write the fictions that only I can write?

What makes it more complicated is how I am now writing in a country that is not my home country. As an expatriate, is my view of my homeland still current?  Or am I writing looking at the homeland that exists in my memory?

Read more.

Review: Sasha Pimentel Chacón's 'Insides She Swallowed' in the El Paso Times

When is poetry like menudo?: UTEP author's work is gutsy, challenging, good for you
By Marion Rohrleitner \ Special to the Times


Insides She Swallowed by Sasha Pimentel Chacón (West End Press, $13.95).

EL PASO -- After I moved from Chicago to El Paso three summers ago, a friend took me out to have menudo for breakfast. When I inquired about the ingredients of the hearty hangover remedy, he hesitated, offering a vague reply: "It's insides."

"Insides of what?" I asked, a bit concerned. Childhood memories of my grandmother boiling a cow's stomach lining in her dark kitchen back home wallowed up in my mind, and the nausea returned. "As long as it's not Kuttelsuppe, I am fine," I replied bravely.

And Kuttelsuppe it was. Insides. Courtesy demanded I try. The texture remains a challenge, but the spicy-sour flavor, and the memories it brought, were well worth it.

In her beautiful, unsettling, gutsy debut collection of poetry, Insides She Swallowed (West End Press, 2010, $13.95), Sasha Pimentel Chacón takes a hard look at these insides, human and animal, physical and emotional, and then turns them inside out to carefully examine them further.

Pimentel Chacón, a new professor of poetry at UTEP, is an Academy of American Poets prize winner and a multiple Pushcart prize nominee, and has been a Philip Levine fellow.

She does not shy away from looking directly at the object, and in so doing the poet uncovers its distressing beauty. These poems are not nostalgic invocations of a romanticized ethnic past, nor do they offer a shortcut to a commodified ethnicity made palatable for easier consumption. Instead, the poems are often uncomfortable. One would rather look away, but can't quite resist the temptation to look at the forbidden and distressing images, because of their sheer linguistic beauty and because of the many truths they offer.

Read more.

Call for Submissions: Men of Color Gay Anthology

From the Asia Writes blog:

Characters must be men of color and the men who love them.

THE SWEETER THE JUICE
Edited by Marcus Anthony

Deadline: September 15, 2010

My name is Marcus Anthony, and I have been hired by my buddies, Eric and Mickey at STARbooks Press, to spice things up a bit. This will be my first anthology for them, and I am looking forward to the opportunity of editing more in the future, so send me your best work.

Anyone who grew up where I did knows the expression: "the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice." And my friends, that is what I am seeking. No twinks, no pretty boys, no typical gay male characters, if you know what I mean. Let's show those boys how real men do it. And while we are at it, keep in mind not all our brothers live downtown. We are everywhere. After all, one of us lives in the White House. Try to steer clear of clichés. I like creativity in and out of the bedroom.

So, you have a whole world of opportunities open to you. All I ask is that your characters be men of color and the men who love them. Of course, they also need to be at least 18 years old.

We are seeking well-written stories that are erotic, not just pornographic. There are no limits to the possibilities or scenarios. All we ask is that writers be creative, have fun, and offer our readers something fresh and new. And, humor is always greatly appreciated! We want well-developed characters and plots, believable and accurate situations (even if it is fantasy or science fiction, it must make sense), and settings, along with internal consistency. All characters must be at least 18 years of age.

Feel free to query me about the thinking you may have about a story for this anthology at marcus@starbookspress.com.

More information here.

MOB on Vimeo!

From Jenifer K. Wofford:

Heads up, FOMOBs*! Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. videos are now on Vimeo! (It’s like Youtube, but better, and without deranged stalker 12 year old trolls having comment wars).

I’d had the photo documentation of our work on Wofflehouse for a while, but had never gotten the video thing sorted. Eliza/Neneng, bless her soul, recently belled the cat and finally got a bunch of our video work from 1997-2005 online for your entertainment (and ours).

Behold!

Call For Submission: Dear Sister: Anthology of Letters to Survivors of Sexual Violence

“Survival is testament of someone’s strength.
Healing is testament of the community surrounding her.” –LFB

Call For Submission
Dear Sister, edited by Lisa Factora-Borchers, is an anthology of letters and other works created for survivors of sexual violence from other survivors and allies. It is a collection of hope and strength through words and art.

The pathway for a survivor of rape and sexual violence is an unlit road of pain, isolation, and doubt. In the weeks, months, and oftentimes, years following, the healing process can be difficult to navigate without a community surrounding her. Imagine a compilation of literary arms bound together to offer words of understanding, solidarity, and love. Dear Sister is an accessible and inclusive offering of hope, voice, and courage; seeking writers and artists who wish to light a piece of that road and lift up other women in her healing.

It is an impossible task to write a letter to every survivor of rape, to every woman who lives with an invisible scar. Instead of thinking of the face of the person you are writing to, reflect on the image of an unlit path, a road with no clear footing. Your offering will be one light, among many, to make visible what was previously unseen, to illuminate what was hidden. You are providing a few more steps for someone to walk steadily toward their own recovery. Your words can be an anchor, a meditation, a prayer, a strong embrace or a gentle touch. The purpose of this anthology is not to retell stories of assault, but to help others regain a sense of balance and wholeness.

Mindfully move beyond what is commonly said and reflect upon radical companionship. Write what you wish for her to know and never forget. And if you lose focus, look deep into a mirror and reflect: What would you want to be told if you were in the darkness?

Information
Dear Sister primarily seeks letters but will accept poems, prose, essay, and drawn art that can either be scanned for entry. Maximum word count is 1000.

Deadline for submission is November 1, 2010.

Call for Submissions: Diverse Voices Quarterly

From the Asia Writes blog:

There are many fantastic literary journals out there, looking specifically for submissions from women, feminists, gays/lesbians, Jewish, Christian, African-American, et al. In creating this online literary journal, we’re providing an outlet for AND by everyone: every age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious background. This journal will, in essence, celebrate and unify diversity.

Submission Guidelines

Diverse Voices Quarterly is published as a PDF, available for download. Unfortunately, we can’t pay, but what beats exposure?

We welcome submissions from all!

Poetry: 3-5 poems, 40 lines MAX. Please send in one file, separated by a page break between poems.

Short stories: 3,000 words MAX. You may submit up to two short shorts that add up to 1,000 words.

Personal essays/creative nonfiction: 3,000 words MAX. Send only one essay at a time.

Artwork and photography accepted in .jpg or .png format. Send only two high-quality images at a time.

–Simultaneous submissions are accepted but multiple submissions are not. Read about the difference between multiple and simultaneous submissions.

–We will not read any material previously published online; this includes works published in other online journals or from any message board or blogs.

–While we will read submissions from everyone, the work MUST BE in English.

–We prefer submissions for prose and poetry through our online submission manager.

If sending artwork, send via e-mail:

–Be sure to include your last name and “Artwork” or “Photography” in the subject line.

–Include a cover letter, a short bio, and your complete contact information in the body of the e-mail.

–Only two images at a time.

–Send your submission to: submissions@diversevoicesquarterly.com.

More information here.

THE 2010 IVY TERASAKA SHORT STORY COMPETITION (Our Own Voice)

From Our Own Voice:

THE 2010 IVY TERASAKA SHORT STORY COMPETITION

< download rules and guidelines (word) >

RULES & SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

1. Short Stories must reflect the Filipino experience.
2. FORMAT: Word document in pdf format.
3. COVER PAGE – Title, author, email address and phone number
4. BODY:  Font: 12 point Arial or Times Roman, black ink only. 
5. Header/footer: for page numbering & title only.

The appearance of the AUTHOR’S NAME in the header or footer will disqualify the entry.

1. TOTAL WORD COUNT: 3,000 - 5,000 words
2. Only UNPUBLISHED works will be considered
3. Email to: our.own.voice@gmail.com
4. Subject heading: "Ivy Terasaka Short Story Competition."  

LIMIT one story per author. Multiple submissions will disqualify all submissions.

DEADLINE: AUGUST 2, 2010

PRIZES
            First Prize U.S. $250.00
            Second Prize U.S. $100
            Third Prizes U.S. $50

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WINNERS will be in the December 2010 issue of Our Own Voice. The First and Second Prize short stories will be featured in the 2011 issue; Our Own Voice reserves the option to feature the Third Prize short stories in future online issues.

INELIGIBILITY

Members of THE EDITORIAL STAFF are ineligible to enter this competition.

All submissions will be acknowledged.

The Blood-Jet Writing Hour with guest Karen Tei Yamashita

The Blood-Jet Writing Hour #46: Karen Tei Yamashita, author of I-Hotel
Friday, July 23rd at 10 am PST

Heralded as a “big talent” by the Los Angeles Times, extolled by the New York Times for her “mordant wit,” and praised by Newsday for “wrestl[ing] with profound philosophical and social issues” while delivering an “immensely entertaining story,” Karen Tei Yamashita is one of the foremost writers of her generation. I Hotel, which took over a decade to write and research, is her magnum opus.

The author of four previous novels, Yamashita is the recipient of an American Book Award and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Award. A California native who has also lived in Brazil and Japan, she teaches at the University of California-Santa Cruz, where she received the Chancellor’s Award for Diversity in 2009.

Listen to the Blood-Jet Writing Hour.

08/03/2010: Rafe Bartholomew, Author of Pacific Rims @ Eastwind Books of Berkeley

Rafe Bartholomew Reading: Pacific Rims
Tuesday August 3 at 6:30 pm
Eastwind Books of Berkeley
2066 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704
http://asiabookcenter.com
Please RSVP here: http://www.facebook.com/eastwind.books

The Philippines has a basketball history that stretches back to the early 1900s. What started as a colonial import has over the past century become distinctly Pinoy, and the sport is ingrained in nearly every aspect of Philippine society. On the sides of jeepneys, in every town square, on billboards and commercials for a dizzying range of products that includes sneakers, vitamin syrup, tires and margarine, you see basketball. Almost everywhere in the Philippines, you see basketball.

Pacific Rims is the first book that attempts to illustrate the sport's grip on Philippine society. It follows the Alaska Aces, a pro team sponsored by a milk company, through a season in the Philippine Basketball Association. It introduces characters like Rosell Ellis, the American import player recruited to spearhead Alaska's quest for a title; Jeffrey Cariaso, a veteran guard whose distinguished career and steady leadership brings together the team's homegrown Filipino and Filipino-American players; and Willie Miller, a half-American, Philippine bred guard who is the PBA's clown prince and one of its most dynamic guards. Along the way, there are detours to study the sport's history in the Philippines, the way politicians have learned to exploit their constituents' love of basketball for electoral gain, and the author's misadventures as a hired gun in provincial tournaments and an occasional soap opera actor (the role, of course, was linked to hoops).

Pacific Rims is the story of a nation's passion for hoops and a writer's falling in love with that nation.

Rafe Bartholomew lives in New York, where he is an assistant editor at Harper's Magazine. His writing has been published in The New York Times, Slate, Seattle Weekly, the Chicago Reader, and the Detroit Free Press, and was noted in The Best American Sports Writing 2007. He traveled to Manila in November 2005 on a U.S. Fulbright grant and remained in the Philippines (with a few brief returns to the States) until October 2008. He schemes constantly on ways to get back.

More about Pacific Rims.

Call for Submissions: KWELI online journal seeks work from writers of color

We are now calling for submissions to our Fall/Winter 2010 issue. The theme is "sanctuary." Visit www.kwelijournal.com.

Add your voice. Share your visions. Join us.

Kweli Journal is a new online literary journal established to identify, promote and nurture emerging writers of color. We also seek to expand the audience of authors of color who already have a foothold in the industry. Our mission, as editors and publishers, is to find a broad, international audience for the artists that we publish and the work that we find engaging and uncompromising.

As a biannual publication, Kweli plans to publish Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer editions. We encourage new and emerging artists, as well as established voices, to submit their work for consideration. Kweli is particularly interested in short stories, poetry, and essays. We seek high quality literary work that is beautiful and sustaining, profound and powerful.

THE SUBMISSION PROCESS:

Please provide the following:

A cover letter telling us something about yourself. Please include current contact information (full name, mailing address, telephone number(s), e-mail address) and title(s) of submitted work.

Two printed copies of your unpublished work(s).

Fiction: Send one prose piece. We primarily look for short stories, but novel excerpts are acceptable if self-contained. Prose should be double-spaced on one side.

Nonfiction: Send one prose piece. We primarily look for personal essays, but memoir excerpts are acceptable if self-contained. Prose should be double-spaced on one side.

Poetry: Send up to three poems at a time. Single-space, please; set your poem as you want it to appear on the printed page.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable as long as they are indicated as such. Authors must immediately notify the submissions manager if said work has been selected for publication in another periodical, either in print or online.

Fall/Winter Submission Deadline: September 16, 2010.

Mail required material to:

Kweli Journal, Inc.
P.O. Box 693
New York, New York 10021
ATTN: Nicole Vasquez
Submissions Manager

Report Back: Cyndi Vasallo on VONA Workshops 2010

We've previously featured two VONA guest posts: (1) a dialogue between Kim Alidio, Bonne Marie Bautista, and Rona Fernandez, and (2) a report back from Niki Escobar. Today's guest post comes from VONA Fellow Cyndi Vasallo, on being a not-so-young emerging writer, and working with M. Evelina Galang:

Reading what everyone else has already written, there's not much more for me to add that's any different. I agree with everything that's been said. The experience was totally amazing! That the staff and faculty could create such a tight, close-knit artistic community in the space of a week or two, is unheard of in many circles these days. But they were able to do it. I think that's what happens when a group of people--no matter how diverse--come together for a common cause, to support and nurture each other as fellow writers. The chance to work with Evelina Galang was unforgettable. She is truly a woman of grace and generosity, and her words of encouragement will forever affect how I think about writing my stories.

Perhaps the only thing that was not mentioned by my fellow Filipina writers was the comfortable inter-generational space that VONA provided. As a fifty-year-old woman (a late bloomer in life, and a writer who discovered her passion for words after 'retiring' from a first career), I was hesitant and a bit intimidated to sign up at first. I thought I would feel out of place, among what I expected to be a young crowd. But I took a leap of faith and did not talk myself out of applying, and was pleasantly surprised. Certainly, I was not the youngest participant, but I was not the oldest, either. And as it turned out, age really did not matter. We were all there to pursue our art and to support each other, and individual ages made no difference. My VONA mates were warm, welcoming, and supportive. Because I had such an amazing experience, I plan on applying again next year and I would encourage all writers of color, regardless of age to put yourself out there and go for it. As one of our favorite VONA faculty was fond of saying: Claim it...Write it...Own it!

With regard to the MFA program at USF, one need only look at the list of names on the roster to see that there is an under-representation of writers of color teaching the program. Although I think the faculty make specific choices to include works by published writers of color in their course readers, literature and workshop discussion surrounding the topics of ethnicity, tribal heritage, culture, disempowerment and marginalization that fall along racial and gender divides, as inspiration/theme/story elements, is limited or is sometimes non-existent. I found that although the MFA program has served me well in teaching me the mechanics and craft of writing, I wanted something more. As a writer of color, so much of what I write about revolves around my ethnicity and how my life experiences as a Filipina-American affect my view of the world. Based on some of the experiences I had in my graduate workshops, sometimes being the only writer of color in the room, I wasn't always entirely comfortable and confident in putting myself out there--having to explain my stories or define and defend my use of Tagalog words/phrases.

What I've learned from VONA: I refuse to be shy or embarrassed about who I am, or where I come from. VONA has taught me to use a voice that I knew I had, but for a variety of reasons, was too insecure to use. Especially over this summer, VONA has helped me to understand that my stories have value and are necessary--no cultural explanations needed. I am proud to say that last year, I, along with a handful of classmates, have formed a Writers of Color Caucus for the graduate students on the USF campus. We aspire to follow in the VONA tradition, in providing a nurturing and empowering space for emerging writers of color.

Shout Out: Michael Arcega

Both the San Francisco Sentinel and SF Gate shout out the innovative art of Michael Arcega who is installing new public artwork in the Mission District.

“Michael Arcega has created a highly intelligent installation that celebrates two distinct aspects of Mission District culture—its rich history represented by the Victorian-era details and its vibrant street life as evidenced by the omnipresent postings and fliers advertising neighborhood events and happenings,” said (Director of Cultural Affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission, Luis R.) Cancel. “His ability to blend these two important cultural aspects while providing a space for public interaction makes this artwork timeless and a wonderful new symbol of the neighborhood.”



Tip of the hat to the San Francisco Arts Commission twitter feed for the story.

Aimee Suzara at Oaklandseen.com: Litany for the Sea – on 3rd month anniversary of Gulf oil disaster

From Oaklandseen.com:

On my recent trip to the Gulf on the third month anniversary of the oil spill, I was reminded of the story of the first Filipinos (and possibly first Asians) settling in the U.S. in 1563, a little-known and important historical event.

They jumped from Spanish Galleons and made villages off the coast of Louisiana. This struck me as I was in the East Coast feeling the grief caused by the spill.

Read more.

Article in the Manila Times: Fil-Am authors writing

Fil-Am authors writing
Sunday, 04 July 2010 00:00
BY LIBAY LINSANGAN CANTOR

With all the buzz about Filipino YouTube singing sensation Charice finally making it to Hollywood’s “it” show of the moment, Glee, I wonder if fellow Pinoys are familiar with other Filipino talents already making names for themselves as Filipino-American authors. If we would take a look at Pinoys getting published in the USA, we might have more pride about our race making it in the land of milk and honey when it comes to the literary field.

Most people might have missed Jessica Hagedorn when she visited Manila a few years ago to promote her latest novel, Dream Jungle, published by Viking Books in 2003. She is more identified with her very postmodern take on the Marcos regime in her novel Dogeaters published by Penguin Books in 1990. While it might sound very political, this novel of hers is a very interesting read, given the very eclectic voices of the characters we encounter in Metro Manila amid the backdrop of many pop culture trappings we Filipinos drown in on a daily basis. Hagedorn was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to San Francisco when she was a teenager. In the US, she also dabbles in other art forms as a poet, performance artist and playwright.

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard is another person that comes to mind when we talk about Fil-Am authors. She is the author of the 1990s novel When The Rainbow Goddess Wept published several times by different international and local publishing houses. She has also authored various creative nonfiction books to her name, and sometimes visits the Philippines to promote them or to give talks during their launch here.

Brainard is also active as an editor of various short story collections and nonfiction anthologies like Growing Up Filipino: Stories For Youth Adults, a collection of how it’s like to grow up as a Filipino in the Philippines and in other parts of the world. I’m proud to have an essay of mine included in that 2003 young adult anthology of hers, and I’m also happy to learn that this anthology is being used in some US schools in teaching children and young adults about Filipino experiences. Brainard was born in Cebu and finished college here in the Philippines before migrating to the USA and settling down there to start a family. She is currently active as a teacher at the Writer’s Program of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Extension.

Another Fil-Am author with an acclaimed novel is Bino Realuyo, author of Umbrella Country published in 1999 by Ballantine Reader’s Circle. The novel is a heartwarming tale about a boy living in an impoverished urban poor community in Manila who undergoes a lot of challenges in his life, including dealing with sexuality issues. The son of a Bataan Death March survivor, Realuyo was born and raised in the Philippines and moved to the US where he made New York his home for many years. He is also a poet, educator and works on various labor rights and human rights issues.

Just these three Fil-Am authors’ achievements alone make us proud that they uphold their Pinoy roots through their literature. Next time, we’ll try to discover more Fil-Am writers writing about our worlds.

Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe at gmail dot com
She is also at leaflenspopmedia.wordpress.com.

Narrative Magazine Poet of the Week: Luisa Igloria

Luisa Igloria's poem "On the Difficulty of Discerning Shapes in the Distance" is the featured Poem of the Week at Narrative Magazine. (Log-in required to view complete poem.)

Call for Submissions: Kartika Review seeking poetry submissions

Kenji C. Liu, poetry editor of Kartika Review is looking for poetry submissions for the late-summer/early fall issue. The deadline is 08/02/2010.

About the journal: 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.

Please check out previous issues at http://www.kartikareview.com
Submission guidelines are here: http://www.kartikareview.com/submit.html

Writing Workshop: Bindlestiff Stories High 12 Starts 08/09/2010

From Bindlestiff Studios' website:

12th Annual Stories High Production

Stories High Writing Workshop- SIGN-UP TODAY! SPACE LIMITED!

Do you have a story to tell?
Ever wanted to see your work performed onstage?
Interested in learning the fundamentals of play-writing?

For 12 years, Bindlestiff Studio has offered affordable and professional theatrical workshops through its signature production, Stories High. These theatrical workshop aims to teach and refine the skills of beginning to intermediate theater artists with a focus on writing, acting and directing for the stage, culminating into an original, full-fledged theatrical production.This year's Stories High Writing Workshop will focus on adaptation for the stage. Participants will be choosing existing works from celebrated Filipino/Filipina American writers and poets as a source of inspiration or adaptation and writing pieces for theater. Bindlestiff is very fortunate to have this year's workshop facilitated by writer & stage veteran, Yato Yoshida (please read his bio below).

Please do not miss this opportunity to participate in this one-of-a-kind, affordable writing workshop!

IN ADDITION, Stories High 12 will be the first full-run production premiering as part of the Grand Opening of the NEW Bindlestiff Studio theater in its original location on Sixth Street near Howard St.! Be a part of long anticipated, historical event!

Please sign up NOW by emailing susie@bindlestiffstudio.org by Wednesday, August 4th.
Space is limited on a first-come, first-serve basis. Commitment to these workshops are required, no exceptions!

For more information, contact Dianne Aquino Chui at 415-632-6133 or via email at dianne@bindlestiffstudio.org

Read more.

Review: Luis Francia's 'History of the Philippines, From Indios Bravos to Filipinos' reviewed by Ben Pimentel

From Inquirer.net:

A new era unfolds in the Philippines. A new take on the Filipino story.

Writer Luis Francia’s latest book, “History of the Philippines, From Indios Bravos to Filipinos,” was published in May just as the nation was electing a new president, kicking off a new chapter in our often troubled, sometimes inspiring, and nearly always exciting history.

By now, it’s clear that history should not simply be a recitation of fact and figures, dates and events. Understanding the past can never be an absolutely neutral undertaking. You look back based on how you see and what you hope for in the present.

Historians, they who spent years reading, researching, analyzing, footnoting, writing, and rewriting a nation’s story, have widely been considered the most qualified to do this kind of work. (Journalists, after all, simply create first drafts of history. The historians do the final versions.)

Well, here’s one version of the Filipino story from a writer who is not, as he himself says, “a trained historian.”

That’s the kind of book the publisher, Overlook Press in New York, was looking for, Francia told me.

“The editor wanted a writer with an interest in history to do the book, rather than a trained historian,” he said.

A longtime Philippine history buff, Francia grabbed the opportunity to retell the Filipino story. “It meant an opportunity to read further and to try and come up with a book I wish we had had when I was in university,” he added.

For Francia grew up at a time when Philippine history was told mainly through Western eyes based on a storyline that pretty much went like this: ‘Westerners ‘discover,’ civilize and Christianize Filipinos who later build their own nation while fully accepting that they owe much to and cannot live without the West. Period.”

Read more.

BaybayinFilm.com: Baybayin Documentary by Christian Cabuay

http://www.baybayinfilm.com/

'Bi-Poseur': Show about suicide remains upbeat

From SFGate:

Paolo Sambrano's autobiographical one-man show, "Bi-Poseur," is about suicide, mental illness and the death of his mom.

But Sambrano's not trying to kill your buzz. He's trying to make you laugh.

"It's not a pity party. It's not woe is me," said the 23-year-old performer, born and raised in Oakland. "Despite the really dark material, it's really upbeat."

Read more.

Call for Submissions: Flying Fists, a Journal of Asian Writing

From the Asia Writes blog:

Fiction + Poetry + Nonfiction + Art

1. The best way to submit to our journal will be to use our online system (which saves trees + helps you keep track of your submissions too). If you have any questions, send an email to: submissions[at]flyingfistsjournal.com.

2. What we’re looking for: we want beautifully crafted Asian writing that kicks our ass. Aesthetically, we’re open to all styles, but the writing has to rock (in a 21st century kind of way). We especially appreciate writing that is ambitious, culturally relevant, socially-engaged and/or aware of the greater world surrounding us. Just make sure the writing is pretty much stellar. By the way, we can smell a draft a mile away—it smells like Natto beans, in case you’re wondering. The best way to get a sense of our aesthetic is to buy a copy of Flying Fists. It’s a fantastic ice-breaker at parties: (–Yo, is that a copy of Flying Fists you’ve got there? –Why, yes it is). Also, it’s always great—karmically speaking—to support your small literary journals. If you want to know what we’re publishing, then be on the right part of history + buy a sample copy of Flying Fists here.

Review (in graphic novel style!): Miguel Syjuco's 'Ilustrado' @ the Barnes & Noble Review

Scenes from the Barnes & Noble review:

DROPPING SCIENCE ON ART: Anthem Salgado on The Art of Hustle

Today's guest post comes from Anthem Salgado, on his forthcoming ART OF HUSTLE workshop at KSW.

Saturday, June 24 | 10am-2pm
ART OF HUSTLE
Concrete education for the independent artist and creative entrepreneur
Pre-registration required: http://kearnystreet.org/2010/06/art-of-the-hustle.

ART OF HUSTLE is a training program founded by Anthem Salgado for independent artists, creative entrepreneurs, and arts administrators.

“Art of Hustle is made for the novice and experienced performer/artist. I personally had a great experience and learned quite a lot and made some very good contacts.” – Michael Greene, photographer

“Anthem is an enthusiastic and driven educator who spreads positivity and practical information through his teachings.” — Arianna Gouveia, multidisciplinary artist

“Basic tools any independent artist needs to promote their work more effectively.” — Cheryl Samson, poet

“I learned a lot. I got exactly what I came for. Tons of great advice.” — Marie ‘Pandora’ Medina, dancer

I met this one visual artist in New York whose work was amazing. I was excited for his artistic future. His paintings were a smart combination of street art and refined illustration skills, and I just knew in my gut he was onto something hot. So naturally I asked, “Where are you showing? What publications are you submitting your work to?” among other typical questions. He looked at me blankly. “How do you do that stuff?” The guy wanted to but hadn’t any plan to venture his art beyond his home studio. My immediate thought – Aw, what a waste. Crazy thing is – this story is way beyond common. It’s the dominant norm.

I was subject to this ignorance myself when I graduated with my BFA, living by default, succeeding or stagnating at random. Art school is wholly focused on craft and rarely, if ever, on the practical application of this craft in the outside world: in finding gainful employment, developing partnerships and apprenticeships, securing grants and residencies, and strategically promoting, marketing, and showing your work. Instead of giving instruction on this all-important grind, professors enable a lot of damaging fairytales around starving artistry, getting discovered by wealthy benefactors or adopted by the guards of high art, and most harmful, that there is any career to be had in the arts. There isn’t.

(*Gasp* How can that be?) I’ll explain. After all, I am myself an artist, having pursued a calling in virtually every discipline over the past eleven years – in visual art, literature, theater, film, and I even had a band. These experiences allowed me the blessed fortune to travel, to meet numerous heavyweights and to uncover some essential facts about pursuing the arts – any arts. I’m going to elaborate on these findings and on the aforementioned falsehoods. Then I’ll speak about how we artists may recapture our personal and collective narratives from disaster. Or worse, irrelevance. (Dun dun dun!) Ready? Ok, let’s get to myth busting!

#1. The Starving Artist. “Artists don’t get paid, artists do it for the love, money is evil, and art should be free, blah, blah, blah, blah.” This one pains me to address. If we were to simply replace the word ‘artist’ with another job title or any social group for that matter, it would be instantly clear how wrong it is that a people would be relegated by others and themselves! to poverty and starvation. Funk that. And I’m not advocating for artists to drive sharp and unfair bargains – I’m a strong believer in ethical exchange – but neither should they work for nothing. After all, as the Intro to Economics rule goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Even seemingly free art is still paid for by the maker in materials, labor and intellectual properties. Could you imagine this nonsense flying in other sectors? *

#2. Getting Discovered. People do praise genius. Additionally however, in an artist’s life, those talents ought to extend to one’s ability to represent his or her own work. Despite our sincerest of wishes, art really cannot speak for itself – even if it’s some catchy lyric or a good short story. Art will not submit itself for consideration for an award. It will not pen a letter of agreement. Nor will it deposit your checks and balance your accounts for you. That would be cool though if you could kick your feet up and let your art manage you instead of the other way around. Pssshhh, yeah right! I blame the movies and magazines. The public loves a good rags-to-riches overnight success story where great art hits the earth like some brilliant accidental cosmic happening. No one, for instance, is interested in hearing that the book that Time Magazine hailed as “publishing phenomenon of the decade,” Chicken Soup for the Soul, was submitted to and rejected by a whopping 144 publishers before one small company gave any willingness to the authors. No matter what your genre, there is no getting around having to market and stand by your own work. As the saying goes, you can’t hire people to do your push-ups for you.

#3. Your Career in the Arts. This is a misnomer. People say ‘career’ like we’re doctors or accountants. But we don’t have time sheets, get benefits, receive semi-monthly checks and work our way up a ladder. I remember talking to one veteran designer in the theater field who told me she had just come back from work in Hong Kong. As a wide-eyed youth, I might’ve gone, “Wow, what an awesome life!” But as an adult, I understand that she didn’t travel abroad for the glamor. She did so to pursue employment, same as any migrant worker would. There just aren’t enough positions available at institutions to support the number of artists in the field. Consequently, artists are either multi-employed, having many on-call or part-time jobs, or they are self-employed, mini-CEOs having created their own small businesses. Let’s call this ‘career’ what it is – a life in the arts. A life that is unpredictable, adventurous, and each ingeniously and deliberately carved out by and for its protagonist.

Let’s allow these lessons to sink in. They’ll become the basis for valuable habits of mind and manifest what I like to call ‘actionchoices’. It’s this way of thinking – these shared principles among the champions – that allow you to manage situations and to maximize on opportunities as they emerge. It’s about applying your guts and knack for innovation toward new solutions in the art of business and in the business of art. It’s about seeking to learn a new skill (e.g. writing a press release) and even better, seeking to learn to finesse that skill (e.g. writing one that actually gets picked up). This is it. This is the art of hustle.

My goal for ART OF HUSTLE, the training program, is to be different and better than traditional career lectures and tired teacher rhetoric, from the first word to the last. You’ll not find empty concepts in my classes or supposed short-cuts to success. This brand of skills-building is straight from the trenches. ART OF HUSTLE is about taking charge, dispelling the naysayers and equipping you with the appropriate tools to achieve your goals. In my ideal reality, the world abounds with eclecticism and diversity, and every person of every creative endeavor has the fair chance and the wherewithal to make their dreams each come true.

* Check out this video for fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY

Report Back: Niki Escobar on VONA Workshops 2010

Last week, we featured a dialogue between VONA Fellows Kim Alidio, Bonne Marie Bautista, and Rona Fernandez. Below is VONA Fellow Niki Escobar's report back on VONA week 2.

How did you find out about VONA?

My friend Roseli Ilano (co-editor of Walang Hiya), sent me the VONA registration link over two years ago. Although I wanted to apply, I was intimidated, mostly because I didn’t consider myself a writer—just someone who liked poetry. Later that year, a new friend, Cristina Tzintzun, told me about her acceptance into a memoir workshop at VONA. Last year, a professor at San Francisco State University suggested it. All around me, womyn that I admired were talking about it.

Why did you apply to VONA?

M. Evelina Galang. For years now, I’ve wanted to apply to VONA, but always made excuses: “Well, I have a lot of school work, I don’t have the time,” “Well, I don’t have a lot of money right now,” “Well, I just had a baby” (haha).

When I saw that Evelina would be teaching the residency course at VONA, my thinking reversed: “Well, there will always be school work,” “Well, VONA is pretty affordable. I can sell two paintings and pay for the whole thing right away,” “Well, this can be a good opportunity to spend time away from my son. I will appreciate him in a new way after I return.”

Evelina’s name listed on the faculty page was such a strong persuasive argument. Screaming Monkeys, an anthology that she edited was my first introduction to Evelina back when I was in high school. It was also the first book to politicize me. Her writing has continued to inspire me through the years.

How did the reality of VONA compare to your expectations going in?

I did not expect to cry as much as I did. The experience was nurturing, spiritual, healing—I was completely humbled. The first day, we were asked to write a few personal lines as an introduction. One of the lines to complete was “I am not…” and the responses were swollen with honesty, fear, and fierce pride. These are qualities that I rarely witnessed in university classrooms.

How did you as a Pinay feel about honing your craft in a multi-racial, people of color-only workshop?

Since they were all artists of color, not many things needed explaining. We weren’t experts in each other’s community issues; but we had an understanding. We shared a bond through similar histories, cultural and political struggles, and injustices. I didn’t have to ask why a character in one person’s story ate with her hands, or why people migrate if they love their country so much. I didn’t have to ask one writer about gentrification to understand her family’s neighborhood. In university creative writing classes, where the majority of writers are white, questions like these always seem to interrupt discussions. At VONA I was free to just write. No history lessons needed. No anthropology.

What are your next steps, for your ongoing education as a writer, and for your specific work in progress? Will you come back to VONA?

I want to continue with VONA, as well as apply to the Macondo and Kundiman writers’ workshops (I’ve actually been rejected by Kundiman, twice, but I am soldiering on). I currently write with several artists independently, but I hope to learn with them collectively, in writing circles or reading groups. I was supposed to start an MFA program this fall, but will push it off for at least one more year due to family concerns. Until then, I will continue submitting poems to journals and magazines.

The manuscript that I brought to VONA is in its chrysalis life stage. I thought I had it down before I got to VONA, then I realized that the collection was not put together in a way that authentically expressed what needs to be said. Poems seemed to be missing. Some whispered, other poems shouted. So, I am reworking half of the poems in the collection. My goal is to work on two poems every day. Sometime soon this project will emerge proud, with big fat wings, and I’ll let it fly.

[For more information about VONA, check out their website at http://voicesatvona.org.]
[Niki Escobar blogs at http://nikiesco.wordpress.com.]

Report Back: Rachelle Cruz at Kundiman Asian American Poetry Retreat 2010

Although the annual retreat is over and I'm back on the grind with my two jobs in Los Angeles, I know that somewhere, out there, there are Kundiman fellows writing each other postcards, supporting another fellow's reading at Bar 13 in New York City, planning road trips, fundraising for future retreats in Berkeley, inventing poetic forms inspired by Jose Garcia Villa's Reversed Consonsance, visiting Poets' House in Lower Manhattan and blogging about the retreat experience and how it applies to our poetry. 

Kundiman was created by the incredible duo, Joseph O. Legaspi and Sarah Gambito who organized the inaugural Asian American Poetry Retreat in 2004 at the University of Virginia. According to the Kundiman website, both poets “recognized the need for a nurturing and yet rigorous space for emerging Asian American poets; such a space would facilitate the creation of new work, create mentoring relationships with established Asian American poets and address the challenges that uniquely affect Asian American poets.”

I arrived at Fordham University's Rose Hill campus in the Bronx, New York, new home to the retreat, in the thick of a hot, humid day in June. After a warm “opening circle” of fellow introductions and sharing of poems, I immediately felt at home with the poets in the room. Despite the bustling city that surrounded us and the pastelitos and fresh fruit I longed for on Grand Concourse, Kundiman remained a true place of solitude on Fordham's beautiful campus.

Although Kundiman specifically seeks Asian American poets, I've never met and worked with a group with such diverse work in style, form and voice. Throughout the retreat, fellows and staff repeatedly described the time and space spent together as a “home” and our group of poets as a “family.” And it's true. This strong community at Kundiman not only allowed me to feel protected and safe from self-censorship or the need to explain my work (which happens often in predominantly white writing workshops), it also fostered a space where I felt inspired and encouraged to take risks. In this unique space, I also felt a collective sense of duty to everyone's work, exemplified through nightly poetry salons and rigorous workshops where we challenged each other with honest feedback. The comments and suggestions shared by fellows reached way beyond the typical (and rather unhelpful!) workshop comment, “I like this image...” This, of course, couldn't have been made possible without the amazing faculty and staff.

I laughed until I cried hearing Regie Cabico perform a poem about his mother and took a stab at writing a funny poem (a big risk for me!). Jennifer Chang gave me courage to read it in front of everyone. I stayed up late, ate pizza and wrote poems. On our visit to Poets' House, I exchanged poems by my patron poet Brenda Shaughnessy with fellows and gazed at an old photograph of Jose Garcia Villa amongst his peers, mostly white male poets. What would've Villa done with an institution like Kundiman?

I scratched my head when Tan Lin first explained an exercise inspired by Stein's “equal weight, equal volume” theory, but dove in anyway, which challenged the way I thought about relationships between, amongst words. I felt free to play. Paisley Rekdal's intuition and ability to see the seemingly invisible layers in a poem made me slow down my own reading of poems and pay more attention. R.A. Villanueva, Soham Patel and Tamiko Beyer offered us new fellows immeasurable amounts of kindness and sage advice from their own experiences at the retreat. Sarah Gambito and Joseph Legaspi's dedication to their vision of seeing “the arts as a tool of empowerment, of education and liberation, of addressing proactively what legacy we will leave for our future generations as individuals and as a community” makes me reflect on my own contributions to the Asian American and poetry communities. They both inspire me to do more. I felt safe as a poet to write deeply and quickly, and hand poems off to other fellows to read and edit. I'd never trusted poets this much before. I'd never felt more at home.

For more information, check out Kundiman's website: www.kundiman.org.

Call for Submissions: TAYO Literary Magazine

TAYO Literary Magazine is calling for submissions for its 2nd Annual Print Edition, with the deadline being this Friday @ midnight. TAYO, the Filipino word for We, Us, or to Stand Up, is geared towards one purpose: bringing the young Filipino American community together through the arts. Born out of an idea of the Filipino American Library and USC Alumni Kristine Co and Melissa Sipin, TAYO empowers Filipino-Americans to contribute to a mosaic of the Filipino-American experience through creative forms of expression, such as  poetry, essays, photography, paintings and drawings. Together, we capture the complexity of our culture and community.

Deadline for the Print Edition: Friday, 7/16 @ midnight

Make your mark by submitting your artwork to be on the front page cover of TAYO Literary Magazine's 2nd Annual Issue!

Please submit your artwork along with any other work you choose to TAYO's Online Submission Manager.

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Submission Details
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All may submit, regardless of ethnicity and age. We accept creative works including: short fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, photography, paintings, drawings and digital artwork. Work with an emphasis on the Filipino-American experience is encouraged.

* Submissions for our online content are considered on a rolling basis.

* All materials submitted are considered for both our online and print magazines.

* By submitting you are allowing TAYO Literary Magazine to reproduce your work.

* Not all submissions may be featured in our print / online mediums.

TAYO Literary Magazine does not charge a fee for submitting. As such, we cannot afford to pay a monetary sum to any of our contributors at this time. Your submissions go a long way in supporting the arts in the Asian American community, especially through inspiring younger artists, helping them to find their audience, to find their voice."

07/29/2010: The Exiles, with Ninotchka Rosca (Brooklyn)

Click on image for more info:

Call for Submissions: Heterotopia

Heterotopia is now open for artwork submissions, in addition to the previously outlined literary submissions. All art mediums are welcomed in response to the issue’s broad theme “Alien” (see explanation below).

Please submit artwork to heterotopiareview[at]gmail[dot]com along with contact information. Selected artwork will be featured on the front and back covers, as a centrefold, or on individual pages.

Alien

“We’re on our own, the focus of no interest except our consuming interest in ourselves [...]

Yes, this is far too much reality.

No wonder we’re so good at creating aliens.

No wonder we so often project alienness onto one another.”

- Octavia Butler, “The Monophobic Response” (1995)

Deadline is September 1, 2010. Submission guidelines are here.

Poetry Society of America Q&A: Barbara Jane Reyes

Q & A: American Poetry

Considering my own Filipino American tradition, I think of poets such as Carlos Bulosan, Jose Garcia Villa, Jessica Hagedorn, Al Robles, Catalina Cariaga, Jaime Jacinto, Nick Carbó, Eileen Tabios, Bino A. Realuyo, Fatima Lim-Wilson. Fanning out beyond Filpino American poetry, I think of Jack Agüeros, Frances Chung, Harryette Mullen, Nathaniel Mackey, Juan Felipe Herrera, Haunani Kay Trask. These poets are distinctive to me as American poets, precisely because of their keen focus on issues of migration and transnationalism, in which historically contested home is claimed and redefined.

Read complete profile at the Poetry Society of America's web page.

Call for Submissions: KSW A Sensory Feast

From KSW:

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS: A Sensory Feast (working title)

Exhibition Dates: February 4 – 25, 2011

Deadline for Submission: Friday, July 30, 2010

Kearny Street Workshop invites artists working in all genres to submit work relating to the multisensory nature of food for an exhibition at SOMArts in February 2011.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Artwork submitted for review (or work very similar in nature to that submitted) must be available for listed exhibition dates.
• Artists must self-define as Asian American.
• Artists must live/work in the SF Bay area or be willing to cover any shipping/travel costs necessary to participate in the show.

Checklist of application materials:

1. 4 images (jpegs: 72dpi, 600 x 800 pixels max) (Digital only please) AND/OR 3-minute video clip on CD/DVD for Mac
2. Artist resume (1-2 page max)
3. Artist Statement (1 page max)
4. SASE (for return of materials if desired)
5. Completed application form. DOWNLOAD HERE.
6. $10 check/money order made payable to Kearny Street Workshop (e-payment can also be accepted at kearnystreet.org via PayPal)

Email submissions can be sent to info@kearnystreet.org. Submissions will also be accepted via USPS and can be mailed to: Kearny Street Workshop, PO Box 14545, San Francisco, CA 94114-0545.

Please call 415.503.0520 or email info@kearnystreet.org with any questions.

Read more.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil @ the Ploughshares Blog

Reader, I am nine months pregnant. I am trying to savor every last bit of this delicious (if slightly swollen) summer time. I'm reading The Cradle by Patrick Somerville; knockout poetry by Keetje Kuipers and Jericho Brown; dipping into my stack of spring and summer literary journals; and sampling a bevy of style and gossip magazines, just to keep things light and breezy.

So much of the advice I was given when I was pregnant with my first son was along the lines of, "You better hurry and write as much as you can, get that proposal done--you'll never get it done when the baby arrives." And so on and so on. I know my pals were well-meaning, but it was like they secretly wanted to infuse as much panic and preparation into me as for a natural disaster. My parents, who live in central Florida, in the very county that was smashed with not one but four hurricanes in one summer, keeps a whole closet filled with disaster food and supplies like canned fruits and veggies and their very own Water Bob. "Is so good to be prepared. You don't want to be stuck with bird in a bathtub like us, do you?" my Filipina mother says (in 2004, they did in fact find shelter in their bathtub for hours on end with their beloved cockatiel, Chico, as they prayed the roof of their house wouldn't blow away during a storm). I felt like if I wasn't storing up anecdotes and journals now for some writing later, I'd be unprepared when the hurricane of a new baby arrived.

Read Aimee's blog posts here.

07/17/2010: Rina Ayuyang at Giant Robot (SF)

From Rina Ayuyang's blog:

GIANT ROBOT SF, one of my favorite stores of one of my favorite magazines has been nice enough to host a booksigning for Whirlwind Wonderland. If you are in the area, stop by the Haight!

Saturday, July 17, 2010
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Giant Robot San Francisco
618 Shrader Street
San Francisco, CA
http://gr-sf.com

To RSVP and read more about the event:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=128823753821442&ref=mf

Call for Submissions: Anak Sastra (Southeast Asians Writing in English)

http://www.anaksastra.com

Started in August 2010, Anak Sastra Online Magazine is a quarterly magazine which hopes to provide a venue for Southeast Asian writers to promote their writings in English. The magazine also encourages expats and tourists alike to submit writings based on their experiences in Southeast Asia. Although submissions from or about any Southeast Asian country is welcomed, preference is given to submissions from or about Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.

We are currently accepting short stories for the inaugural edition of Anak Sastra. Please see the submission details page for all information on deadlines, submission guidelines, and contact information.

From the website:

What We Want...

Anak Sastra consists of two main platforms.  The first is to give writers of Southeast Asian countries a place to publish their short stories on any topic written in English.  The second is to allow expatriates and tourists to share their experiences living or traveling in Southeast Asia through short stories written in English. 

Geographic Range...

Although submissions from or about Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, and the Philippines are welcomed, preference is given to submissions from or about Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore.  Stories with no connection to Southeast Asia will not be considered. 

Read more.

Report Back: Three Filipina American Writers on VONA

Three Filipina-Americans -- a fiction writer, a memoirist, a poet -- all recent participants in the annual Voices of our Nations (VONA) workshop for writers of color, talk about their experiences. VONA takes place over the course of two weeks at the University of San Francisco, and offers workshops with renowned writers of color in fiction, poetry and memoir.

The Poet: Kimberly Alidio
The Memoirist: Bonne Marie Bautista
The Fiction Writer: Rona Fernandez

How did you find out about VONA?

Kimberly Alidio (KA): When I started writing seriously and in workshops in Austin, Texas, I started thinking about what people do when they want to take it further. I learned about Kundiman and VONA at about the same time. I had a friend who did VONA last year and she gave me the idea for it. I kept hearing about it, I think because my ears were open.

Bonne Marie Bautista (BMB): I heard about it from several VONA alum and [VONA founder and faculty member] Elmaz Abinader, who teaches at Mills College, where I was an undergrad.

Rona Fernandez (RF): I’ve been coming to VONA for so long now---four times in the past six years---that I honestly can’t remember how I heard about it! I think I might’ve first seen an ad for VONA in Poets and Writers, and then I probably heard about it from other folks. Now, VONA is a core part of my literary world. Most of the writers I know and share my work with, I know from VONA.

Why did you apply to VONA?

KA: Some of the writers I know in Austin went to VONA but Kundiman was on my radar first. I taught Barbara Jane Reyes, Joseph Legaspi, and Patrick Rosal in my Filipino American Studies classes and was lucky to have Pat as a colleague for year. After coming out to him as a poet, I asked him about Kundiman and other writing programs for writers of color. That was the first step for me in imagining that I could enter those circles, since most of my adult life I’ve been primarily an academic scholar. Pat was very encouraging. But Kundiman and VONA were held the same week this year, and I chose to apply to VONA. The other thing is that Austin’s artist of color scene is heavily Black diasporic and Latina/Chicana, so the chance to work with Lorna Dee Cervantes at VONA felt right.

BMB: People had been trying to get me to apply to VONA for a while, but I let the years pass without applying. I suppose I wasn’t ready for it yet. I finally applied at a time in my life when I was ready to put myself first and come to terms with who I am and what I want to do. Nurturing the writing part of me, acknowledging the fact that I actually am a writer was part of taking care of myself. I decided it was time for me to do that.

How did the reality of VONA compare to your expectations going in?

KA: It was kind of disturbing at first, for lots of reasons: being in a dorm, cut off from your life, and because Lorna Dee is a particularly intense teacher. By the second day, I felt overloaded. I started worrying I was going to hate all poetry, my own and everyone else’s. My partner who’s an artist told me that that’s part of the intensive [workshop] experience, that they break you down a little bit so that you can be completely open. But by the end I totally loved doing poetry twenty-four hours a day. I went in very open and wanted to write and wanted to be around writers, and just learn. In that sense, I got what I expected.

BMB: Before I came to VONA I knew it was going to be this life-shifting thing so the weeks before I felt sick to my stomach in anticipation, but I had no idea how intensely it would affect me or how transformation could happen so quickly. I was caught off guard at first, but I let myself unfold naturally. It was easy to do that at VONA. I was also nervous about being in an Advanced Fiction workshop since I write memoir. [Workshop leader] Mat Johnson said this something about the chaos of your life being the material for your writing, and that your job is to pull from parts of your life out to tell your story effectively. It made me realize that all writers write memoir. We write ourselves on the page whether or not we intend to. I also didn’t realize how much being a person of color and a woman forced me into a defensive stance in life. At VONA, people abandon those defenses at the door, [and] allows for a genuine experience, a safe environment that lets people blossom and transform.

RF: Since this was my fourth time coming to VONA, and because I’m getting older and don’t have as much energy, I didn’t prioritize going out a lot with folks this year. That was really important to me the first two times I did VONA, because I was so hungry to connect with other writers of color. I’ve had some fairly negative experiences with other writers of color in the past, and the positive energy and the support that is part of the VONA experience made me want to be around my fellow writers all the time. This year, I really focused more on my craft, and just being really present during workshop and in all my interactions with other writers, no matter how brief they may have been. Also, I was a little worried that after being in Junot Diaz’s workshop last year, that anyone else would be a let-down. I’m glad to say that Mat Johnson was a completely generous, enthusiastic and supportive teacher who gave me tons of encouragement. He inspired me to start to seriously work on a collection of short stories set in this future world I’d created and even sort of gave me a schedule to follow. That alone will keep me focused on my writing for the whole next year -- until the next VONA workshop!

What hasn't changed from year to year is the bonding with other writers, the intensity and honesty that folks bring to the workshop, and the fact that I always leave VONA with an expanded network of writing comrades. Every fiction workshop I've been in at VONA since 2007 has its own email list and I can still pull on those people for critiques of my work. It's also cool to see how my peers' work progresses over time. For example, I workshopped parts of Patricia Engle's book Vida in a novel workshop I took with Chris Abani in 2007, and she just got it published this year (http://www.patriciaengel.com/vida.html).