February 2, 2022 – Arts And so forth.

Design by Kanami Yamashita

Visual Arts

Installation artist Satpreet Kahlon’s new piece “a boundary, a demarcation” is on view February 11 – April 8, 2022 at the Jack Straw Cultural Center. Using segmented pieces of image transferred onto found wood and cardboard, the artist has created a piece about nostalgia, access, and geographical displacement. Visits by appointment from M-F, 10am – 5:30pm. Opening reception is on Friday, February 11, 2022 at 7pm. Email for reservations. An Artist Talk takes place on Friday, March 25 at 7pm streaming via Jack Straw on Facebook Live. There will be a Youth and Family Workshop with a date to be announced. For details, email [email protected] 4261 Roosevelt Way NE in Seattle. 206-634-0919  or [email protected]

“Regeneration” is the title of Michelle Kumata’s mixed media exhibition commemorating the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 which resulted in the forced removal and incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Opening reception is on Wed., February 1, 2022 from 6 – 8pm and again on Thursday, February 2 from 6 – 8pm. The show will be on view from February 2 – March 26, 2022 at the Bonfire Gallery on 603 South Main St. 206-790-1073 or go to www.thisbonfire.com.

Traver Gallery has their “Gallery Artist Group Exhibition” on view through February 26, 2022.  Ceramic artist Ling Chun has a show of new work on view March 3 – 26, 2022.  This Hong Kong-born artist and a beauty school dropout does work that is playful and colorful with equal parts whimsy and a concern for the physicality of materials separating them their stereotypes and cultural references by questioning their authenticity. 110 Union #200 in downtown Seattle. 206-587-6501.

California-based artist Hiroshi Sato focuses in on a contemporary realist oil painting tradition with an interest in the geometric design principles of both the old masters and the new. A show of his recent work is on view through February 26, 2022. Harris/Harvey Gallery at 1915 First Ave. in downtown Seattle. 206-443-3315  or [email protected].

Local sculptor June Sekiguchi has closed 2021 with a flurry of activities including public art projects and future exhibitions. She completed a public art commission at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in her home state of Arkansas in Little Rock. Entitled “Tales of the Land: A Metaphorical Topography”, it follows the blue lit Arkansas River as it weaves its way across the land. Closer to the Northwest, she completed an installation entitled “Glacial Crystals” at Glacier Middle School in Buckley. Commissioned through the Washington State Arts Commission, the sculptures reference the glaciers on Mt. Tahoma and the molecular structure of ice as well as a compilation of Coast Salish vocabulary of shapes in honor of the Puyallup and Muckleshoot Indian tribes native to the region.  An installation currently on exhibit at Foss Waterway Seaport Museum on the Tacoma waterfront will be re-installed at the Vashon Center for the Arts in the Atrium from March 4 – 26, 2022. Sekiguchi is also working at a work –in- progress which is a collaboration with Jonathan Clarren at Tapestry through art consultant Bill Gaylord. The location is an outdoor café at the site of the Curtain Manufacturing Building at 12th & Yesler in Seattle. The design excavates the 4 cultures inhabiting the land from the Indigenous Duwamish, Jewish, Japanese, and African Americans in cultural sedimentary layers. Sekiguchi is represented locally by ArtXchange Gallery of Seattle

Western Washington University instructor and artist/poet Jane Wong makes her Canadian debut in an exhibition with artist duo Mizzonk in an exhibition entitled “NOURISH” which examines the themes of isolation, fear of food shortages, poverty and the importance of mental health. The Richmond Art Gallery (RAG) presents “NOURISH” on display through April 3, 2022 by curator Nan Capogna.  For her Canadian premiere, Wong presents “After Preparing the Altar, The Ghosts Feast Feverishly”, an installation that features an oversized, round dining table that holds bowls containing the fragments of a poem written by the artist.  It pays homage to the artist’s experiences growing up in her family’s Chinese American restaurant in the 1980s and ‘90s and recalls her parent’s history of hunger during the Great Leap Forward in China. Mizzonk (Wan-Yi Lin and Roger Chen) present a new work “Six Acres” which refers to their new rural home. A projected animation produced from watercolor drawings on paper, the work was developed from the duo’s observations of living and working in a rural environment. After experiencing 9/11 from the roof top of their Brooklyn studio; they decided to move outside of an urban center in search of a restorative environment. Mizzonk will give two artist talks with curator Nan Capogna on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 at 2pm  (in English) and on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022 (in Mandarin). Jane Wong leads an in person storytelling workshop for participants to share their own stories about food on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 at 1pm. Limited capacity with registration required.  “BC Family Day” takes place on Feb. 21, 2022 from 11am – 3pm features hands-on art activities and tours for all ages. Local artist Jeni Chen will lead activities to create artwork for a small hand-made book inspired by the exhibition.  Part of the Richmond Children’s Arts Festival.  More details at childrensartfestival.ca. And finally on March 12, 2022 at 1pm, Jane Wong leads a discussion with other “restaurant babies” (those who grew up in their family’s restaurant or store. Registration required with a hosted online Q&A. More information at  richmondartgallery.org. For press kit and images, go to bit.ly/RAGnourish.

Minh Carrico is a local visual artist known primarily for working in photography, graphic design and public art. His new body of work is going online and explores live storytelling with photographs. It’s a four part series of autobiographical monologues that explore his Asian American experiences while living in Arkansas, Texas and New York Appearing on Zoom from 2 – 3pm (PST) on the third Sunday of the month.   The last excerpt “Kings to King” is on Feb. 20, 2022. Instagram link is @minhcarrico or try [email protected] for details. 

The Whatcom Museum opens a couple exhibits related to portraits. At their Lightcatcher Building, the group show “Up Close & Personal: The Body in Contemporary Art” remains on view through February 27. 2022. Curated by Amy Chaloupka from the collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky, this exhibit examines the human body through the expressive lens of 60 artists. Included in this show is work by Long-Bin Chen,  Dinh Q. Le, Susie J. Lee, Hung Liu, Beth Lo, Roger Shimomura, Akio Takamori, Lena Takamori, Samatha Wall, Kumi Yamashita, Wanxin Zhang and many others. The Lightcatcher Building is at 250 Flora St. To complement the exhibition, the museum will also host a companion exhibit at Old City Hall entitled “Artists X Artists” which explores the intimate portraits of artists by artists. On view through  April 10, 2022. That exhibit is drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection. Old City Hall is at 121 Prospect St. 360-778-8930 or try www.whatcommuseum.org. 

“Citizen’s Indefinite Leave” is a new series of intricate paper cutaways by Lauren Iida incorporating historical scenes from the unjust incarceration of 126,000 people of Japanese ancestry in the USA during WWII. Iida was named Artist-in-Residence” with Densho, an organization dedicated to preserving the histories of Japanese Americans. The artworks in this show pay homage to the struggle of Iida’s grandparents and great grandparents and explores the trauma of this era and how it has influenced her own relationship with her Japanese American cultural heritage. On view through February 19, 2022. “Works on Paper” is a group exhibition with art by gallery artists Alan Lau (full disclosure – yes, it’s me), Gilchun Koh, Jiyoung Chung, Donald Cole and Elaine Hanowell. On view February 3 – March 26, 2022. Events include the Pioneer Square Art Walk on Thursday, February 3, 2022 from 5 – 8pm. Go to artxchangegallery.com for details. 512 1st Ave. S.  206-839-0377  or artxchange.org.

“Kenjiro Nomura, American Modernist: An Issei artist’s Journey” is on view at Cascadia Art Museum through February 20, 2022. It is the first exhibition for this Northwest artist in over sixty years. Nomura painted landscapes of Seattle neighborhoods, particularly downtown and the Chinatown/ID before the war and owned Noto Sign Company with another prominent artist Shokichi Tokita. After internment and the end of WWII, Nomura returned with a modern abstract style. He also holds the distinction of being the first artist to receive a solo show at Seattle Art Museum. This show will show the trajectory of his varied career. It is accompanied by a book by historian  Barbara Johns. 190 Sunset Avenue South in Edmonds,Washington.  425-336-4809 or  cascadiaartmuseum.org.

Davidson Galleries has the following –  “Unique Impressions – International Monoprint and Monotype Invitational 2022” is on view through February 26, 2022.  It includes work by Taiko Chandler and Keiko Hara among many others. Opening March 4, 2022 will be “Mariko Ando: Mischief Imaginative” which features hand-colored etchings buy the Japanese artist.  313 Occidental Ave. S. in Seattle. 206-624-7684 or go to davidsongalleries.com.

Seattle Art Museum’s downtown location has the following. “”Folding Into Shape – Japanese Design and Crafts” is on view through September 25, 2022. Creating three-dimensional objects by folding, layering and weaving two dimensional materials is a core concept in Japanese design and crafts.  Ranging from textiles and paintings to ceramics and bamboo baskets, this exhibit serves up various examples from the permanent collection and private holdings. Also on view is “Pure Amusements: Wealth, Leisure, And Culture in Late Imperial China.” Another ongoing show is “Northwest Modernism: Four Japanese Americans” which takes a look at the work of Kenjiro Nomura, Kamekichi Tokita, Paul Horiuchi and George Tsutakawa. Seattle Asian Art Museum has the following. The Saturday University lecture series continues with the following –  Author Yuriko Kuchiki gives a talk entitled “Building Global Markets For Asian Art”  in which she discusses the rise and fall of Yamanaka & Company, once one of the most successful Asian art dealers in the West. Yamanaka’s assets were confiscated by the US government and sold off at the start of WWII. On Saturday, February 12 at 10am. This is a virtual presentation. Go to https://seattleartmuseum.org/visit/calendar/events?Eventid=81917.  On Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 10am at SAAM, catch Dr. Natasha Reichle, Associate Curator of Southeast Asian Art at Asian Art Museum, San Francisco with a talk entitled “Lost At Sea” as she addresses the topic of what art can be salvaged from the sea tell us about the trade and colonial enterprise and who is entitled to centuries-old artworks recovered from shipwrecks?  All talks in-person or online. SAM recently created a new position for a South Asian art curator and the first show on that theme opens on January 14, 2022 and it is entitled “Embodied: South Asian Art Across Time.” “Boundless: Stories of Asian Art” is an ongoing group show re-imagining of items from the museum’s permanent collection of Asian art. “Be/longing: Contemporary Asian Art” is an ongoing show that showcases current trends in contemporary Asian art. In the Fuller Garden Court you will find Kenzan Tsutakawa Chinn’s permanent installation “Gather.” Tsutakawa Chinn is a Seattle-raised, New York-based LED light installation artist. Tour Seattle Art Museum’s Japanese  art collection with curator Xiaojin Wu as she talks about significant pieces in the collection. This appeared in SAM News Nov. 1, 2021 issue WW1.seattleartmuseumorg.  Go to seattleartmuseum.org for details on all this. The Museum’s new Saturday University Series is curated under the theme of “Encountering Asia: Plunderers and Collectors.” Presented with the UW’s Jackson School of International Studies and the Elliott Bay Book Company.  For more information, try https://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/calendar/events?eventid=79691 and for Zoom registration, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YdqRTc64QleaSDWgCt1QRA.  Try [email protected] for more details. There is a video on artist Zhang Huan’s piece “Family Tree” on view at SAAM in the “Be/longing: Contemporary Asian Art” show. To view it, go to samblog.seattleartmuseum.org.  Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park reopens on May 28, 2021. Tickets released every Thursday at 10am. Tickets must be obtained in advance. Capacity is limited.

The Wing Luke Asian Museum reopens on March 5, 2021. Hours are Fridays through Sundays from 10am – 5pm. Reserving tickets online prior to visit is highly encouraged as it is operating at limited capacity.  Current exhibits include the following –. Current exhibit is “Gerard Tsutakawa: Stories Shaped in Bronze” which explores the inspiration, design, and the fabrication process of public sculptures by Gerard Tsutakawa as well as their effect on Seattle physically, socially and culturally.  There are many virtual programs now as well. On view through  April 17, 2022. Ongoing exhibits include the following – “Community Spread: How We Faced a Pandemic”, “Woven Together: Stories of Burma/Myanmar”, “Where Beauty Lies” looks at how Asian Americans look at themselves and measure beauty,“A Dragon Lies Here” is the latest phase of the Bruce Lee exhibit, “The Heart of Our Journey” is a permanent exhibit dedicated to the Asian Pacific American experience, “I Am Filipino” looks at the story of Filipino Americans”, “Hometown Desi” covers the local South Asian experience and “Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial” looks at the Cambodian America  experience and the impact of the Killing fields on that country’s history. There are virtual tours of the museum on weekday mornings. Pre-booking available for private groups. Contact the museum to sign up.  Live virtual tours of the Freeman Hotel on Thursdays at 5pm PDT. Check out what’s in the gift shop with the Museum’s online marketplace. The monthly storytime programs can be watched at www.digitalwingluke.org/programs.

KOBO, a unique shop of arts and crafts from Japan and items made by Northwest artists has two shops in Seattle on Capitol Hill and in the Chinatown/ID/Japantown community downtown.  Masks are required and you must use the provided hand sanitizer upon entering.  30 minute shopping sessions by appointment only at the KOBO on Capitol Hill will soon be made available through an online booking system. Time slots will be limited to keep everyone safe, plus more protective protocols in place to meet safety guidelines. Shipping and curbside pickup is still available by scheduling a Pickup Time at Checkout. They have a new instagram shopping account @koboseattleshop or try their website at  koboseattle.com. Current gallery exhibit features the work of Kate Greiner with paintings of places, moments in time and little portals. KOBO at Higo hours are Wed. – Sat. from 11am – 5pm. The Capitol Hill store is at 814 E. Roy St. and their hours are Tues. – Sat. from 11am to 5pm.  KOBO at Higo is at 604 South Jackson St. in the CID. 

Bellevue Arts Museum has an ongoing collaborative exhibition of innovative glass works by Terri Grant & Purnima Patel entitled “Trace”.  Also on view until April 24, 2022 is “BAM Biennial – 2021 Architecture and Urban Design”, a group show which has work by Satpreet Kahlon, Jonathan Teng, Nina Vichayapal and many others.  Kahlon also has a solo exhibit here set for 2023. 510 Bellevue Way NE in Bellevue, WA. 425-519-0770 or  try bellevuearts.org.

The Pacific Bonsai Museum has the following – “Works In Our Permanent Collection” includes 50 works of bonsai artistry selected from our permanent collection for seasonal display with some autumnal beauties. “Stone Images XI” is on view through January 9, 2022. Use your imagination to see mountains, trees, figures, animals and even deep space when you view 30 stones from six states selected by the Northwest Viewing Stone Club of Puget Sound Association. 2515 South 336th St. in Federal Way, WA. Admission is by donation. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10am – 4pm. 253-353-7345 or email [email protected].

Tacoma Art Museum re-opens April 10th, 2021. “Painting Deconstructed: Selections from the Northwest Collection” includes work by Ed Aulerich-Sugai, Tram Bui, Donnabelle Casis, Paul Horiuchi, Fumiko Kimura, Roy Kiyooka, John Matsudaira, Mark Takamichi Miller, Kenjiro Nomura, Frank Okada, Joseph Park, Roger Shimomura, Maki Tamura, Kamekichi Tokita, George Tsutakawa, Thuy-Van Vu and many others. On view  for an extended time.  1701 Pacific Avenue. 253-272-4258 or go to [email protected].

The Outdoor Sculpture Collection on the campus of Western Washington University in Bellingham is open and accessible to everyone. This is an outdoor collection of major sculptures from the late 20th century to the present and includes work by Do Ho Suh, Sarah Sze and Isamu Noguchi among others. Get a map from the information booth and explore the campus collection for yourself. Call 360-650-3900.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at WSU  is a new art space for Eastern Washington. Inaugural shows include the following – “”Mirror, Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar” on view until March 12, 2022. Also ongoing are “Art & Healing” virtual exhibitions. The museum plans a retrospective exhibition for Eastern Washington artist Keiko Hara for 2022. “Keiko Hara: The Poetics of Space, Four Decades of Paintings” is set for May 2022 – December 2022.  There are a number of activities in which the staff will give tours of the new space. If you are interested, try https:/museum.wsu.edu/about/meet-the-staff. 1535 Wilson Road on the Washington State University campus in Pullman. 509-335-1910 or try [email protected].

The Museum of Vancouver has “A Seat at the Table: Chinese Immigration and British Columbia” which highlights the importance of food and restaurant culture in the Chinese-Canadian immigrant experience. Situated in Vanier Park at 1100 Chestnut St. in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 604-736-4431  or try museumofvancouver.ca.

The Chinese Cultural Centre Museum at 555 Columbia St. in Vancouver B.C. has an ongoing exhibit entitled “Generation to Generation – History of Chinese Canadians in British Columbia”. 604-658-8880 or go to cccvan.com.

Vancouver Art Gallery has “GROWING FREEDOM: The instructions of Yoko Ono/ The art of John and Yoko” which opens October 9, 2021. 750 Hornby St. in Vancouver BC, Canada. Go to https://ww.vanartgallery.bc.ca/.

 “Broken Promises” is a 7 year multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, community engaged project that explores the dispossession of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s. It illuminates the loss of home and the struggle for justice of one racially marginalized community. Opening June 27, 2021 is a group show entitled “Iron Willed: Women in STEM” which features inspirational women such as Irene Uchida, Donna Stricklan and Jocelyn Bell Burnell and their important contributions to the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This exhibit addresses the many structural and cultural barriers that contribute to gender biases and underrepresentation of women in these fields. Also on view is an ongoing exhibit on “TAIKEN: Japanese Canadians Since 1877”. Opening on October 23, 2021 is “SAFE/Home” is a collaboration between Kellen Hatanaka and Alexa Hatanaka. Through the lens of the historic Vancouver Asahi baseball team, these artists explore issues of race, xenophobia, representation and implicit bias that are relevant in both sport and society today. Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre in Burnaby at 6688  Southoaks Crescent. 604-777-7000 or  try nikkeiplace.org.

Canadian artist Matthew Wong lived with autism spectrum disorder and as a teenager, he was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome as well. He struggled with depression his whole life, dying by suicide in 2019. Yet this Toronto-born artist who studied anthropology, specialized in photography and wrote poetry eventually found his calling in painting beginning in 2013. Largely self-taught, he created more than 1,000 works in a span of a few years. Now “Blue View”, an exhibit of more than 40 of his works painted between 2017 – 2019 are on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada. 317 Dundas St. W. On view through  April 18, 2022. 416-979-6648 or  try ago.ca.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene has the following – “Korean Ceramic Culture: Legacy of Earth & Fire” on view through May 8, 2022. “Fit to Print: The Dawn of Journalism – Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Lavenberg & Michels Collection” opens July 31, 2021. “Myriad Treasures – Celebrating the Reinstallation of the Soreng Gallery of Chinese Art” on view through June 30, 2022.  Upcoming exhibition on the work of the late Bay Area artist Hung Liu entitled “Remember This: Hung Liu at Trillium” is on view from February 6 – August 28, 2022. The renowned California artist explores portraits, landscapes and still-lifes that reflect upon history, memory, tradition, migration and social justice. 1430 Johnson Lane in Eugene, Oregon. 541-346-3027.

An exhibition with the ceramic work of the late respected UW art instructor Akio Takamori will be shown with work by Rene Rickabaugh from March 2 – April 2, 2022. Russo Lee Gallery at 805 NW 21st Ave. in Portland. 503-226-2754 or russoleegallery.com.

Blackfish Gallery in Portland is unique in that it is a member-driven collective.  A “New Member” group show of 5 new artists on view through January 29, 2022 includes the work of Sung Park. Longtime Portland artists Robert R.Dozono and Paul Missal share the space with a show of their recent work on view from February 1 – 26, 2022.Dozono integrates garbage with paint to depict tranquil scenes of nature. Paul Missal emphasizes the use of light and rhythm within his still life compositions. Both artists leave a long legsy of contributions to Blackfish Gallery since its inception. There will be a visual artist talk and gallery tour with the artists on Facebook live at 4:30pm on First Thursday, February 3,2022. Go to httpas://www.facebook.com/BlackfishGallery. An artist opening reception at the gallery takes place from 5 – 8pm. 420 NW 9th Ave. Portland, Oregon. 503-224-2634 or go to blackfish.com.

Portland Japanese Garden’s new shows include the following. In the Tanabe Gallery on view through April 17, 2022 from 10am – 3:30pm is “Art of Vitality: Peter Shinbach Bamboo Art Collection”. This Portland resident’s collection showcases some of Japan’s most revered names in Japanese bamboo including Maeda Chikubosai I, Kibe Seiho and Honda Syoryu. The Pavillion Gallery presents “Fashion and Fantasy – The Art of Netsuke Carvings” on view from February 12 – April 17, 2022, 2022. Netsuke are small accessories fashioned from wood, ivory and porcelain. These miniature pieces were used to secure small pouches to men’s pocketless kimonos. From the Coonan Family Collection. 611 SW Kingston Ave.  503-223-1321.

Japanese American Museum of Oregon is now open in a new space.  Current exhibits include the following – “Oregon’s Nikkei: An American Story of Resilence” and “Grace, Grit and Gaman: Japanese American Women Through The Generations” curated by Marsha Matthews and Linda Tamura on view through March 13, 2022. Upcoming shows include the following – “Na Omi Shintani: Dream Refuge for Children Imprisoned”. This Bay Area artist builds a refuge for imprisoned children, whether they be Japanese Americans in WWII concentration camps, American Indian boarding school children or Central American children imprisoned and separated from their families. This show will be on view from April – September of 2022. “Resilence – A Sansei Sense of Legacy” is a group show of eight artists whose work reflects upon the effect of Executive Order 9066 and how it resonated from generation to generation. This group show will be on view from October 1 – December 22, 2022. Artists include Kristine Aono, Reiki Fuji, Wendy Maruyama, Lydia Nakashima Degarrod, Tom Nakashima, Roger Shimomura, Judy Shintani and Jerry Takigawa. The show was co-curated by Jerry Takigawa and Gail Enns. Several online exhibits on the history of Japanese Americans in Oregon can also be viewed. 411 NW Flanders. 503-224-1458 or email [email protected].

Portland Chinatown Museum has the following – Their permanent exhibit is “Beyond the Gate: A Tale of Portland’s Historic Chinatowns.”  On view through March, 2022 is Seattle photojournalist Dean Wong’s photo essay on “The Future of Chinatowns.”  It will look at the gentrification and displacement going on in four West Coast Chinatowns. A series of virtual and live events and public programs are planned around this exhibit. A Zoom interview with the photographer/artist will be available for viewing online shortly. Portland installation artist Roberta Wong has a window installation in memory of Vincent Chin, the Chinese American man killed by two Detroit workers entitled “Vincent”. Portland Chinatown Museum is located at 127 N.W. Third Ave. 503-224-0008 or email [email protected].

The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco has the following currently on view.  “Team Lab: Sketch Ocean.” “Zheng Chongbin: I Look For The Sky.” “After Hope: Vidoes of Resistance.”  “Afruz Amighi: My House, My Tomb.” Site-specific installations – “Momento: Jayashree Chakravarty and Lam Tung Pang.” Outside murals by Channel Miller and Jennifer K.Wofford are visible from Hyde St. Opening December 17, 2021 is “Weaving Stories – Indonesia, The Philippines and Malaysia”. “Seeing Gender” opens January 21, 2022. And coming in the Summer of 2022 is the first major museum retrospective for Bay Area iconic performance artist and visual artist Carlos Villa, a longtime noted instructor at San Francisco Art Institute. The show is entitled “Carlos Villa: Worlds in Collusion”. 200 Larkin St.  San Francisco, CA. 415-581-3500.

The Berkeley Art Museum/PFA has the following.  “Beyond Boundaries: Buddhist Art of Gandhara” on view through March 13, 2022. “Spiritual Mountains: The Art of Wesley Tongson” features eleven paintings by this late Hong Kong artist whose work draws from traditional Chinese paintings and techniques and processes. Shown with historic Chinese brush paintings from the museum’s own collection. On view January 12 – June 14, 2022. 155 Center St. Berkeley, CA 510-642-0808 or go to [email protected].

The San Jose Museum of Art has the following.  A massive installation entitled “Factory of the Sun” by European artist Hito Steyerl  is on view through September 25, 2022. It tells the surreal story of workers whose forced moves in a motion capture studio are turned into artificial sunlight.  The work of the late Bay Area artist Leo Valledor is included in a group show entitled “Break + Bleed” in which the artwork oscillates between ideads of linearity and geometry and overlapping planes of color and form. On view through April 3, 2022.110 South Market St. in San Jose, CA. 408-271-6840.

“Face It: Artists’ Portraits” is a group show on view through February 19, 2022. Curated by Martha Manson, the show includes work by Joe Aki ouye, Karen Nagano, Rick Deragon, Jerry Takigawa, Pamela Takigawa and many others. The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts.  At 4th and Guadalupe in Carmel, CA. An outdoor closing reception is set for Sat., February 19 in the courtyard.

 “Guo Pei: Couture Fantasy” will celebrate the designs of Guo Pei hailed as China’s first couturier and includes more than 80 works from the past two decades highlighting her most important collections shown on Beijing and Paris runways. The exhibition will be on view through September 5, 2022 at The Palace of Legion of Honor in San Francisco. The show was organized by Jill D’Alessandro, curator in charge of  costume and textile arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. 100 – 34th Ave. 415-750-3600 or try https://legionofhonor.famsf.org.

“Hiyao Miyazaki” is a look into the animation creations of this master filmmaker. This exhibition continues on view at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures through June 5, 2022. 6067 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, California.

Japan House Los Angeles has the following – “Kumihimo – The Art of Japanese Silk Braiding” by DOMYO on view through March 6, 2022. In the Hollywood & Highland Building on Level 2 & 5 on 6806 Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles. 1-800-516-0565  or try japanhousela.com.

The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) has the following – Ongoing is “Common Ground – The Heart of Community” which features a WWII Japanese internment camp building. “Mine Okubo’s Masterpiece – The Art of Citizen 13660”,  an exhibition that exhibits all the drawings from the seminal book on camp life by one of its inhabitants, artist Mine Okubo. Besides the drawings from the book, the exhibit also includes the rough sketches and ideas behind the book and a series of colorful figurative works she did in the late post WWII era of her career. Before the artist died, she bequeathed the museum a sizeable chunk of her artistic archive. On view through  February 20, 2022.  Ongoing is “The Interactive Story File of Lawson Ichiro Sakai”, an oral history project in which visitors can ask Japanese American elder Sakai any questions they want about his life and past history such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese internment camps, his service as a soldier in WWII. Opening on February 26, 2022 is “Sutra And Bible-Faith and the Japanese American World War II Incarceration”. The exhibit examines the role that religion played in saving the exiled Japanese American community from despair during the war years. 101 N. Central Ave. in Los Angeles, CA. 213-625-0414.

“Memory, Structure, Scaffold Series” is an installation that looks at the hidden contributions of labor. On view through March 20, 2022. Wede Museum at 10808 Culver Boulevard in Culver, City, California. 310-216-1600 or go to wendemuseum.org.

The USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA has the following –   “Crossroads – Exploring the Silk Road” opens October 22, 2021. This new permanent exhibit tells the story of centuries of cultural exchange stimulated by the movement of travelers and goods along the ancient trade route. In the fall of 2021, a group show entitled “Intervention: Perspectives For a New PAM” will be shown. “Global Asia’s: Contemporary Asian And Asian American Art from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer & the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation” comes to the museum from March – June, 2023. 2680 N. Los Robles Ave.  in Pasadena, CA.  626-787-2680  or [email protected].

 “Hammer Projects: Ho Tzu Nyen” is on view through May 8, 2022. This video and sound installation reinterprets scenes of political uprising and mass demonstrations. The work of Ruth Asawa is included in this group exhibition entitled “A Decade of Acquisitions of Works on Paper” on view from February 13 – May 1, 2022. The Hammer Museum at UCLA. Go to hammer.ucla.edu. 10899 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles.  

The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has the following –  “Weng Family Collection of Chinese Painting: Travel & Home” on view through March 6, 2022. “Tattoos in Japanese Prints” on view through February 20, 2022. “Conservation in Action: Japanese Buddhist Sculpture in a New Light” on view through July 3, 2022. 465 Huntington Ave. Boston, MA. 617-267-9300 or go to mfa.org.

Candace Lin has an exhibit of her installations coming to the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts. February 4 – April 10, 2022. 617 Quincy St. in Cambridge, Mass. On the campus of Harvard University. 617-496-5387 or  try https://carpenter.center.

The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA has the following ongoing exhibits – “South Asian Art”, “Double Happiness Celebration in Chinese Art”, “Japanese Art”, “Japanomania! Japanese Art Goes Global” and finally “Anila Quayyum Agha: All the Flowers Are For Me”. This Pakistani American artist creates precise, stylized floral forms to make a sculptural chamber of light and shadow. Her effort creates a sense of how women can reclaim and safely open up private space to invite others. 161 Essex St. in Salem, MA 816-745-4876 or go to pem.org.

The Minneapolis Institute of Art has the following – “Kamada Shoji: The Art of Change” highlights the work of one of Japan’s most celebrated potters. This first exhibition of his work outside Japan features nearly 50 works from 10 private collections. On view through April 17, 2022. “20 Dances: Japanese Calligraphy Then And Now” through April 10, 2022.  “Amano Kazumi: Prints from the Kimm-Gruffernan Collection is on view through May 29, 2022. This Japanese printmaker was a disciple of the noted folk-art inspired Shiko Munakata but changed his style to favor abstract shapes and bright colors later in his career.  “Shimmering Surfaces: Chinese Lacquer Motifs And Techniques” on view through April 10, 2022.  “Dayanita Singh’s Pothl Khana: Archive Room” shows the photographer challenging the limitations of her media by placing images of cloth-wrapped papers into modular teakwood structures revealing India’s vast bureaucratic archives. On view through April 10, 2022. 2400 Third Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 888-642-2787.

The Walker Art Center has the following –  A sound & video installation  by Twin-Cities-based artist Shen Xin  through July 2, 2022.  “Paul Chan: Breathers” on view from July 27, 2022 – April 22, 2023. And a Pacita Abid retrospective planned for sometime in 2023. 725 Vineland Place, Minneapolis, MN. 612-375-7600 or try [email protected].

The Art Institute of Chicago has the following – “Senju’s Waterfalls for Chicago” remains on view through March 13, 2022. These screen paintings of falling water were created specifically for Gallery 109, the space designed by architect Ando Tadao. Senju tailored the scale and lighting to best suit the distinctive space. The lighting in the gallery is designed to highlight the nature of the falling water in the painting in light and darkness. “Hito Steyerl: Is the Museum a Battlefield?” is an interactive installation by the artist on view through February 28. 2022. “The Golden Age of Kabuki Prints” is a show in two installments. The first part is on view through April 10, 2022. The second installment runs from April 16 – June 26, 2022.  .111 South  Michigan Ave./159 E.  Monroe. Chicago, ILL. 312-443-3600. 

The Cleveland Art Museum has the following on view – “Migrations of Memory – The Poetry and Power of Music” is an installation by Peng Wei in collaboration with the museum. The piece  is surrounded by classical Chinese paintings and instruments from the museum’s collection and addresses the vital role of music and the arts during the Covid 19 pandemic. On view through May 8, 2022. “Popular Art from Early Modern Korea” looks at how that country has challenged the concept of high and low brow art especially in the late 1800s and early 1900s. On view through  April 17, 2022. “Stories in Japanese Art” explores Japanese narrative art with diverse examples from the 1300s to the 1900s. On view  through April 3,2022. “Life and Exploits of Krishna in Indian Paintings” remains on view through February 6, 2022. “Art of the Islamic World” comes from a period of great cultural and geographic expansion with works from Spain, North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, on view through May 31, 2022. Opening February 11, 2022 is “Martial Art of India” on view through August 8, 2022. 11150 East Blvd. Cleveland, Ohio. 261 – 421- 7350 or go to https://www.clevelandart.org.

“Strange Yellow” is a show of paintings and ceramics  by Jiha Moon on view through February 5, 2022 at Derek Ellery Gallery at 300 Broome St, in  New York City. 212-206-6411 or try [email protected]. 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City has the following – “Japan: A History of Style” through April 24, 2022. Roger Shimomura has work in this exhibition.   “Masters and Masterpieces: Chinese Art from the Irving Collection” through June 5, 2022.  “Companions in Solitude- Reclusion and Communion in Chinese Art” through August 14, 2022. “Shell and Resin: Korean Mother-of-Pearl and Lacquer” through July 5, 2022. “Bodhisattvas of Wisdom: Compassion & Power” through October 30, 2022. “Celebrating the Year of the Tiger” through January 17, 2023. 1000 Fifth Ave.  212-535-7710. Go to https://www.metmuseum.org.

Asia Society Museum has the following –  “Rebel, Jester, Mystic, Poet: Contemporary Persians – The Mohammed Afkhami Collection” includes works by more than twenty artists from Iran and its diaspora. “Video Spotlight: Rahraw Omarzad”. “Video Spotlight: Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook”. All three shows on view through May 8, 2022. 725 Park Ave. in New York City.212-327-9721 or try www.asiasociety.org.

Ippodo Gallery has the following – “Layers of Time”, spatial ceramic works by Yukiya Izumita. On view January 13 – February 17, 2022. 32 E. 67th St., 3rd Floor. New York City. +1-(212) 967-4899 or [email protected]

The Rubin Museum of Art announces the 2022 exhibition “Healing Practices: Stories From Himalayan Americans” which highlights the diverse ways that Tibetan Buddhist artworks and practices have served as roadmaps to well-being. The exhibition juxtaposes objects from the museum’s collection with stories from Himalayan Americans, revealing the many ways these living traditions are transformed and adopted for today’s world. On view from March 18, -January 16, 2023. This exhibition was developed in collaboration with a Himalayan American and Asian American Community Advisory Group which includes New York tristate area and DC artists, medical professionals, spiritual leaders, activists, educators and art therapists interested in the intersection between art, healing, and activism. A new podcast premieres on June 8, 2021 entitled “Awaken” hosted by musician/composer Laurie Anderson. It features stories of transformation by Aparna Nancheria, Alok Vaid-Menon, Tara Branch and more.  Get the podcast on RubinMuseum.org/awakenPOD and other major podcast platforms. Mandala Lab” is the Museum’s new interactive space for social, emotional and ethical healing. Designed by Peterson Rich Office, it invites visitors to participate in five unique experiences inspired by a Tibetan Buddhist mandala. Through October 1, 2031.  “Gateway to Himalayan Art” remains on view through June 5, 2023. “Journey Through Himalayan Art” remains on view through January 8, 2024.”150 West 17th St. in New York City. 212-620-5000 or go to rubinmuseum.org.

The Noguchi Museum has the following –  “Noguchi’s Useless Architecture” is a show inspired by his visits to Indian astronomical devices. On view  through May 8, 2022. “Objects of Common Interest: Hard, Soft, And All Lit Up With Nowhere To Go” is a collaboration with Eleni Petaloti & Leonidas Trampoukis of Greece with New York-based studio, Objects of Common Interest on view through February 13, 2022.  There are also various video programs that deal with Noguchi’s history and life that you can view.  9-01,33rd Rd.  Long Island, New York. 718-204-7088.

The Japan Society has the following – “Shiko Munakata: A Way of Seeing”. This is a rarely seen collection of this pioneering woodblock printer who was part of the Japanese folk art “Mingei” movement. It includes visionary artworks including 61 prints on view for the first time since 1965. His works feature scenes from Buddhism, Japanese poetry and the spirit of the deep north where he came from. Through March 20, 2022.    333 East 47th St. New York, New York. 212-263-1258.

Wonju Seo is a contemporary artist who takes the aesthetics, forms and techniques of bojagi (Korean wrapping cloths) and reconfigures them as an abstract textile art for a global audience. See her work in “Travelogue”, an exhibit on view from March 3 – May 27, 2022. She gives an Artist Talk” via video on Wed., April 20, 2022 at 5pm (EST). At the Korea Society located at 350 Madison on the 24th floor. 212-759-7525.  Go to Koreasociety.org for details.

The Chinese American Museum has opened in Washington DC. It’s the only museum in the nation’s capitol dedicated to the Chinese American story – its history, culture and voice.  Currently closed because of COVID. 1218 – 16th St. NW. 202-838-3180  or chineseamericanmuseum.org.

Art Museum of the Americas presents “The Ocean Between Us: Art of Asian Diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean 1945 – Present” now on view indefinitely.  Some of the artists represented include Carlos Runcie Tanaka, Bernadette Persaud, Wilfredo Lam and Sri Irodik Romo. With featured videos by Yukata Toyota and Laura Fong Prosper. Curated by Adriana Ospina. 201 – 18th St. NW in Washington, D.C. For details, go to [email protected] or museum.oas.org.

The National Museum of Asian Art – Sackler/Freer Gallery has the following – Ongoing shows include “Engaging The Senses – Arts of the Islamic World”, “Body Image – Arts of the Indian Subcontinent”. The Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room opens March 5, 2022. “Underdogs and Antiheroes: Japanese prints from the Moskowitz Collection”runs from March 19 – January 29, 2023. “Revealing Krishna: Journey to Cambodia’s Sacred Mountain” goes from April 30 – September 17. 2022. “A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur” runs from November 19 – May 14. 2023. “Mind Over Matter: Zen in Medieval Japan – Calligraphic Paintings from the Museum’s Collection” on view February 26 – July 24, 2022. Freer Gallery of Art,  Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC. Jefferson Drive at 12th St. SW. Try asia.si.edu for details.

“Weaving Splendor: Treasures of Asian Textiles” showcases rarely seen Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Persian costumes and textiles from the museum’s collection. On view through March  6, 2022.  Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  4525 Oak St. in Kansas City, MO. 816-751-1278 or try [email protected]

The New Orleans Museum of Art has the following – “The Pursuit of Salvation: Jain Art from India” through May 15, 2022. The Jain faith of India is older than Buddhism yet is little known outside of India. This exhibit presents sculpture, ink and watercolor drawings and manuscripts that open a window to this fascinating religion.  “Buddha and Shiva, Lotus and Dragon: Masterworks From The Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd Collection at Asia Society” on view through May 31, 2022. One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. 504-658-4100.

The Tate Modern has the following on view – On view, is a show entitled “Carving & Printing” by Singapore-born, London-based artist Kim Lim who displays both his sculpture and prints and the viewer can see how they are interrelated. The Traveling exhibition entitled “Surrealism Beyond Borders” will be on view February 24 – August 29, 2022 at the Tate Modern and will feature work by Japanese artist Koga Harue.   The Tate St. Ives branch museum will also give Thao Nguyen Pham her first UK museum exhibition in February of 2022 on view until May 2, 2022. It will include video, paintings, and mixed media works. Go to tate.org.uk for details on all these.

“Yayoi Kusama: A Retrospective” continues on its world tour with stops in Berlin and Tel Aviv. April 23 – August, 2022. Gropius Bau in  Berlin. Niederkirchner Stra Be7,10963 Berlin. Tel Aviv Museum of Art from November 2 – April 23, 2022. The Golda Meier Cultural &  Art Center, sderot sha’ul HaMelech Blvd., Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. +972-3-6077020.

“100 Years of Mingei: The Folk Crafts Movement” is on view at the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo through February 13, 2022. 3-1 Kitano Marukoen,  Chiyoda City, Tokyo. +81 3-5777-8600.

The first major retrospective of artist Lee Ufan in Tokyo is set to be on view from August 10 – November 7, 2022 at the  National Art Center, Tokyo. This exhibit will then travel on to Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art where it will be on view from December 2022 – February, 2023. “14 Dynasties And A Region: The History and Culture of the Muslim World – The Collection of The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia” is on view through Feb. 10, 2022.   The National Art Center, Tokyo is at   7-22-2 Roppongi Minato-Ku  Tokyo 106-8558. For details, go to https://www.annohideakiten.jp/.

“Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA: Architecture & Environment” is on view through March 20, 2022 at Toto Gallery MA. The exhibit explores the boundaries between building and landscape. In Tokyo, Minato City, Minamiaoyama, 1 Chome-24-3. +81 3-3402-1010.

Ginza Six is a department store that uses different artists to design their interior from floor to ceiling. Currently on view through April 15, 2022 is the Shinto-inspired installation of a deer floating above clouds entitled “Metamorphosis Garden” by Kyoto-based artist Kohei Nawa. Download to a corresponding app and you can see the installation come to life on your cell phone. 6-10 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. https://ginza6.tokyo.e.abf.hp.transer.com/news/94805.

 “Vivo Video: The Art and Life of Shigeko Kubota”. Kubota made work that some called video sculpture. I once saw her refreshing ode to Duchamp   at Hara Art Museum which consisted of bicycle wheels with video monitors attached.  This retrospective consists of drawings and documents found in her own archives along with works culled from Japanese collections. On view through  February 23, 2022. Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo at 4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto Ku, Tokyo, Japan. +81-50-5541-8600 (Hello Dial).

“Ohmori Akio: Sculpture Works” is on view through February 6, 2022. Includes works in wood & metal and images of living creatures. At Paramita Museum  at 21-6 Obaneen Matsugaecho, Komono, Mie District, Mie Japan. +81 59-391-1088.

Japanese historian Meher McArthur  has curated a touring group exhibit entitled “Washi Transformed: New Expressions In Japanese Paper” which features the work of nine contemporary Japanese artists which include Hina Aoyama, Eriko Horiki, Kyoko Ibe, Yoshio Ikezaki, Kakuko Ishii, Yuko Kimura, Yuko Nishimura, Takaaki Tanaka, and Ayomi Yoshida. The exhibit tours over 6 cities across the United States beginning in October of 2021.The lone West Coast date thus far is at Mingei International Museum in San Diego, CA. October 13, 2023 – January 7, 2024. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

 “House of Slay” is a digital comic based on real-life Asian Americans in the fashion industry – Prabal Gurung, Phillip Lim, Laura Kim, Tina Leung and Ezra J. William. The group of friends originally banded together to see if they could do something to fight the anti-Asian hate sweeping the country during Covid 19. Turned into superheroes by the EEP creative team of writer Jeremy Holt, cover artist Kevin Wada, colorist Kimi Lee, artist Soo Lee, Letterer AndWorldDesign and editor Alex Lu, “House of Slay” follows these real life friends on a fantastic adventure as they use their newfound abilities to face off against a villain powered by the hatred of everyday people.  It launched on November 11, 2022. Go to httpa://tapas.io/series/house-of-slay/info.  Goes weekly on Thursdays at 3pm (EST). Produced by Einhorn’s Epic Productions.

The Metropolitan Museum in New York City. Opening at the museum on June 7, 2022 is “Kimono Style: The John C. Weber Collection” which traces the transformation of the kimono from the late Edo period (1615-1868) through the early 20th century.

Performing Arts

Enjoy a Chinese New Year Online Variety Show brought to you by China Institute. On February 8, 2022 at 7:30pm (EST). Celebrate with music, drums and a Year of the Tiger talk in China Institutes free virtual variety show for adults. Go to https://www.chinainstitute.org/event/chinese/chinese-new-year-online-variety-show.

The Sockz Theatre comprised of Christian Perry and Eric Tsuchiyama have a short film in the “Icing on the Cake” program of shorts as part of the Children’s Film Festival Seattle at NWFF running from February 11 – 20, 2022. As part of that festival, they do a workshop online called Creative Storytelling” on February 20 at 1pm. Go to childrensfilmfestivalseattle.org for details on the workshop and the festival.

Sata Porkalob is bringing part II of her Dragon Cycle entitled “Dragon Mama” to Café Nordo.  From February 11- 27, 2022,  “Dragon Lady” will begin showing in repertory with an option to catch both shows on select dates. “Dragon Mama” is presented  at Café Nordo until February 13, 2022. Unlike Nordo’s immersive events, both “Dragon Lady” and “Dragon Mama” will not include a meal service during the shows. Instead, patrons have the choice to upgrade their experience for a pre-show prix fixe dinner of Filipino cuisine, created by the NY Times restaurant list for 2021, Chef Aaron Verzosa of Archpilago. Dinner will be served in Nordo’s second venue, The Knife Room. Last chance to catch  Sara Porkalob and her productions as she leaves for New York to do work on Broadway in the fall. Café Nordo is at 109 South Main in Pioneer Square. Email them at [email protected] for details on tickets or you can leave a voice mail at 206-209-2002.

Pork Filled Productions present announce their new season. Some productions to look forward to in the upcoming season include – “Slow Cooker Unleased! PNW Lore” set for Feb. or March, 2022. Alive workshop presentation of 3 new works by local BIPOC artists. Co-produced with Café Nordo in Nordo’s Knife Room. “Miku And The Gods” by Julia Izumi from June 16 – July 3rd, 2022. This is a co-presentation with ArtsWest developed in Unleashed 2020. “She Devil Of The China Seas” by Roger Tang set for July 2022. A full live production at Theatre Off Jackson, developed in Unleashed 2017. “PFP’s First Devised Show  –  2022 Cohort Auditions”. Follow us for auditions announcement, the cohort will devise a full production for 2023. For more details, email [email protected]

For their new season, Khambatta Dance Company invites Nagdev Dance Arts from Mumbai, India to collaborate for a week. Performances open March 4, 2022 and run two weekends through March 12. The two companies will swap and combine dancers. Choreographers Khaambatta and Naagdev will exchange and collaborate. Look for details soon. 

Local queer Korean American comic Stefanie Nam of Caracol Productions aims to create community through comedy and spaces by and for under represented people. She continues to present comedy shows at Distant Worlds Coffeehouse at Roosevelt and 65th with an Open mic set for January 26, 2022 and 2nd Thursdays at Olmstead on Broadway at 314 Broadway E. through March 20, 2022. For more details on the shows, try [email protected] or go to www.etsy.com/shop/CaracolCreative.

 Town Hall Seattle has also announced their 2021/22 “Global Rhythms Series”. Of particular interest to our readers are the following –Ak Dan Guang Chil serves up dynamic Korean shamanic folk-pop music on Friday, June 17, 2022 at 7:30pm (PST).  1119 8th Avenue. 206-504-2857. To get tickets and find out the complete schedule, go to townhallseattle.org.

Edmonds Center for the Arts has revealed their upcoming season. Events of interest to our readers might be the following – The Ensemble Mik Nawooj do two concerts. The first will be an education matinee on February 10, 2022 at 10am and the evening concert on the same day at 7:30pm (PST). The annual favorite, “Masters of Hawaiian Music” returns on March 26, 2022 at 7:30pm (PST). 410 Fourth Ave. N. in Edmonds,WA. 425-275-9595.

With the opening of theatres across the country, Lauren Yee – one of the nation’s most staged playwrights is having a revival of her play production from coast to coast.  In the Northwest, “The Great Leap” about a Chinese American basketball player and his team in Beijing just before Tiananmen Square happens is on stage at Portland Center Stage/Artists Repertory Theatre. Directed by Zi Alikhan.  Now through February 13, 2022. 503-241-1278 or try [email protected] 

STG Productions operates out of several theatres in the city and they have announced their up and coming 2021-22 live-in-person schedule.   On Monday, February 14, 2022, catch Yamato Drummers of Nara, Japan who will shake the rafters with their giant taiko drums at the Moore Theare. Go to STG.org for details.

“Create Your Own Series”, choose any 5 concerts and save on Seattle Symphony’s upcoming “live-in-person” 2021-22 season. Some highlights include the following –The piano duo HOCKET plays “(UNTITLED) 2022”, the second part of a two-part program dedicated to a hopeful future emerging from the pandemic. This program includes new works by composers Hitomi Oba and Jonathan Richards set for February 25, 2022.  “Ragamala: A Journey into Hindustani Music” on March 18, 2022 is part of the  “Octave 9 Emerging Artists” series curated by Seattle Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence Reena Esmail and featuring virtuoso Indian violinist Kala Ramnath. The annual “Celebrate Asia” series returns on March 20, 2022 with Kahchun Wong conducting. Soloists include Kala Ramnath on Indian violin and Ko-ichiro Yamamoto on trombone. Yamamoto plays in a program of work by Yoshio Hosokawa and, Tan Dun which is a Seattle Symphony co-commission and U.S. Premiere along with Seattle Symphony Composer-in-Residence Reena Esmail’s  “Violin Concerto” written for and with Kala Ramnath, also a Seattle Symphony co-commission and World Premiere.  Pianist Lang Lang returns on behalf of his recent recording of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations” in a concert entitled “Lang Lang in Recital” on March 22,2022. The dynamic pianist Yuja Wang performs “Yuja Wang in Recital” on April 1, 2022 and Japanese virtuoso pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii comes to perform “Nobuyuki Tsujii in Recital” on April 12, 2022. Musicians of the Seattle Symphony perform “Wynton Marsalis: A Fiddler’s Tale Suite” as well as Portland-based composer Kenji Bunch’s “String Circle” and Anton Arensky’s “String Quartet No. 2” on May 3, 2022. In related news, a recent hire at Seattle Symphony is viola player Olivia Chew.  She was most recently a member of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for six seasons. 206-215-4747 or go to seattlesymphony.org. 

Asian American guitarist and composer Gregg Belisle-Chi tours the West Coast with New York saxophonist Tim Berne. They appear on Thursday, March 3, 2022 at 7:30pm at The Royal Room. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts and now based in Brooklyn, Belisle-Chi will perform with Berne from their new collaboration entitled “Mars” (Intakt Records). He also has a solo recording of acoustic guitar interpretations of Berne compositions entitled “Koi” (Relative Pitch Records). Opening the evening is Vancouver BC based guitarist Gordon Grdina who will perform from his latest recording entitled “Gordon Grdina: The Music of Tim Berne: Oddly Enough” (AttaBoyGirl Records). 5000 Rainier Ave.  Presented  by Earshot Jazz. For tickets, please go to royalroomseattle.org.

“When We Wake” is the apt title of Arts West’s new 2021-22 season with six new stories and six Seattle premieres. Coming later in the season is “Miku, and the gods” which is another world premiere by Julia Izumi. An epic adventure that braids friendship, death, memory, time, rhythm and power in the story of a group of gods whom must journey to the underworld and back. Runs June 16 – July 3, 2022. Go to artswest.org for more details.

UW Professor and jazz trumpeter/composer Cuong Vu performs in a duo with his musical partner, percussionist/drummer Ted Poor on Monday, February 26, 2022 at The Royal Room as part of the South Hudson Music Project. 5000 Rainier Ave. S. in Seattle.  Go to royalroomseattle.org.

Mukai Farm & Garden on Vashon Island offer an activity program called “Japanese Crafternoon” where every month, visitors are invited to try their hands at a different Japanese craft. All ages are welcome. It happens every third Sunday from 1pm to 5pm. February 20 introduces the art of simple hand painted postcards known as Etegami. On March 20, learn about Temari, the art of making beautiful ornaments out of fabric. On April 17 learn Kumihimo or the art of braiding thread to make a decorative cord. All free but donations are welcome. 18017 – 107th Ave. SW on Vashon Island. 

Henry Art Gallery and Jack Straw Cultural Center present “Sonolocations – A Sound Works Series” in conjunction with Murmurations. Participants are composers Byron Au Yong (available starting June 4, 2021), Chenoa Egawa (available starting July 2, 2021) and Bill & Naima Lowe (available starting August 8, 2021).  All works available at henryart.org and jackstraw.org as well as soundcloud and other pod cast platforms.

UW School of Drama has announced their 2021-2022 public season. Among their selections, they will produce Christopher Chen’s “Passage” May 19 – 29, 2022. Adrienne Mackey will direct. 206-543 -5140.

Pacific Northwest Ballet & PNB School present the following – In their 2021-2022 season of live performances in McCaw Hall will be a world premiere by choreographer Robin Mineko Williams in a program entitled “Plot Points” set for March 18 – 27, 2022.For complete details, go to PNB.org/DigitalSubscription or call 206-441-2424 or try www.PNB.org..

The UW Meany Center For The Performing Arts has announced a welcome return to live performance starting October 13, 2021 when their 2021-2022 season begins. Season tickets are now on sale and single tickets will go on sale September 7, 2021. Some performers include the following – In the “Chamber Music Series”, Wu Han, Philip Setzer and David Finckel perform on Wed., Feb. 16, 2022 at 7:30pm. George Li, a promising young concert pianist performs on Feb. 18, 2022 at 7:30pm. Included in this program is Qigang Chen’s Peking Opera inspired “Moments”. Concert pianist Joyce Yang takes the stage on May 3, 2022 at 7:30pm. Online ordering of tickets at MeanyCenter.org or  call 206-543-4880.

Freehold Theatre Lab/Studio now located in the CID continues their classes in various aspects of the theatre both virtual and in-person.   For a list of current classes, go to freeholdtheatre.org for details or call 206-595-1927. 

Go to Nonsequiter’s website to listen to free links by local musicians performing original music at waywardmusic.org.  Carol J. Levin on electric harp engages in a series of “Duo Improvisations” with Susie Kozawa who plays various sound objects. Jackie An performs music for violin and electronics. Sovan is an ambient music duo featuring songwriter Tomo Nakayama and film composer Jeramy Koepping. Classically trained pianist and designer Tiffany Lin plays a piano program of originals in this series. Local sound artist Susie Kozawa has a piece she did invoking the space at the Chapel. Percussionist/composer Paul Kikuchi explores new music. Choreographer/dancer/singer Haruko Crow Nishimura performs a new vocal piece. Other performers include Leanna Keith, Nordra, Ahmed Yousefbeigi, Mother Tongue with Angelina Baldoz, trumpeter Cuong Vu and drummer Ted Poor, the wife/husband classical duo of Melia Watras and Michael Jinsoo Lim, Joshua Limanjaya Lim, Rahikka & James Lee, Kaoru Suzuki and Chris Icasiano with more to follow. The Chapel Performance Space at Good Shepherd Center has re-opened and is now booking again various kinds of adventurous/experimental music. Go to waywardmusic.org for details.

City Opera Vancouver has the world premiere of a new opera entitled “Chinatown” with the libretto by Madeleine Thien and music by Alice Ping Yee and the Hoisan translation by Paul Yee. It’s a story of family and neighborhood, racism and resistance and history and tomorrow. It will run from September 13 – 17, 2022. For a sneak peek, go to cityoperavancouver.com.

The Oakland-based hip-hop orchestra Ensemble Mik Nawooj will celebrate the release of their new album ,”Death Becomes Life” with a Northwest tour prior to their Edinburgh Fringe debut in Scotland. Led by South Korean composer/artistic director Joo Wan Kim, the group includes classical musicians, a hip hop MC and a turf dancer in an effort to create a new kind of radically inclusive concert music. Mik Nawooj appear in concert on February 3, 2022 at Washington Center for the Arts in Olympia, February 5, 2022 at Tacoma Arts Live in Tacoma, February 8, 2022 at Hult Center for the Arts in Eugene, Oregon and February 10, 2022 at Edmonds Center for the Arts in Edmonds. For more information on this tour, go to miknawooj.com.

 “Ngu Ngay Ngay Ngay Tan The” (Sleeping Through the Apocalypse)  is a 2021 album by Ran Cap Duoi, an electronic music group from Vietnam. 

Film & Media

G-Kids presents “Belle” a new animated feature film by Mamoru Hosoda. The film tells the story of a shy high school student living in a rural village. But when she enters a virtual world, she escapes into her online persona, “Belle” who is a gorgeous, beloved singer. But when her concert is interrupted by  a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes, Belle tries to uncover the identity of this monster and discover her own true self along the way. Screening locally at Northwest Regal Cinemas and the Crest.

The Beacon screens “Goodby Dragon Inn” February 5 – 8, 2022. This is Tsai Ming-liang’s look at the fading glory of cinema as a small movie theatre shuts down while screening a martial arts classic in the rain. 206-420-seat or email [email protected]

Northwest Film Forum screens the following –   A beautifully restored digital transfer of the classic film of swordplay and martial arts, King Hu’s “Dragon Inn” screens on Wed., February 2 at 7pm (PDT) in-person only.  A young man briefly meets various characters over the course of a few days never having enough time to get into a proper conversation.  This is the premise of Hong Sangsoo’s “Introduction” which he not only directed but did the cinematography for as well. Screens in-person only. February 2 – 6, 2022.  “Luana – A Yak in The Classroom” by Pawo Choyning Dorji follows a disillusioned young school teacher who walks out into the countryside of Bhutan to a remote school with no electricity and no blackboard. Screens February 11 – 18 at 7:30pm (PST). In-person only.  “A Night of Knowing Nothing” is the debut film of Payal Kapadia. It is screened in-person only February 25 – 27, 2022 .  It weaves archival footage with student protest videos to tell the story of a student writing to her distant lover while he is away. An essential document of contemporary India and of youth fighting the injustice of our time.  Tsai Ming-liang’s valentine to the closure of the classic movie theatre entitled “Goodbye Dragon, Inn” screens March 2 – 3, 2022. It looks at a movie theatre on a rainy last night and its audience as it screens a martial arts classic. The Children’s Film Festival Seattle is the largest festival on the West Coast dedicated to children’s films from over 50 countries. Screening February 11 – 20, 2022. Go to bit.ly/cffs2022 or  childrensfilmfestivalseattle.org for details.   1515 12th Ave. on Capitol Hill. 206-329-2029 or go to www.nwfilmforum.org.

SIFF Uptown presents the following.  Jonas Poher Rasmussen directs an animated feature film entitled “Flee” in which he documents the harrowing journey of an Afghan friend, forced to flee his country and cross borders to seek safe haven. An award-winner  from Sundance. Screens February 2 – 8, 2022. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” screens February 2 – 10 and tells the tale of an actor/director whose wife dies. He accepts an invitation to direct a Chekov play in another city and must take on a woman chauffeur to drive him around the town. Both characters are wounded souls who must confront their own pain to heal. 511 Queen Anne Ave. N. 206-464-5830.

“Movies @ Mukai” is a film series screening February – April 2022 at Mukai Farm on Vashon Island. On February 10, catch “Inuyashiki” in which a terminally ill salaryman and a high schooler are reborn as combat cyborgs after an alien encounter.  “Shoplifters” screens on March 10, 2022  at 7pm. It follows a dysfunctional band of outsiders who unite as family to survive through petty theft. When they adopt a young girl and their son is arrested, secrets are exposed that upend their tenuous existence. “The Scythian Lamb” screens on April 14 at 7pm. Suffering from population decline, a small seaside town decides to welcome six strangers into their community. But when truths come out about the strangers and their mysterious past and a body is found in the harbor, suspicions arise. Free but donations welcome. 18017 107th Ave. SW on Vashon Island.

As part of their Cinema East Series, the Pickford Film Center in Bellingham screens one day only, Chang-dong Lee’s “Secret Sunshine”. This Korean film tells the story of a widow who returns to her late husband’s hometown to settle down only to be met with more tragedy. On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 6pm. To purchase advance tickets, go to pickfordfilmcenter.org. 1318 Bay St. in Bellingham. 360-738-0735.

The 2022 Seattle Asian American Film Festival takes place March 3 – 6, 2022. Featured film will be “Beloved”, the story of a couple who fall in love but must change things when their picture-perfect marriage goes stale. Includes films by up and coming filmmakers from across the country with an emphasis on Northwest filmmakers.  For details, try https://seattleaaff.org.

Oliver Hermann’s “Living” is a remake of the Akira Kurosawa classic “Ikiru”, the story of a minor bureaucrat who changes his life when he receives a death sentence from a doctor. Stars Bill Nighy as the main character. The film was a hit at Sundance and has been picked up by Sony Pictures for distribution. Screenplay written by noted author Kazuo Ishiguro. 

“The Exiles” is a documentary film about three exiled dissidents from the Tiananmen Square massacre. It won the Grand Jury Prize for “Best U.S. Documentary Film” at Sundance. Directed by Ben Klein and Violet Columbus who follow documentary filmmaker Christine Choy as she tracks down the exiled dissidents to bring closure to an abandoned film project she started in 1989 but never finished.

 “Poupelle of Chimney Town” is a new animated feature film directed by Yusuke Hirota in theatres now. Adapted by Akihiro Nishino from his picture book of the same name, the story is about a lonely boy who works as a chimney sweep and his first friend, a creature made of trash.

“Nine Days” is an American supernatural drama film written and directed by Japanese Brazilian director Edson Oda. It stars Wilson Duke as an arbiter who interviews five unborn souls to determine which one can be given life on earth. The cast includes Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, Bill Skarsgard, David Rysdahl and Arianne Ortiz. Released by Sony Pictures on DVD, Blue-ray and digital download platforms such as Prime Video.

“Flee” is the award-winning full-length animated feature that was a Sundance award-winner. It tells the story of an Afghan man who fled the country as a child, bouncing from place to place in the world, looking for refuge. Opens December 3, 2021 in theatres.

 “Memoria” is a 2021 film by Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It stars Tilda Swinton as a British ex-pat in Columbia who becomes ill with a respiratory complaint. One night she wakes up from her sleep from a strange banging sound that nobody else seems to be able to hear. It is distributed in the US by NEON which began a theatre release plan in which the film will screen at one theatre at a time for successive weeks.

 “Minnal Murali” is a Malayali super hero film based in the South Indian state of Kerala as directed by Basil Joseph. When lightning strikes two men at the same time, people wonder which of the two men is the superhero of the film’s title. As stakes rise, what appears on the surface as a superhero action film turns into a charming provincial comedy. Stars Tovine Thomas and Guru Somasundaram as the rivals. Streaming on Netflix.

MUBI presents the following – Lee Myung-se’s 2000 cops and gangster’s film “No Where to Hide” lets you follow a cop in his grinding pursuit of a mobster as the director deftly moves you through a barrage of genres and styles that keep the viewer from getting too comfortable or bored.“Parched 2015 film by Leena Yadan that looks at the rich and complex fates of rural women in India and their urge to survive against all odds. Based on real-life stories. Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2020 release “Wife of a Spy” is a riveting tale of cloaked identities and marital distrust during the Japanese colonial era in China during WWII. “The Works And Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) by C.W. Winter and Anders Edstrom. This 2020 documentary film takes a deep look into the rural life of a Japanese women and the rituals of the everyday in the countryside. MUBI presents a double-bill of films by Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-Sheng. “Days” is a 2020 film about kinship, healing and curative connections that tingles with anticipation. “Afternoon” from 2015 explores the relationship between filmmaker and muse as they engage in an engaging conversation. Julien Faraut’s 2021 documentary film “The Witches of the Orient” is the story of a group of Japanese female factory workers who became Olympic champions.  “Winter’s Night” is Jang Woo-jin’s 2018 film which is a nocturnal rumination on love and midlife crisis that alternates between contemplation and magical realism. In Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s 2018 film “Blue”, an insomniac lies in  bed as theatrical backdrops unveil themselves and her sheet catches aflame. Filed during 12 nights in the heart of a Thai forest. Go to [email protected] to find out about this film streaming service where you can rent these films.

Andrew Phung, who starred as Arnold, friend to the estranged son (Simon Liu) on the hit TV series, “Kim’s Convenience” gets his own series for CBC entitled “Run the Burbs” which premieres on January 5, 2022.  Phung plays a stay-at-home dad with a breadwinner wife played by South Asian actress Rakhee Morzaria. The family is rounded out with Roman Pesino playing a precocious preteen son and Zoriah Wong who portrays a queer teenage daughter. “run the Burbs” has been signed for a 12-episode season run.

“The End Game” is a new drama series directed by Justin Lin set to aire in February, 2022 on MSNBC.

“A Shot Through The Wall” by Aimee Long is a new film about a Chinese American police officier who accidentally shoots an innocent Black man. Facing trial, he wades through his gult as he navigates the complexity of media, ustice, racial politics and his own mortality. Stars Kenny Leu and Tzi Ma. Presented by Vertical Distribution.

The Written & Spoken Arts

Townhall Seattle presents in-person and in a live stream a talk by author Vidya Krishnan with Amber Payne on Thursday, February 17, 2022  at 7:20 (PST). She will speak about  “The Past, Present, and Future of Tuberculosis” based on her book entitled “Phantom Plague: How Tuberculois Shaped History” (Public Affairs). Co-sponsored by Third Place Books. In the Forum. From their “In The Moment Podcast” on Monday, February 21, 2022 at 1pm (PST), Stanley Shikuma talks with Jasmine Pulido on the topic of “Stop Repeating History: Tsuru for Solidarity”. TFS is a nonviolent, direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates working to end detention sites and support front-line immigrant and refugee communities that are being targeted by racist, inhumane immigration policies. On Wed., March 9, 2022 at 7:30pm in person and live streamed, hear Laura Shin, author of “The Cryptonians” (Public Affairs) as she reveals a more human side to crypto,  introducing readers to the personal quests of the idealists, technologists and opportunists fighting to bring cryptocurrency to the masses.

Hugo House, a Seattle-based literary center that offers readings and writing classes offers a full slate of Fall & Winter writing classes for all levels. Some classes are in person or on a learning platform or via ZOOM. Go to hugohouse.org for complete details. Some examples include the following – “Poetry 1 (ASYNCHRONOUS) taught by Michelle Penaloza. 6 sessions. 02/10/2022. “What To Do With Your Memoir”. 1 session taught by Anne Liu Kellor. 02/12/2022. 10am PST. “You Yourself Are The Beloved: Writing with South Asian Sufis” taught by Shankar Narayan. 2 sessions. Starts 2/26/2022. 10 am PST.  “Hermit Crab Forms For Poets & Prose Writers”. 1 session taught by Dinuba Ahmed. Teaches you how to use borrowed structures to reveal your own emotional truths. 03/08/22.  1:10pm PST. “Haunted: Incorporating Found Text in Poetry Using Erasure & Collage” taught by. One session  03/10/22. 1:10pm PST. Taught by Tiana Nobile.  “Leaps And Swerves: Creative Surprise in Poetry”. 1 session taught by Dilruba Ahmed. 03/29/2022. 10am PST.

Elliott Bay Book Company has a full slate of events in their virtual reading series. Here are a few. Poet, editor and prose writer and esteemed University of Oregon Professor Garrett Kaoru Hongo talks to friend and fellow writer/editor/filmmaker Frank Abe about his new book entitled “The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo (Pantheon). This is a poet’s memory of music that has influenced him, the search for the best audio equipment, and the poetic journeys he takes through life to get to where he now stands.  Abe is the co-author of a new graphic novel on Japanese American resistance to the internment entitled “We Hereby Refuse: (Chin Music Press/Wing Luke). On Monday, February 21 at 6pm (PST). For making reservations to the virtual events, go to elliottbaybook.com and click on the “events” page or call 206-624-6600 or toll-free at 1-800-962-5311.  All events are virtual for the time being. The bookstore remains open.

On Tuesday, February 9, 2022 at 9am, catch Masuma Ahuja when she talks about her new anthology entitled Girlhood: Teens Around the World in Their Own Voices” (Workman).  On UBS  Social Media. For details, go to www2.bookstore.washington.edu.

The King County Library System presents a “Meet the Author” talk with Diana Ma. This online event takes place on Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 6:30pm. Ma will discuss the importance of Asian American representation in children’s books drawing upon her own experience as an author of Young Adult/Middle Grade books. Registration is required. Contact Pam at [email protected]. Tacoma sumi artist Fumiko Kimura joins David Berger as he discusses his book on Kimura’s life and art entitled “Persimmon and Frog: The Story of Sumi Artist Fumiko Kimura” (Chin Music Press). On Wed., March 9, 2022 at 7pm.  This is an online event. 425-885-1861 or email [email protected]

Mukai Farm & Garden presents a special commemoration on February 19, 2022 which will mark the 80th anniversary of Executuve Order 9066 which sent Japanese Americans along the West Coast to internment camps during WWII. Special guests will be Frank Abe and Tamiko Nimura, authors of a graphic novel on the subject entitled “We Hereby Refuse – Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration” on February 19 at 4pm on Zoom. To register go to tinyurl.com/y6ph62a9. For more information, try mukaifarmandgarden.com.

Seattle Arts & Lectures has announced their schedule for their 2021/22 season. All single tickets and subscriptions are on sale now. Go to [email protected] or call 206-621-2230. Our readers may be interested in the following –  Ed Yong, Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist and staff writer at The Atlantic and author of “I Contain Multitudes” will speak on Thursday, February 10, 2022 at 7:30pm (PST).  At Town  Hall Seattle. Charles Yu, author of the award-winning novel “Interior Chinatown” talks on Tuesday, February 15, 2022 at 7:30pm (PST) at Benaroya Hall – S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium. Writer Mira Jacob appears in person and online on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 at 7:30pm (PST) at Town Hall Seattle. Jacob is the author of the graphic memoir, “Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations”.  Poet and noted translator of Korean feminist poets, Don Mee Choi speaks with Stefania Heim on Thursday, April 17, 2022 at 7:30pm (PST). At Hugo House’s Lapis Theatre. Choi is the author of “Hardly War” and “DMZ Colony” both on WAVE Books.

Humanities Washington has announced their 2021 – 2023 Speakers Bureau Roster with presentations ranging from the personal to the global. Public presentations are free and will start July 1, 2021. Some speakers include the following – Under “Arts & Literature”, Deepti Agrawal will speak on “The Ancient Art Of Madhubani Painting.” Under “History”, Julie Pham speaks on “Hidden Histories: The South Vietnamese Side of the Vietnam War.” Under “Life & Culture”, Lori Tsugawa Whaley talks about “The Samurai Code: How Bushido Changes Lives”. Under “Race & Identity”, Michelie Liu talks about “Laughing Matters: Asian Americans, Comedy And Inclusion”  and Rals Bhulyan speaks about being shot by a White supremacist in “One Second of Hate: A Story of Forgiveness” and how he learned to forgive. To reserve an online virtual program, contact [email protected]. For more information, try [email protected].

There will be a celebration of the book release for “Collected Verse of Joaquin Legaspi” on Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 2pm. The event will be held on the 3rd floor of the San Francisco Main Library in the African American Center Exhibit Space. The late poet was a respected elder in the Filipino American community and part of the International Hotel struggle in San Francisco. Speakers will include Jovina Navarro, Juanita Tamayo Lott and Estella Habal. Go to http://sfpl.org/events/2022/02/19/celebration-book-release-manong-joaquin-collected-verse-joaquin-legaspi.

Seattle author Peter Bacho does a virtual reading from his forthcoming book of essays on the Filipino American community in Seattle entitled “Uncle Rico’s Encore: Mostly True Stories of Filipino Seattle” (set for Spring 2022 release by UW Press). After the reading, he will engage in conversation with Professor Lily Ann Villaraza. On Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 3pm. Coordinated by San Francisco Main Public Library. Go to [email protected] or try [email protected]

Wasabi Press presents the Yonsei Memory Project which hosts a virtual Day of Remembrance Artist Showcase on February 18, 2022 from 5 to 6pm (PST). This evening of remembrance, storytelling and imagination highlights the work of three yonsei artists including photographer Kristen Murakoshi, comic artist Sam Nakahira and author Maggie Tokuda-Hall. This zoom event is open to all ages. This evening will be  hosted by Nikiko Masumoto, Patricia Miye Wakida and Brynn Saito. For details, go to https://www.yonseimemoryproject.com/dor2022. This event is made possible by The California Wellness Foundation and individual community donors.

EAST WIND BOOKS in Berkeley, California remains one of the most comprehensive bookstores in the country for Asian American and Asian titles. They are sponsoring the following free virtual events.   For this year’s Day of Remembrance, Seattle’s Frank Abe, author of  “WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration” appears on Sunday, February 13 at 3pm (PST) to talk about the book with Kathleen Purcell, Wayne Collins Jr. and Sadako Kashiwagi. The talk moderator is Darren Murrata. This event is in person at Oakland Asian Cultural Center and simultaneously livestreamed to OACC’s YouTube Live channel.  RSVP at weherebyrefuse.eventbrite.com. Andrew Way Leong talks to author Naomi Hirahara about her Japanese American mystery set just after WWII entitled “Clark & Division” on Friday, February 25, 2022 at 3:30pm (PST). Free Zoom event. RSVP at clarkanddivision.eventbrite.com. A book talk and panel discussion on the anthology “Contemporary Asian American Activism – Building Movements for Liberation with Diane J. Fujino, Robyn Magalit Rodriguez, Ga Young Chung, Eddy Zheng and Rhonda Ramiro. On Monday, February 28, 2022 at 3:30pm (PST). RSVP for this free Zoom event at asamactivism.eventbrite.com. To get more details on these events, email [email protected] or go to asiabookcenter.com. 

Congratulations to Bay Area poet Genny Lim who received the Reginald Lockett Lifetime Achievement Award at the 32nd Annual PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Literary Awards. Lim has had a rich and rewarding career as a poet who with her numerous volumes of poetry, her influence as a teacher and performer that has inspired and earned the respect of her peers and the community.

You & Me Books is Manhattan’s first Asian American woman-owned bookstore/café. It opened in the mid-December 2021 and is owned by Lucy Yu who got support from a Go fund me campaign. 44 Mulberry St. 646-559-1165. Instagram page @youandmebooks.

Join Korea Society in a live webcast conversation with author Yoon Choi whose book “Skinship” tells stories of characters in various relationships at the b reaking point of tenderness and disappointment. On Thursday, April 28, 2022 at 6pm (EST). Go to koreasociety.org for details.

The University of Washington Press is seeking writers working on a manuscript or new book proposal. UW Press editors are eager to connect with current and prospective authors about new projects and book proposals. Contact them via email of set up a meeting by phone or Zoom. Executive Editor is Lorri Hagman at [email protected].

Below is a partial list of new books by or about Asian Americans and new titles on Asia. If you are interested in reviewing any of them, please let us know –

“The Verifiers” (Vintage) is a novel by Jane Pek. Claudia Lin is an amateur sleuth who verifies people’s online lives and lies for a dating detective agency in New York. Things go smoothly until a client with an unusual request goes missing. She breaks protocol to investigate—and uncovers a maelstrom of personal and corporate deceit. Part literary mystery and part family story, this novel offers an incisive examination of how technology shapes our choices, and the nature of romantic love in the digital age.

“Burying the Mountain” (Copper Canyon Press) is a new book of poetry by Shanyang Fang. In this book, saturated images of longing and loss rush through a portal of difficult beauty. The poems meditate, breach, and weave the crevices of intimacy, eros, and grief as locales shift from Song Dynasty ink-wash paintings to a contemporary makeshift bedroom in Chengdu.

“Sunday Funday in Koreatown” (Holiday House) written and illustrated by Aram Kim. Yoomi has big plans for her day – make kimbap for breakfast, wear her favorite shirt, get her favorite books from the library and visit Grandma with her dad. But nothing goes right. This charming picture book shows how even when things don’t turn out the way you want to, the day can be rewarding. This is a story of resilience, family, and Korean culture.

“Art & Trousers – Tradition & Modernity in Contemporary Asian Art” (Artasiapacific) by David Elliott. An anthology of writings by cultural historian Elliott that offers a panoramic view of contemporary art across Asia. The book focuses on the impacts of invention, exchange, colonization, politics, social development and gender and moves between regional analysis, portraits of artists and a metaphorical history of trousers.

“An Arrow To The Moon” (Little Brown) by Emily X.R. Pan. This novel is a retelling of a traditional Chinese myth with modern characters standing in as modern reincarnations of the god of archery and the goddess of the moon set in a 1990s non-descript, majority-white suburban American city.  Two Chinese American families are sworn enemies in a Mandarin-speaking diaspora community, but the characters from rival families find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other. These teenagers find themselves navigating dark family secrets, supernatural forces and artifacts complicated by the trials and tribulations of just being teens. A young adult novel that crafts a bittersweet narrative of love, family, and culture.

“The Loneliest Americans” (Crown) by Jay Caspian Kang. An exploration that probes the foundations of the Asian American experience to expose the cracks. The author examines the conflicted efforts of upwardly mobile Asian Americans as they struggle to find their place in the Black-white American racial struggle and politics. What does it mean to aspire and assimilate in American society?

“Loveboat Reunion” (Harper Teen) by Abigail Hing Wen. A couple teenagers emerge from a tumultuous past in which hearts were broken and revenge was plotted but all is forgiven as they become friends Determined to forge a future, Sophia has college plans and Xavier plays the waiting game, hoping to dodge his overbearing father long enough to collect his trust fund when he turns eighteen. But obstacles are in their way, can they succeed together or are they destined to combust?  Find out in this young adult romance novel.

“We Are Meant To Rise – Voices for Justice from Minneapolis to the World” (University of Minnesota Press) as Edited by Carolyn Holbrook and David Mura. In this collection, Indigenous writers and writers of color bear witness to one of most unsettling years in American history. Essays and poems vividly reflect and comment on the traumas we endured in 2020, beginning with the arrival of the Covid 19 pandemic crisis, deepened by the blatant murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the uprisings that immersed the city into the epicenter of passionate, worldwide demands for justice.

“Danny Chung Sums It Up” (Amulet) by Maisie Chan and illustrated by Natelle Quck. This young adult novel is by a British-born Chinese author. Eleven-year old Danny’s life is turned upside down when his parent bring his home his Chinese grandmother to live with them. Things get worse when he learns he’ll have to share his room with her and she takes the top bunk of his bunk bed. And frustration ensues when he learns she can’t speak English so communication is difficult. But through the universal languages of math and art, Danny realizes he might have more in common with his grandma than he first thought.

“My Annihilation” (Soho Crime) is the forthcoming novel by Fuminori Nakamura as translated by Sam Bett.  This Japanese master of literary noir interrogates the unspeakable thoughts all humans share but only monsters act on, revealing with disturbing honesty the psyche of a killer.  What follows is an intricately layered revenge story that dissects the framework of identity and memory to answer the question “What makes someone a killer?” To be published in January, 2022. 

“The Vanderbeekers Make A Wish” (HMH) by Karina Yan Glaser is the fifth in the series of this fictional family living in Harlem. The whole family is secretly planning a surprise 40th birthday party for dear old dad but plans are dashed when he me must leave town to help out a friend. Trouble is on the horizon in the form of some distant  grandparents who show up at the door.

“Beasts and Beauty – Dangerous Tales” (Harper) by Soman Chainani and illustrated by Julia Iredale. A sly, subversive reimagining of classic fairy tales that gives them a contemporary twist from “Little Red Riding Hood” to Cinderella” and beyond.

“Two at the Top: A Shared Dream of Everest” (Groundwood) by Uma Krishnaswami as illustrated by Christopher Corr. In this colorfully illustrated picture book, the author lets the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and mountain climber Edmund Hillary both tell their story as they ascend Mt. Everest.

“The Curious Thing” (Norton) by Sandra Lim. In this third collection, the poet mulls over topics such as desire, sexuality and dreams with a sinewy intelligence and a startling freshness. These poems are compelling meditations on love, art making, solitude, female fate, and both the mundane and serious principles of life.

“Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous” (Sourcebooks) by Suzanne Paek. A comedic YA novel about a Korean American teenager cyber star whose addiction to social media has taken over her life. She is hauled off to a social media detox camp in the Midwest where she is forced to confront herself.

“Back To Japan – The Life and Art of Master Kimono Painter, Kunihiko Moriguchi” (Other Press) by Marc Pettijean and translated from the French by Adriana Hunter. This book describes the life and art of a master Kimono painter and Living National Treasure whose influences ranged from the Paris art scene of the1960s to the Japanese world of tradition where he began to contemporize the craft of yuzen (resist dyeing) through his innovative use of abstraction in patterns.

“The Village Of Eight Graves” (Pushkin Vertigo) by Seishi Yokomizo as translated by Bryan Karenyk. A mountain village called “Eight Graves” takes its name from a centuries-old massacre. When a young man arrives from the city to claim a mysterious inheritance and death follows in his wake, the villagers suspicions fall upon the newcomer. The young man must rely on the help of detective Kosuke Kindaichi to uncover the murderer and save his own reputation before the villagers take justice into their own hands.

 “Finding Refuge – Real-life Immigration Stories from Young People” (Zest Books) by Victoria Rouse. English teacher Rouse has assembled a collection of real-world experiences of teen refugees from around the world in this new anthology.

“Brother’s Keeper” (Holiday House) by Julie Lee. Its 1950 in North Korea and everything is restricted. A family prepares to flee but war breaks out. Only the twelve year old daughter and her eight-year old son can make it out to escape to the South.  They face insurmountable obstacles as they begin this journey.

“Book of The Other” (Kaya Press) by Truong Tran. A book of poetry, prose and essays that tackles the hard questions and issues in this era of George Floyd and anti-Asian hate. Using personal incident and event, the poet examines them through the lens of meditation and comes out asking “Why?

“The Dreamweavers” (Holiday House) by  G. Z. Schmidt. As Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, 12 year olds Mei and Yun Wu are excited as the Emperor of China’s son comes to their village to sample their grandfather’s incredible moon cakes. But when disaster strikes that night, these kids are left to their own devices on how to rescue their grandfather and village from a terrible fate. A middle-age novel  for youngsters.

“Seeing Ghosts” (Grand Central) is a memoir by Kat Chow. With a voice that is both wry and heartfelt, the author weaves together what is part ghost story and part excavation of a family’s history of loss, spanning three generations as they emigrate from China and Hong Kong to Cuba and America. This personal story wrestles with what we each impart to future generations and what we owe our ancestors.

“Nuclear Family” (Counterpoint) by Joseph Han. Things are looking up for the Cho’s as their dream of a Korean plate lunch restaurant franchise in Hawai’i seems within reach after a visit from Guy Fien boasts the profile of Cho’s Delicatessen. Their daughter is busy finishing her senior year of college and working for her parents, while older brother Jacob has just moved to Seoul to teach English. But when a viral video shows Jacob trying—and failing – to cross the demilitarized zone, nothing can protect the family from suspicion and their waning restaurant sales.

“The Wishing Tree” (Harper) by Meika Hashimoto and illustrated by Xindi Yan. This picture book tries to depict the spirit of giving and the spirit of xmas in a young child and how it lights up a whole town.

“Ma and Me” (MCD & FSG in May 2022) is a memoir by Cambodian writer Putsata Reang. It is a layered story of queerness, assimiliation and displacement told through the lens of the author’s complex and often painful relationship with her mother. The book explores the long legacy of intergenerational trauma and the weight of cultural and filial duty. This is a deeply moving portrait of what it means to be a gay refugee in America, and what it takes to break free from narratives that oppress us.

“At The Edge Of The Woods” (Two Lines Press) by Matatsugu Ono as translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter. In an unnamed foreign country, a family settles into a house at the edge of the woods where they hope to make a home. But sometime is off. An allegory for societal alienation and climate catastrophe unlike any other, this book sees the Mishima Prize-winning writer’s trademark understatement used to brutal, brilliant effect. Ones latest is his most urgent, a psychological tale where myth and fantasy are not the dominion of childhood innocence but the venomous fruit borne of the fear, paranoia, and violence of contemporary life.

“The Eighth Girl” (Morrow) is a novel by Maxine Mei-Fung Chung. Beautiful. Damaged. Destructive. Alexa Wu is a brilliant yet darkly self-aware young woman in whose chaotic life is controlled by a series of alternate personalities. This novel is an omnivorous examination of life with mental illness and the acute trauma of living in a misogynistic world. Chung’s debut explores identity, innocence, and the fracturing weight that young women are forced to carry, causing us to ask: Does the truth lead to self-discovery, or self-destruction?

“The Grandmaster’s Daughter” (Green Willow) by Dan-ah Kim. In a small quiet village sits a martial arts school where the daughter of the grandmaster must teach as well as learn from every daily task. Colorful illustrations enhance this picture book.

“Thank You, Mr. Nixon – Stories” (Knopf) by Gish Jen. In her first collection of stories in years, Jen takes measure of the fifty years since the opening of China and its unexpected effects on the lives of ordinary people.

“George and His Nighttime Friends” (Princeton Architectural Press). Written and illustrated by Seng Soun Ratanavanh. A boy who cannot sleep  discovers a group of nocturnal creatures who each help entertain him until he falls fast asleep. Beautiful color drawings enliven every page of this picture book for children.

“How We Fall Apart” (Bloomsbury) by Katie Zhao. A young adult  thriller about students at an elite prep school who are forced to confront their secrets when they discover their ex-best friend dead. 

“Tomatoes for Neela” (Viking) by Padma Lakshmi, host of Top Chef and Taste as illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. A mother and daughter cook together as the little girl learns about varieties of tomatoes and how to cook them all the while thinking of her grandmother in India. Colorful illustrations make this story come alive for children. A perfect introduction  to the magic of the kitchen for youngsters.

“Love and Reparation – A Theatrical Response To  The Section 377 Litigation In India” (Seagull Books) by Danish Sheikh. On 6 September 2018, a decades-long battle to decriminalize queer intimacy in India came to an end. The Supreme Court of India ruled that Section 377, the colonial anti-sodomy law, violated the country’s constitution. ‘LGBT persons,’ the Court said, ‘deserve to live a life unshackled from the shadow of being “unapprehended felons”.’ But how definitive was this end? The playwright navigates these questions with a deft interweaving of the legal, the personal, and the poetic in these two plays.

“It All Comes Back To You” (Quill Tree) by Farah Naz Rishi. For fans of “Pride & Prejudice” comes an enemies-to-lovers rom com about first love and second chances by this Pakistani American YA novelist.

“The Modern Tiffin, On-The-Go Vegan Dishes With a Global Flair” (Tiller Press) by Priyanka Nair. The author travels the world in search of global vegan dishes that fit perfectly into a stainless steel circular lunchbox, layer by layer.

“K=Pop Revolution” (Point Paperbacks) by Stephan Lee  is a sequel to his popular debut novel “K=Pop Confidential”. It follows the rookie career of Candace as a K-Pop star poised to break records in the industry. But when a rival girl group emerges to steal the spotlight, Candace must decide what it’ll cost her to stand up for her beliefs. From the top of the world to the brink of disaster, this singer has to figure out why the world is out to get her and how she will prevail. A young adult story for those teens who love K-Pop.

“Rouge Street – Three Novellas” (Metropolitan Books) by Shuang Xuetao and translated by Jeremy Tiang. With an introduction  by Chinese Canadian novelist Madeleine Thien. An inventor dreams of escaping his drab surroundings in a flying machine. A criminal, trapped beneath a frozen lake, fights a giant fish. A strange girl pledges to ignite a field of sorghum stalks. These are the characters that populate the world of this writer who evokes the voice of people from China’s frigid northeast in Shenyang, China. A gritty region once an industrial hub but now weighed down by unemployment, poverty, alchoholism, domestic violence, divorce and suicide.

“Jade Fire Gold” (Harper Teen) by June CL Tan. Ahn is an orphan with magical powers. Altan is the scion of a royal family who was murdered. When a boy seeking revenge and a girl with secret powers join forces, can they risk death and restore the empire before all is too late?

“Win Me Something” (Tin House),  a novel by Kyle Lucia Wu. Willa Chen has never quite fit in. Growing up as a biracial Chinese American girl in Jersey and too Asian to fit in at a mostly white school but too white to speak to the few Asian kids around, she grew up feeling mostly outside. This coming-of-age debut is about the irreparable fissures between people, and a young woman who asks what it really means to belong, and how she might begin to define her own life.

“Word Travelers And The Taj Mahal Mystery” (Sourcebooks) by Raj Haldar and illustrated by Neha Rawat. Best friends Eddies and MJ are going to play outside, create an obstacle course for MJ’s newts, watch their favorite movies and then travel to India to solve a mystery and save a school – all before bedtime?

“The Hunter’s Walk” (Penguin Random House SEA) by Nabeel Ismeer. This is a speculative fiction novel about a prehistoric dark skin boy and his fair skin brother who fight against colorism, gender discrimination and climate change. Go to https://www.amazon.com/dp/981491407X.

“ESCAPE – One Day We Had To Run”  (Lantana) by Ming & Wah  as illustrated by Carmen Vela. In the form of a picture book, this slim volume tackles a serious topic. Throughout history ordinary people have been forced around the world – to leave their families and homes because of war, famine, slavery, intolerance, economic and political upheaval or climate change. Using remarkable true stories, these tales show how courageous people all over the world have overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles  in their flight to freedom and illustrates how this situation could happen to anyone.

“Touring The Land of The Dead” (Europa Editons) by Maki Kashimada as translated by Haydin Trowell. This book consists of two novellas that concern memory, loss and love. The title story invokes a woman who takes her chronically ill husband to a spa, the site of a former luxury hotel that her grandfather had taken her mother to when she was small. “Ninety-Nine Kisses” portrays the lives of four unmarried sisters in a close-knit neighborhood of Tokyo. Inspired by Tanizaki’s “The Makioka Sisters”.

 “Longing and Other Stories” (Columbia University Press) by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki.  Tanizaki is one of the most eminent Japanese writers of the twentieth century and known for his investigations of family dynamics, eroticism, and cultural identity. He is acclaimed for postwar novels such as “The Makioka Sisters” and “The Key”. This book presents three early stories of family life from the first decade of the author’s career. Translated by Anthony H. Chambers and Paul McCarthy. 

“Pillar of Books – The Moon Country Korean Poetry Series” (black Ocean) by Moon Bo Young as translated by Hedgie Choi. Still in her early 30’s, Young is part of a younger generation of poets in South Korea. As Kim Na-Young, judge of the Kim Soo-Young Prize awarded to this volume said, “The work of witnessing and representing life is so easily marred and thwarted by the anxieties and loneliness present in each of our lives, and yet, this poet looks squarely at the world, presenting the truth in it with such solidity and composure that I can’t help but root for her and the new language she discovers in the process.” 

“Winter Phoenix – Testimonies In Verse” (Deep Vellum) by Sophia Terazawa.  A book of testimonies in verse, this book is a collection of poems written loosely after the form of an international war crimes tribunal. The poet, daughter of a Vietnamese refugee, navigates the epigenetics of trauma passed down, and across, the archives of war, dislocation and witness, as she repeatedly asks, “Why did you just stand there and say nothing?”

“You Are Revolutionary” (Beaming Books) by Cindy Wang Brandt and illustrated by Lynnor Bontigao. Whether you’re quiet or loud, big or small, good at math or good at sports, you have everything you need to make big change in the world, just as you are. You have what it takes to change the world. This picture book nurtures the unique qualities in every child to speak out and to provoke change.

“The One Thing You’d Save” (Clarion) by Linda Sue Park and illustrated by Robert Sae-Heng.  In this book, a Newbery medalist poses a provocative question about what matters most. Students talk, argue and stand by their choices as they discover unexpected facets of one another—and of themselves. With insight and humor, Park captures the voices of an inclusive classroom in verse inspired by the Korean poetry form sijo.

“The Wandering Earth” (Tor) by Cixin Liu. A collection of ten stories that form an ode to earth, its pasts and its futures. Liu’s stories show humanity’s attempts to reason, navigate and survive in a desolate cosmos. 

“Murakami T – The T-Shirts I Love” (Knopf) by Haruki Murakami. Photographs of Murakami’s T-shirt collection are paired with short, frank essays that include his musings on the joy of drinking Guinness in local Irish pubs, the pleasure of eating a burger upon arrival in the United States and Hawaiian surf culture in the 1980s.

In “Gamma  Draconis” (Titan Comics), acclaimed artist Eldo Yoshimizu teams up with writer Benoist Simmat to create a dazzling crime tale of a Japanese heroine who takes on a sinister crime organization.

The Gleaner Song – Selected Poems” (Deep Vellum) by Song Lin as translated by Dong Li. Song Lin is one of China’s most innovative poets. When the Tianamen protest exploded in Beijing, Song led student demonstrations in Shanghai for which he was imprisoned for almost a year. Leaving China, this selection of poems spans four decades of exploration with a focus on poems written in France, Singapore and Argentina and more recently, his return to China.

“Four Treasures Of The Sky” (Flatiron Books) by Jenny Tinghui Zhang is a novel set in the American West of the 1880s and its protagonist is a Chinese woman who is kidnapped and smuggled across the ocean from China to America. It’s a story of a woman in a strange land who must constantly re-invent herself to survive. An illuminating story that sheds light on the horrible realities of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the toll it took on people.

“Dumpling Day” (Barefoot Books) is a picture book by Meera Sriram with art by Ines de Antunano and recipes by Laurel P. Jackson. A lovely picture book  that will make parents and kids very hungry. It introduces the dumpling tradition found in ten cultures world-wide with recipes in the back. Join 10 families cooking Indian samosas to Italian ravioli in this celebration of food and friends.

“The Thief” (Soho Crime) by Fuminori Nakamura as translated from the Japanese by Satoko Izumo and Stephen Coates. A seasoned pickpocket weaves in and out of Tokyo crowd undetected. But when he is offered an easy job robbing the safe of a prominent politician, it’s a job he can’t refuse. Later the man is found brutally murdered after the robbery and the there is caught in a tangle he might not be able to so easily escape. 

“Leilong the Library Bus” (Gecko Press) by Julia Liu and illustrated by Bei Lynn. This award-winning book from Taiwan translated by Helen Wang tells the charming tale of a dinosaur who loves books and story time. Unfortunately his huge size causes problems when he tries to enter the library with the kids. How the problem is solved and how the dinosaur becomes an ambassador of library books is cleverly and humorously resolved in this picture book that parents will enjoy reading to their kids.

“An Arrow To The Moon” (Little Brown Books for Young Readers) is a young adult re-telling of Romeo and Juliet by Emily X.R. Pan. She takes a traditional Chinese myth with a contemporary couple standing in as modern reincarnations of the god of archery and the goddess of the moon. The setting is a 90s majority-white suburban American city. The two kids find themselves navigating dark family secrets, supernatural forces and artifacts, and the trials and tribulations of being teens.

“The Fervor” (Putnam) by Alma Katsu. It doesn’t matter that  teenage Aiko was American-born : she is Japanese, and therefore considered a threat by the American government. When Pearl Harbor is attacked, she along with others of Japanese descent on the West Coast are sent to internment camps in the interior. When a mysterious disease begins to spread among those interned, Aiko and her mother team up with a newspaper reporter and a widowed missionary to investigate.

“Wombat” (Candlewick) by Christopher Cheng and illustrated by Liz Duthie. This picture book teaches kids about the wombat, Australia’s “bulldozer of the bush.”

“Lemon” (Other Press) by Kwon Yeo-Sun as translated by Janet Hong is a haunting literary crime story that doesn’t so much concern itself with the perpetrator as to explore issues of privilege, jealousy, trauma and how we live with the wrongs we have endured and inflicted in return.

“Cherry Blossom” (Thames & Hudson) by Bruce Gilden. A gritty portrait  of Japan and its people by a renowned Magnum street photographer. There are no cherry blossoms, geisha in kimono or picturesque landscapes here. In their place, you will find “in-your-face” shots of the homeless and dispossessed, the petty gangsters and the motorcycle gang members lining the crowded streets of the city.

“Fiona And Jane” (Viking) by Jean Chen Ho. Friendship, love, loyalty and betrayal all play out in this bond of friendship between two young Taiwanese American women as they advance together through life over two decades. The author peels back the layers of female friendship as these characters come to terms with themselves and each other.

“The Wedding Party” (Amazon Crossing) by Liu Xinwu and translated by Jeremy Tiang. A wedding party is planned in a Beijing courtyard. Set at a pivotal point after the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, Xinwu’s tale weaves together a rich tapestry of characters, intertwined lives, and stories within stories. A touching, hilarious portrait of life in this crowed city.

“The Waiting” (Drawn & Quarterly)  by Keun Suk Gendry-Kim. In this graphic novel, the author’s family history and the division of Korea down the 38th parallel inspired her to do some oral history and tell the story of her ancestors.

“The Secret Listener – An Ingenue In Mao’s Court” (Oxford)  by Yuan-Tsung Chen tells the fascinating tale of an extraordinary life in a tumultuous China from the 1920s to the 1970s. It’s a vivid, compelling portrait of life, conflict and love among the dlite and downtrodden circles in the Republican and Communist eras.

Newbery Medal winner Erin Entrada Kelly makes her middle-age level debut which she illustrates herself with “Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey” (HarperCollins). It’s a story about friendship and being brave when you feel shy or shaky.

“The Chosen and the Beautiful” (Tor Dot Com) by Nghi Vo. This stunning debut novel is a magical retelling of The Great Gatsby” told from the perspective of a queer, Vietnamese American woman. It’s a lush, romantic novel full of dark magic and Art Deco luxury.

“Bodhi Sees the World – Thailand” (bala kids) is written and illustrated by Marisa Aragon Ware. A young girl finds herself in a foreign city, exploring the streets of Bangkok where she begins to experience the world through a new culture.

“The School For Good Mothers” (Simon & Schuster) is a novel by Jessamine Chan. A taut thriller of a story about a mother who struggles to get her daughter back under the punishing scrutiny and judgment aimed at mothers everywhere – especially  against those who aren’t wealthy or white. 

“Navigating With (Out) Instruments – Poetry – Micro Essays – Notes To Self” (The Accomplices) by Traci Kato-Kiriyama. Noted poet Mitsuye Yamada says of this book, “Traci Kato-Kiriyama demonstrates a deeply affecting understanding of her forebearers’ life experiences during the years of searing racism in early Twetieth Century America. Do not race through this work like an ordinary book because this book, its typography and its contents, are far from ordinary.”

“Dragon Legend – The Dragon Realm Series, Book 2”  (Sterling) by Katie & Kevin Tsang. When a friend is kidnapped and taken through a time portal, Billy Chan and his friends must travel through time on their dragons to save him in this middle-grade level adventure novel.

 “Scars of War – The Politics of Paternity  and Responsibility for the Amerasians of Vietnam” (University of Nebraska Press) by Sabrina Thomas. This book explores ideas of race, nation, and gender in the aftermath of war. Thomas exposes the contradictory approach of policymakers unable to reconcile Amerasian biracialism with the U.S. Code. As they created an inclusionary discourse deeming Amerasians worthy of American action, guidance, and humanitarian aid, federal policymakers simultaneously initiated exclusionary policies that designated these people unfit for American citizenship. 

“Basho’s Haiku Journeys” (Stone Bridge Press) by Freeman Ng as illustrated by Cassandra Rockwood Ghanem. This picture book for kids tells the story of this famous Japanese haiku poet who went from a life of success and comfort in the city to a journey of wandering up and down Japan seeking the moment and writing poems to illuminate that reality. 

“Go Home, Ricky! (Overlook) by Gene Kwak. Set in the world of independent wrestling, a native American wrestler is on the threshold of fame when he sustains a career-ending injury. With a loss of identity, he spirals downward culminating in a search to learn about his long lost father. 

“India Mahdavi” (Chronicle) is the first monograph on this world-renowned, award-winning Iranian interior designer. Along with her design projects, the book highlights her custom furniture, lighting, accessories and brand collaborations in a visually stunning design that sets off the work.

“Of Arcs And Circles – Insights from Japan  on Gardens, Nature and Art” (Stone Bridge Press) by Marc Peter Keane. From his vantage point as a garden designer and writer based in Kyoto, the author examines the world around him an delivers insights on the Japanese garden, the meaning of art and other fascinating topics.

“Happy Diwali” (Henry Holt) by Sanyukta Mathur and Courtney Pippin-Mathur. Pippin-Mathur also did the illustrations This radiant picture book celebrates Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

“Borderless – A Memoir Of A  Young Revolutionary In The 21st Century” (Wake Up Press) by Gary Pak. A fifteen-year-old revolutionary of mixed  ethnicities, narrates this story of promise and opportunity in a post-captitalist/post-imperialist country formerly part of the USA. Join this teenager and his sister on a journey through a city devastated by earthquakes and breed, but during a time when a new world of sharing and equality is being built from the ashes of the old.

“Ready for the Spotlight” (Candlewick) written and illustrated by Jaime Kim. This picture book demonstrates the sometimes competitive but always loving relationship between two sisters who shine in different ways. Little sister trains hard to be a ballerina but is always overshadowed by her big sister who gets the leading role.

“EM” (Seven Stories) is a novel by Kim Thuy with a linked narrative of characters connected by birth and destiny. From the rubber plantations of Indochina, daily life in war-torn Saigon, Operation Babylift and today’s global nail salons, here are human lives shaped by trauma and sacrifice. Translated from the French by Sheila Fischman.

“Roxy The Unisaurus Rex presents Oh NO! The Talent Show” (Feiwel & Friends) by Eva Chen and illustrated by Matthew Rivera.  The annual talent show is coming. Many dinosaurs have brilliant skills to show off but Dexter feels like he has no talent at all. With encouragement from Roxy, he learns being a good friend could be the most important talent of all.

 “Thai Cinema Uncensored” (Silkworm) by Matthew Hunt. This is the first full-length study of Thai film censorship. Informed by access to rare and controversial films, the arthor provides a history of film censorship in Thailand from its earliest beginnings. The book also examines how Thai filmmakers approach culturally sensitive subjects, and how their films have been censored as a result.

“Where Is Bena Bear?” (Henry Holt)  written and  illustrated by Mike Curato. Tiny is having a party but the bear is nowhere to be found. Searching for Bina, Tiny realizes something is wrong and sets out to make it right. A humorous picture book about friendship, understanding and embracing our loved ones  just as they are (even if they are painfully shy).

“American Home” (Autumn House Press) by Sean Cho A. won the 2020 Autumn House Chapbook Prize. The poems reflect a keen eye on everyday occurrences and how these small events shape us as individuals.

“Friends Are Friends Forever” (Henty Holt) by Dane Liu and illustrated by Lynn Scurfield. Ona snowly Lunar New Year’s Eve in Northeastern China, it is Dandan’s last night with her best friend Yueyue as her family moves to America the next day. They share their wintertime tradition: rafting paper-cut snowflakes, freezing them outside, and hanging them outside. Yueyue gives Dandan red paper and a spool of thread as a good-bye present so she can carry on their tradition. But in America, she is lonely and has no one to enjoy the gift with…that is until she makes a new friend.

“Genghis Chan on Drums” (Omnidawn),  poems by John Yau. This noted arts writer and poet returns in his latest book to his alter-ego of Genghis Chan and lacerates with acerbic humor and wit the  topics of the day, clichés about being Chinese, the language of philosophers and the residue of racism and popular culture.

“Usha and the Big Digger” (Charlesbridge) by Amitha Jagannath Knight and illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat. Part of the “storytelling Math” series in which books depict children using math as they play, build, and discover the world around them. When two kids look up at the seven stars in the sky, they see different things. One sees the Big Dipper and another sees the Big Digger and a cousin sees the Big Kite. What exactly is going on?

“The Way Spring Arrives And Other Stories” (Tor Dot Com) Edited by Yu Chen and Regina Kanyu Wang. From an award-winning team of authors, editors, translators comes a groundbreaking short story collection that explores the expanse of Chinese science fiction and fantasy. Set for March 2022 publication.

“Anzu The Great Kaiju” (Roaring Brook Press) written and illustrated by Benson Shum. All great Kaiju are born with a superpower to strike fear into the heart of their city but Anzu is different. Instead of mayhem, he likes mayflowers. Instead of striking fear, he prefers to be sincere. Can Anzu find a way to make his family proud and still stay true to himself. From this Disney illustrator comes this heartwarming book about making your own way and the unexpected power of gentelness.

“Idol Gossip” (Walker) by Alexander Leigh Young. A Korean American girl from San Francisco goes from singing lessons to a K-pop boot camp when she and her mom move to Seoul. This debut YA novel is all about dreaming big but staying true to your own values.

 “Brown Boy Nowhere” (Skyscape) by Sheeryl Lim. When a 16 year old Filipino American boy is uprooted from his San Diego home to the middle of nowhere just as he plans to enter a big skateboarding competition, he can’t help but think that “life sucks”. And now he’s the only Asian in an all-white school. But being an outcast has its rewards when he bands together with the rest of his high school outsiders.

“Imagine A Death” (Texas Review Press) by Janice Lee. This novel is a depiction of the ways our pasts envelope us as the author illuminates the depths of grief of three characters as they survive the death of loved ones and look for ways to carry on.

“Niki Kakayama – A Chef’s Tale in 13 Bites” (FS&G) by Jamie Michalak & Debbi Michiko Florence and illustrated by Yuko Jones. A picture book that tells the true story about a little girl who went on to become one of the most celebrated chefs in the country. At every step of the way, important people discouraged her but she prevailed.  Now she runs N/Naka, a restaurant run by the world’s only kaiseki chef.

“Remembering Our Intimacies – Modelo, Aloha Aina, and Ea” (University of Minnesota Press) by Jamaica Healimeleikalani Osorio. Hawaiian “aloha ‘aina” is often described in Western political terms as nationalism, nationhood, or even patriotism. In this book, the author focuses on the personal and embodied articulations of aloha aina to detangle it from the effects of colonialism and occupation.

“Faraway” (Columbia University Press)  by  Taiwanese novelist Lo Yi-Chin and translated by Jeremy Tiang. A Taiwanese man finds himself stranded in mainland China while attempting to bring his comatose father home. He finds himself locked into a protracted struggle with byzantine hospital regulations while dealing with relatives he barely knows. A book that examines the rift between Taiwan and China on the most personal of levels.

“Manifest Technique – Hip Hop, Empire, and Visionary Filipino American Culture” (University of Illinois) by Mark R. Villegas. Filipino Americans have been innovators and collaborators in hip hop since the culture’s early days. But despite some success, the genre’s significance in Filipino American communities is often overlooked. The author takes into consideration the coast-to-coast hip hop scene to reveal how Filipino Americans have used music, dance, and visual art to create their worlds.

How High We Go In The Dark” (Morrow) by Sequoia Nagamatsu. This debut novel follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague.

“Enforced Rustification In The Chinese Cultural Revolution” (Texas Review Press) by Jianqing Zheng sounds like an academic study when it actually is a poetic retelling of the author’s experience working in the countryside as a young student. It’s told in poems full of humor, wit and poignancy.

“This Jade World” (University of Nebraska Press) by Ira Sukrungruang , Thai American poet and writer, chronicles a year of mishap, exploration, experimentation, self-discovery, and eventually, healing. It questions the very nature of love and heartbreak, uncovering the vulnerability of being human.

“Personal Attention Roleplay”  (Metonymy Press) – Stories by Helen Chau Bradley. A young gymnast crushes on an older, more talented teammate while contending with an overworked mother. A  newly-queer twenty-something juggles two intimate relationships. A codependent listicle writer becomes obsessed with a Japanese ASMR channel. A queer metal band’s summer tour unravels in the summer heat. These tales offer portrayals of awkward interactions and isolations of a generation, community and culture.

 “Reprieve” (Morrow) by James Han Mattson. This is a novel of social horror centered around a brutal killing that takes place in a full-contact haunted escape room – a provocative exploration of capitalism, hate politics, racial fetishism, and our obsession with fear as entertainment.

“Pure Invention – How Japan Made The Modern World” (Crown) by Matt Alt. Japan is the forge of the world’s fantasies: karaoke and the Walkman, manga and anime, Pac-Man, online imageboards and emojis. But in this book,  a Japan media reporter proves in his investigation, these novelties did more than entertain, they paved the way for our perplexing modern lives.

 “ABC Of Feelings”(Philomel) written and illustrated by Bonnie Lui. This picture book is a journey through the alphabet that shows kids it’s perfectly okay to feel many different things, sometimes all at once. The perfect read-aloud for little ones learning all about feelings and their ABC’s.

“Beasts Of A Little Land” (Ecco) is a novel by Juhea Kim. It is an epic story of love, war, and redemption set again the backdrop of the Korean independence movement. From the perfumed chambers of a courtesan school in Pyongyang to the glamorous cafes of a modernizing Seoul and the boreal forests of Manchuria, where battles rage, Juhea Kim’s unforgettable characters forge their own destinies as they wager their nation’s.

“I Am Not Starfire” (DC Graphic Novels For Young Adults) pairs a story by New York Times bestselling author Mariko Tamaki with artwork by Yoshi Yoshitoni . Seventeen-year-old Mandy is nothing like her mother, Starfire. Her mother is gorgeous, tall, sparkly and a superhero. Mandy has no powers and is a kid who dyes her hair black and hates almost everyone. But when someone from Starfire’s past arrives, daughter Mandy has choices to make. She can give up before the battle has begun or step into the unknown and risk everything to save her mom.

First published in 1937, Genzaburo Yoshino’s “How Do You Live?” (Algonquin) has long been acknowledged in Japan as a crossover classic for young readers and a favorite of Academy Award-winning anime director Hayao Miyazaki who will base his final film on the book. With a foreword by Neil Gaiman and translated by Bruno Navasky, the story involves a young boy who loses his father at the age of fifteen and the journal entries he receives from his uncle about life’s big questions.

“Goodbye, again – essays, reflections, and illustrations” (Harper Perennial) by Jonny Sun. The author of “everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too” returns with this offering of meditative essays, short humor pieces and memorable one-liners covering topics such as loneliness and burnout, advice on caring for dying houseplants, and a recipe for scrambled eggs that might make you cry.

“Faultlines” (Custom House) by Emily Itani. A bittersweet love story of a bored Japanese housewife in a dilemma who must make choices  and a piercing portrait of female identity.

“Outside Voices, Please” (Cleveland University Press) is a new book of poetry by Valerie Hsiung due out October 5, 2021. “Hsiung orchestrates a symphony of voices, past, present, and prescient: time (and with it, history) compresses and expands, yielding long poetry sequences reminiscent of Myung Mi Kim’s sonic terrains and C.D. Wright’s documentary poetics.” – Diana Khoi Nguyen

“Heaven” (Europa Editions) by Mieko Kawakmi. From the best-selling author of “Breasts And Eggs”, a striking exploration of working women’s daily lives in Japan comes a new story of the experience of a teenage boy who is tormented by his schoolmates. It explores the meaning and experience of violence and the consolations of friendship. Translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd.

 “Alma Presses Play” (Make Me A World) by Tina Cane. Alma is a half-Chinese and half-Jewish teenage girl going through changes with her Walkman on most of the time. Friends move away, love comes and goes and her parents divorce. In this world of confusing beginnings, middles, and endings, is Alma ready to press play on the soundtrack of her life?

 “Japanese Dress in Detail (Thames & Hudson/Victoria & Albert Museum) by Josephine Rout is the catalog for an exhibition held in Britain in 2020. It brings together more than 100 items of clothing and reveals the intricacies of Japanese dress from the 18th century to the present and includes garments for women, men and children. The details have been selected for their exquisite beauty and craftsmanship and for how much they impart about the wearer’s identity. 

 

A Way of Looking” (Silverfish Review Press) by Jianqing Zheng. Winner of the 2019 Gerald Cable Book Award.  Zheng, shaped by the Cultural Revolution in China somehow ended up in Mississippi and fell in love with the blues and in this book, he takes the haiga Japanese literary form (one prose journal entry followed by the echo of a haiku poem to end it) and plants it in the deep south.  autumn night/a freight train chugging/across the Yazoo.

When the Sakura Bloom” (Berbay Publishing) by Narisa Togo. A wistful look at the beginning and end of the cherry blossom season in Japan captured in delicate, sensitive colors. Share the joy of Japan’s annual cherry blossom festival in this picture book celebrating the fleeting beauty of nature.

“XOXO” (Harper Teen) by Axie Oh. A teenage romance that blossoms in L.A. and re-ignites in Seoul. A Korean American girl meets a Korean guy on his last day in the city of angels and sparks fly. But she forgets about him when he flies off to Seoul. But when the girl and her mother fly to Seoul to take care of an ailing grandmother, guess who she discovers is in her class. But he is not an ordinary guy, he’s in one of the most popular K-pop bands in the land. And in K-pop, dating is strictly forbidden. Read the book if you want to find out how this complex relationship turns out.

“Head – Hoard” (University of Chicago Press) by Atsuro Riley. Winner of the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, juror Julie Carr had this to say about Riley’s new book – “A landscape charged with the bright light of discernment, where emotions are stirred by rhythmic torsion and sonic density.”

 “Amira’s Picture Day” (Holiday House) by Reem Faruqi and illustrated by Fahmida Azim. A joyful and sensitive look at the Muslim holiday of Eid as seen through the eyes of a young girl who loves to celebrate but feels conflicted because her school class photo shoot happens the same day.

.

“Colorful” (Counterpoint) by Eto Mori. Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen. This popular novel in Japan finally finds its way to the U.S. in this English translation.  A young adult tale of death, mental health and what it means to truly live. When a formless soul is given a second chance to return to earth and inhabit the body of a fourteen-year-old boy who has just committed suicide, things get complicated.

Now it’s becoming more common for foreign players to break into U.S. professional baseball but “MASHI – The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams Of Masunori Murakami, The First Japanese Major Leaguer” (Nebraska) by Robert K. Fitts takes us back to 1964 and tells the story of Japan’s first major leaguer in America. A baseball pioneer’s tale.

“The Alpactory – Ready, Pack, Go!” (Harper) written and illustrated (charmingly, I might add) by Ruth Chan. Most kids when embarking on a trip have trouble deciding what and how to pack. Let an alpaca with unusual packing skills be your guide as you contemplate your next journey. 

“In The Watchful City” Tor Dot Com)  by S. Qiouyi Lu. Anima is an extrasensory human with the task of surveilling and protecting the city. But what happens when a mysterious outsider enters this world with curiosities from around the world? A multifaceted story  of borders, power, diaspora and transformation.

“City of Illusion” (Viking Graphic) is the graphic novel follow-up to Victoria Ying’s “City of Secrets”. In this sequel our child heroes Hannah and Ever live with the Morgan family in peace until Mr. Morgan is kidnapped. The kids get in a spat with street magicians but the two must learn to work together if the mystery of the missing is ever solved.

“Silent Parade – A Detective Galileo Novel” (Minotaur) by  Keigo Higashino. Detective Galileo, the author’s best-loved character from “The Devotion of Suspect X” returns in a complex and challenging mystery – several murders, decades apart, with no solid evidence. DCI Kusanagi turns once again to his college friend, Physics professor and occasional police consultant Manbu Yukawa, known as Detective Galileo, to help solve the string of impossible to prove murders.

 “The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round” (Orchard) by Wendy Wan-Long Shang and illustrated by Lorian Tu.  A clever twist on “The Wheels on the Bus” in which  the eating of Chinese food is celebrated with love and laughter within a multi-generational family.

Ghost Food (One World) by Pik-Shuen Fung. A sparely written novel about a first generation of immigrants in Canada whose father decides to stay in Hong Kong earning him the title of “astronaut” father. With a lonely mother and ill father, a daughter struggles to understand her family history revealing threads of matrilineal history and the inheritance of stories and silences.

 “Intimacies” (Riverhead) by Katie Kitamura. An American woman newly relocated to The Hague works as an interpreter at a war crimes tribunal. Interpreting for a notorious former president accused of crimes against humanity, and entangled in a complicated love affair with a married man, she wrestles with mounting professional and personal dramas.

 “On The Ho Chi Minh Trail  –  The Blood Road, The Women Who Defended It, The Legacy”(ASIALINK, London) by Sherry Buchanan. Buchanan reveals the stories of the women who defended the Trail against the sustained American bombing campaign – the most ferocious in modern warfare – and of the artists who drew them. She focuses on what life was really like for the women and men under fire, bringing a unique perspective to the history of the Vietnam War.

“Not Here to Be Liked” (Katherine Tegen Books) by Michelle Quach. This young adult novel is about a high school girl Eliza Quan who sees herself as the perfect candidate to be editor of her school paper until an ex-jock white male candidate appears and threatens her ambitions. To thwart his challenge, she writes a viral essay inspiring a feminist movement. But what happens when she starts to like the guy?

“Anne’s Cradle – The Life & Works of Hanako Muraoka” (Nimbus) by Eri Muraoka as translated by Cathy Hirano. Hanako Muraoka  is revered in Japan for her  translation of L. M Montgomery’s children’s classic, “Anne of Green Gables.” Because of her translation the book had a massive and enduring popularity in that country. This bestselling biography of Muraoka written by her granddaughter, traces the complex and captivating story of a woman who risked her freedom and devoted her life to bringing quality children’s literature to the people during a period of tumultuous change in Japan.

“The Tiger Mom’s Tale” (Berkley) by Lyn Liao Butler. When an American woman inherits the wealth of her Taiwanese family, she travels to confront them about their betrayals of the past.

“Second Sister” (Black Cat) by Chan Ho-Kei. When a schoolgirl commits suicide by leaping from the twenty-second floor, her older sister refuses to believe it. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game through the streets of Hong Kong as big sister hunts for the truth about the murder and the murderer.

 “Faraway Places” (Diode Editions) by Teow Lim Goh. The poems in this book reside in the spaces between the wild and the tamed, from orchid gardens and immense seas to caged birds and high alpine landscapes. It resists narrative and instead inhabits the residues of experience. It may be a private dictionary.

 “Jenny Mei Is Sad” (Little, Brown and Company) written and illustrated by Tracey Subisak. This book introduces young readers to the complexity of sadness and shows them that the best way to be a good friend – especially to someone sad – is by being there for the fun, the not-fun, and everything in between. Charmingly illustrated.

“Vessel – A Memoir”  (HarperVia) by Cai Chongda. This tender collection of personal essays by the Editorial Director of GQ China spotlights the family, friends and neighbors of his small town who helped shape him as he struggled to understand himself and what the future might bring as a young boy from simple means.

 “A Way of Looking” (Silver Fish Review Press) by Jianqing Zheng. Half prose, half verse, this book is a heartfelt account of exile and homecoming. Uprooted from Chinese soil after the Cultural Revolution, this immigrant found new roots in the rich dark soil of the Mississippi delta and the home of the blues. Winner of the 2019 Gerald Cable Book Award.

Best-selling young adult author David Yoon (“Frankly in Love”) has switched genres with his new adult novel entitled “Version Zero” (Putnam). A data whiz at a social media company sees the dark side of big tech and starts asking questions about the data they collect.  He finds himself fired and blackballed across Silicon Valley.

 “Singing Emptiness – Kumar Gandharva Performs The Poetry Of Kabir” (Seagull) by Linda Hess. In this book, two men, five centuries apart, make contact with each other through poetry, music and performance. A great twentieth-century Hindustani classical vocalist takes up the challenge of singing the songs of Kabir, the great fifteenth century poet.

“Boys I Know” (Peachtree Teen Books) by Anna Gracia. A high school senior navigates messy boys and messier relationships in this bitingly funny and much-needed look into the overlap of Asian American identity and teen sexuality. June Chu is leaving high school to face an unknown world, battling her mother’s expectations and the drama of relationships and unsure on how she should work her path through it all.

“Glyph – graphic poetry + trans. sensory”  (Tupelo) by Naoko Fujimoto. The poet finds a new way to connect word and image. Inspired by Emaki (Japanese picture scroll). The poet/artist uses bright colors and designs to bring the words of each poem to the reader in novel ways and  from different directions. Or as Gabrielle Bates states, “I was wondering around the house of poetry and this book showed me to a door I didn’t know existed.”

“The Thousand Crimes Of Ming Tsu” (Little Brown) by Tom Lin. This fiction debut reimagines the classic western through the eyes of a Chinese American assassin on a quest to rescue his kidnapped wife and exact his revenge on her abductors. “This book is a thriller, a romance and a story of one man’s quest for redemption in the face of a distinctly American brutality.”

“Lurkers” (Soho) by Sandi Tan. The author peoples her corner of surburban Los Angeles with two Korean American sisters rocked by suicide and a cast of characters like a creepy drama teacher, a gay horror novelist and a white hippie mom and her adopted Vietnamese daughter. Add drama and stir with a deft pen for optimum results.

“The Many Meanings of Meilan” (Kokila) by Andrea Wang. Meilan’s world is made up of a few key ingredients: her family’s beloved matriarch, the bakery the family owns and a run in Boston’s Chinatown; and her favorite Chinese fairy tales. But things change after her grandmother dies putting the family on the road in search of home. This young adult novel is an exploration of all the things it’s possible to grieve, the injustices large and small that make us rage, and the peace that’s unlocked when we learn to find home within ourselves.

A God at the Door” (Copper Canyon) by Tishani Doshi. Doshi is an award-winning  writer and dancer of Welsh-Gujarati descent. She has published seven books of fiction and poetry. This new volume of poems calls on the extraordinary minutiae of nature and humanity to redefine belonging and unveil injustice.

“Finding My Voice” (Soho) is a reprint of a classic young adult novel by Marie Myong-Ok Lee. It is a timeless coming-of-age story of a Korean American teenage girl who attends an all-white high school in Minnesota. She struggles to fit in while being different. When she falls for a popular white football player. Can this relationship withstand the bigotry of a small town and her family’s disapproval?

 “Tokyo Ever After”(Flatiron) by Emiko Jean. It’s hard growing up Japanese American in a small, mostly-white Northern California town with a single mom. But when Izumi or “Izzy” as she’s known discovers her missing dad is the crown prince of Japan, things become surreal. Traveling to Japan to find her dad, her life is turned upside down. Not American enough in the States, not Japanese enough in Japan. Will Izumi ever land on her feet?

“The Bombay Prince” (Soho) by Sujata Massey. This popular mystery writer’s latest book is a Perveen Mistry series volume. Bombay’s fist female lawyer tries to bring justice to the family of a murdered female Parsi student just as the city streets erupt into riots protesting British rule. Set in 1920s Bombay.

“Angel & Hannah – A Novel in Verse”  (One World) by Ishle Yi Park.The electricity of first love in the heart  of New York’s neighborhoods.  When a Korean American girl from Queens meets a Puerto Rican American boy from Brooklyn at a  quincecanera, sparks fly and so does family opposition and cultural complexity. This former poet laureate of Queens uses bursts of  language and imagery in sonnet and song form to bring alive the glow of first love.

“Swimming Back To Trout River” (Simon & Schuster) by Linda Rui Feng. It’s 1986 and a ten-year-old girl lives in a small Chinese village with her grandparents. Her parents left for the opportunities in America years ago. Now her father promises to pick her up and take her to America by her 12th birthday. The little girl is determined to stay. And what she doesn’t know is that her parents are estranged, burdened by demons from their past. Can one family, with an ocean between them, start anew without losing themselves –or each other? Jean Kwok calls this novel, “A beautifully written, poignant exploration of family, art, culture, immigration, and most of all, love.”

 “Body Facts” (Diode Editions) by Jody Kim. These poems tell the story of a voice that is Korean, American, woman and body. It weaves together Korean history and aesthetics, the speaker’s childhood and family stories, US foreign policy with North Korea, and the things we do and shouldn’t do to our bodies.

“Made In Korea” (Simon & Schuster) by Sarah Suk. A “rom-com” novel debut depicts two entrepreneurial teens who butt heads – and maybe fall in love- while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school.

“At The End Of The Matinee” (Amazon Crossing) by Keiichiro Hirano as translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter. Billed as a love story and psychological thriller, this novel traces the years long relationship between a concert guitarist and a journalist and examines whether the relationship will endure and perhaps blossom into something deeper.

Burying the Mountain (Copper Canyon) by Shangyang Fang. Deeply immersed in the music of ancient Chinese poetry, Fang’s debut alloys political erasure, exile, remembrance, and death into a single brushstroke on the silk scroll, where our names are forgotten as paper boats on water.

“Finding Junie Kim” (Harper) by Ellen Oh. A young adult novel about a Korean American girl who tries to fit in at school by not sticking out. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, she must make a decision. When a teacher assigns an oral history project, Junie decides to interview her grandparents about the Korean war and her world changes.

“Like a Dandelion”(Balzer + Bray) written and illustrated by  Huy Voun Lee. This is a poetic tribute to immigrants and refugees, inspired by the author’s childhood experiences of moving to the United States from Cambodia. Like the feathery seeds of the dandelion we all fly away and take root in another place.

“Never Have I Ever” (Small Beer Press) by Isabel Yap is a collection of powerful short stories of speculative fiction/fantasy that  explores themes ranging from monstrousness, shared trauma, systemic violence, friendship and the ambiguity of love.

“A Pho Love Story” (Simon & Schuster) by Loan Le is a romantic YA rom-com in which two Vietnamese American teens must navigate their new  found love amid their family’s age-old feud about their competing pho restaurants.

“If I Were A Tree” (Lee & Low)  by Andrea Zimmerman as imaginatively illustrated by local artist Jin Jing Tsong. This picture book traces two siblings journey into the woods and how they use the five senses to explore the natural world. Tsong’s kaleidoscopic art makes the wooded world come to life and illuminates the author’s poetic ode to trees.

 “Death Fugue” (Restless) by Sheng Keyi as translated by Shelly Bryant. This novel is a dystopian allegory of the Tiananmen Square massacre and banned in China. In this book, the author questions the role of art after an act of atrocity.

“When Father Comes Home” (Orchard) is written and illustrated by Sarah Jung. June’s father is like a goose: he flies away for long periods of time so when he comes home, it’s a special occasion. This picture book turns the story of migrant fathers who work abroad in hopes of widening the field of opportunity for their children into a heart-warming, reflective tale.

“The Intimacies of Conflict – Cultural Memory and The Korean War” (NYU) by Daniel Y. Kim. The author delves into novels, films and photos to reconstruct memories of war and what it means to Koreans, Asian Americans and people of color

“The Tangle Root Palace” (Tachyon) by Marjorie Liu (“Monstress”} is her debut collection of dark, lush and spellbinding fantasy fiction. It’s full of thorny tales of love, revenge and new beginnings.

 “Pop Song – Adventures in Art and Intimacy” (Catapult) by Larissa Pham. This is a memoir that plumbs the well of culture for clues and patterns about love and loss from paintings to travel, and sex and drugs before the author turns the gaze upon herself.

 “Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture, And Identity” (Penguin Random House) by Winona Guo and Priya Vulchi. Two 17 year old girls (a Chinese American and an Indian American) take a year off after high school and travel the country asking Americans how race has impacted their lives. Out of 500 stories, they edited it down to 115 for this anthology.

Inspired by the Peabody Award-winning podcast, “The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel” (Walker) by Sheila Chari is a young adult thriller. As kids are disappearing one by one from a middle school and their parents don’t seem to care, Mars Patel and his crew go on a desperate search for answers.

“Mapping Abundance For  a Planetary Future- Kanaka Maoli and Critical Settler Cartographies in Hawai’i” (Duke) by Candance Fujikane. Fujikane criticizes settler colonial cartographies that diminish life and instead highlights the all encompassing voices of Hawaiian communities and their perspective of abundant healing and protection for the land.

“All You Knead Is Love” (FSG)by Tanya Guerrero. When a 12 year old girl must leave her mother to live with her grandmother in Barcelona, she feels estranged. But then she grows to love that city that her mother once called home. She connects with her Spanish roots, becomes close with her Filipino grandmother and discovers a passion and talent for baking bread. When her favorite bakery is in trouble, she learns what she can do to help.

“Folklorn: A Novel” (Erewhon) by Angela Mi Young tackles complex issues about mythology, science, generational trauma and identity. It follows a Korean American physicist in the Antarctic who must return to her childhood home in California to deal with mental illness that runs through her family. It explores the myths we inherit and those we fashion for ourselves.

International bestseller “Kim Jiyong, Born 1982” (Liveright) by Cho Nam-Joo as translated by Jamie Chang is now available in a paperback edition. It follows one Korean millennial “everywoman” as she descends into a psychic deterioration in the face of a rigid misogyny. A rallying cry of feminism and gender that resonated  with women all over Korea.

 “I Am A Bird” (Candlewick) by Hope Lim as illustrated by Hyewon Yum. When a little girl goes on her morning bike ride with her dad, she imitates the sounds of birds. But when she sees a strange woman with a stern demeanor and a mysterious bag, she becomes frightened. A children’s book that encourages readers to embrace over similarities rather then letting our differences divide us.

“Planet Omar Incredible Rescue Mission” (Putnam) by Zanib Mian as illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik. Omar is excited about his first trip to Pakistan but then tragedy strikes. His favorite teacher goes missing. Could his teacher been abducted by aliens? Omar investigates. Will creative thinking and a galactic spirit of adventure help solve this young adult mystery?

 “Much Ado About Baseball” (Yellow Jacket/Little Bee) by Rajani LaRocca. When Trish finds herself on the same summer baseball team as Ben, her math competition rival, two people must set aside their animosity and join together to help their team win. Will solving a math puzzle help the team succeed? Trish and Ben think so.

 “The Unicorn Rescue Society – The Secret of the Himalayas (Dutton) by Adam Gidwitz & Hena Khan is a continuation of the New york Times bestselling young adult series about the juvenile members of this group who travel to the rugged mountains of Pakistan to rescue a unicorn.

 “The Elephant Doctor of India” (Chicago Review Press) by Janie Chodosh. When a young elephant touching a sagging electric line in Assam, India gets stuck in the mud, there  is only one person to call – Dr. Sarma, the elephant doctor. Chodosh spends time with the doctor and reveals to young readers what this unique veterinarian does for the elephants he encounters.

 “Kudo Kids – The Mystery in Manhattan” (Razorbill) by Maia and Alex Shibutani. This brother & sister Olympic ice skating pair have turned their hands at writing young adult novels. The Kudo Kids come to New York to see the sights but when a dress from their fashion designer auntie’s collection goes missing, they end up in a chase around the city to nab the culprit.

“Tokyo Before Tokyo – Power and Magic in the City of Edo” (Reaktion) by Timon Screech. A beautifully illustrated volume on how the new capitol of Japan was formed set in the broader context of Japan’s cultural history and its extensive ties to China and Europe.

“From Little Tokyo With Love” (Viking) by Sarah Kuhn. Rika is an adopted bi-racial girl with formidable judo skills and a fiery temper. When she hears rumors in her neighborhood that her real mother is not only alive but a Hollywood movie star, she goes on a quest to find her. Accompanied by actor friend Hank, she must make some big decisions that could change the direction in her own life.

“Dial A for Aunties” (Berkley) by Jesse Q. Sutanto. In this rom-com/murder mystery mash-up of mistaken identity and sisterhood, a wedding photographer enlists the aid of her mother and her sisters in hiding the dead body of her blind date while attempting to pull off an opulent wedding for a billionaire client.

“Kalamata’s Kitchen” (Random House) by Sarah Thomas and illustrated by Jo Kosmides Edwards. Kalamata and her alligator pet take kids on food adventures around the world without ever leaving your table. In this episode she is anxious about her first day at a new school but she remembers how to feel brave when new experiences seem scary, reflecting on her visit to an Indian spice market last summer. And  then without realizing it, young readers learn how to make dal, a spicy Indian lentil stew.

“Korean War Comic Books” (McFarland) by Leonard Rifas. Comic books have presented fictional and fact-based stories of the Korean War, as it was being fought and afterward. Comparing these comics with events that inspired them offers a deeper understanding of the comics industry, America’s “forgotten war” and the anti-comics movement. This book examines the dramatization of events and issues, including the war’s origins, germ warfare, brainwashing, Cold War espionage, the nuclear threat, African Americans in the military, mistreatment of POWS and atrocities.

“Renegade Flight” (Razorbill) by Andrea Tang. In this YA fantasy adventure, a young pilot-in-training is grounded when found cheating on an entrance exam. Eager to re-join, she competes in a combat tournament to regain entry only to find she must battle a strangely attractive nemesis.

“Daddy’s Love For Me” (Mascot) by Sarah and JoAnn Jung as illustrated by Chiara Civati. A daughter feels resentment towards her overworked dad when he has no time to spend with her and show his love. When she overhears a conversation between her parents, she realizes how wrong she was.

“Counting Down With You” (Inkyard) by Tashie Bhuiyan. A reserved Bangladeshi teenage girl looks forward to a restful break when her demanding parents go abroad. Instead, she is roped into tutoring the school’s resident bad boy and then talked into a fake-dating façade. But then her life changes as the days go by and the two get to know each other.

 

“Dumplings for Lili” (Norton) written and illustrated by Melissa Iwai is a delightful tale of a young girl’s cooking with her grandmother and how it leads to borrowing ingredients and 

“Nina Soni, Sister Fixer” (Peachtree)  by Kashmira Sheth as illustrated by Jenn Kocsmiersky. This continuing series on the adventures of a young Indian American girl who looks for a new project while at the same time getting aggravated by her little sister’s behavior. Maybe there is a way to solve both issues at the same time?

 “Fatima’s Great Outdoors” (Kokila) by Ambreen Tariq as illustrated by Stevie Lewis. This picture book is a celebration of an immigrant family’s first outdoor camping trip and how it brings them all together for once inside one big tent under a canopy of stars.

 “Last Night At The Telegraph Club”  (Dutton) by Malinda Lo. It’s 1954 and red-scare paranoia spreads across “cold war” America. Not the safest place for two teenage girls to fall in love. With deportation looming over her father, a Chinese American girl must risk it all to let her love for another see the light of day.

“Queen of Ice” (Duckbill) by Devika Rangachari. This young adult historic novel delves into the turbulent history of tenth-century Kashmir and Didda, princess of Lohara who learns how to hold her own in a court ridden with factions and conspiracies.

 “All of Me” (HarperCollins) by Venita Coelho. What happens to a child locked into a basement so long that he develops a personality fracturing into many characters that become his family?

 “Foreign Bodies” (Norton) by Kimiko Hahn. Inspired by her encounter with the Jackson Collection of ingested curiosities at the Mutter Museum, this poet investigates the grip that seemingly insignificant objects have on our lives.

“Black Water Sister” (ACE) by Zen Cho. A modern fantasy  tale of ghosts, gods and the eternal bonds of family ties in the setting of modern-day Malaysia. A young woman returns to Penang and reunites with her extended family while at the same time navigating a world of spirits and gangsters.

 “Leave Society” (Vintage) is Tao Lin’s first work of fiction since 2013. It follows a thirty-year-old novelist living part-time with his parents in Taiwan and part-time in New York who grows increasingly alienated from friends and community back in the U.S. As he rotates between places, the novel chronicles his growth as son, writer and misfit. 

“The Henna Wars” (Page Street Kids) by Adiba Jaigirdar. This romcom about two teen girls with rival henna businesses who find despite their competition, they have to come to terms with a realization of the affection they have for each other.

“In the Watchful City” (TorDotCom) by S. Qiouy Lu. An unforgettable futuristic tale in a secondary world that feels familiar in essence, and that centers trans, nonbinary, queer, mentally ill and Chinese-coded identities. It asks the eternal question, “What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?”

 “The Sunflower Cast A Spell To Save Us From The Void” (Nightboat Books)  by Jackie Wang. These poems emphasize the social dimensions of dreams, particularly the use of dreams to index historical trauma and social processes.

“Clues to the Universe” (Quill Tree) is the Young Adult debut novel by Chrsitina Li. What do an aspiring young rocket scientist reeling from her father’s death and an artistic boy who loves superheroes and comic books have in common? When the two become science class partners, they embark on an adventure and discover themselves while banding together to confront bullying, grief and their own differences.

 “Love Without A Storm” (Blood Axe Books) by Arundhathi Subramaniam is filled with poems that celebrate an expanding kinship: of passion and friendship, mythic quest and modern day longing, in a world animated by dialogue and dissent, delirium and silence. 

“Heiress Apparently” (Abrams) by Diana Ma is the first book in an epic, romantic young adult series following the fictionalized descendants of the only officially recognized regent of China. When a young Chinese American woman from Illinois embarks on an acting career in Los Angeles having abandoned plans for college – things turn strange. When she gets a role in “M. Butterfly” shooting in Beijing, she uncovers a royal Chinese legacy in her family her parents would rather she never knew.

“Catcalling” (Open Letter) is a book of poems by Lee Soho. This poet is part of the new wave of innovative feminist and queer poetry appearing in South Korea today.

 “Terminal Boredom – Stories” (Verso) by Izumi Suzuki. This book of short stories introduces readers to a cult figure in Japanese literature who takes a unique slant on science fiction and concerns about technology, gender and imperialism.

“Forty Two Greens – Poems of Chonggi Mah” (Forsythia) as translated by Youngshil Cho. Winner of the Korean Literary Award, this poet’s search for the infinite in nature illuminates moments of beauty in the subconscious.

“Experiments in Skin – Race And Beauty In The Shadows of Vietnam” (Duke)  by Thuy Linh Nguyen Tu. The author examines the ongoing influence of the Vietnam War on contemporary ideas about race and beauty.

“Yolk” (Simon & Schuster) by Mary H. K. Choi. Two Korean sisters once thick as thieves now can’t stand the sight of each other. But when one gets cancer, the other becomes the only one who can help her. Bound together by family secrets and sickness, will these sisters learn more than they’re willing to confront?

“Beyond Line: The Art of Korean Writing” (LACMA/Prestel) by Stephen Little and Virginia Moon is the exhibition catalog for a major show that illuminates the restrained beauty strength and flexibility of Korean calligraphy. It is the first exhibition held outside Asia to focus on the history of writing and calligraphy in Korea.

“A Sky Beyond The Storm” (Razorbill) is the finale to the popular “Ember in the Ashes” series by Sabaa Tahir. This fantasy series finds the soul catcher must look beyond the borders of his land and take on a mission that could save or destroy – all that he holds dear.

“The Surprising Power of a Dumpling” (Scholastic) by Wai Chin. A teenage girl balances looking after her siblings, working in her dad’s restaurant and taking care of a mother suffering from a debilitating mental illness. A deep true-to-life  exploration through the complex crevices of culture, mental illness and family.

 “The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World” (Overlook) by Laura Imai Messina. A Japanese woman loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami. When she hears of a phone booth where people come to speak to departed loved ones, she makes a pilgrimage there only to find her grief won’t allow her to pick up the phone. A novel based on a true story.

“Taking On The Plastics Crisis” (Penguin Workshop) by Hannah Testa is part of the “Pocket Change Collective” series. It’s a handy guide on how we can all reduce our use of plastics that clog our beaches, oceans and landfill..

“Ten – A Soccer Story” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) by Shamini Flint. A good half-Indian girl in  1980’s Malaysia isn’t supposed to play a “boys” sport but Maya is all game as she achieves her goals while placating a bossy Indian grandmother and holding together a mixed race family on the verge of drifting apart. A young adult novel  that will inspire.

 “The Secret Talker” (HarperVia), a novel by Geling Yan as translated by Jeremy Tiang. Hongmei and Glen seem to have the perfect idyll life in the Bay Area even though their marriage is falling apart. When a secret admirer contacts Hongwei on the internet, his flirting turns into an obsession. 

“The Collected Poems of Chika Sagawa” (Modern Library) won the Pen Award for “Poetry in Translation” for translator/poet Sawako Nakayasu. Now it’s brought back in print in the new Modern Library Torchbearers Series that highlights women who wrote on their own terms, with  boldness,  creativity and a spirit of resistance. Sagawa was a turn-of-the-century daringly experimental voice in Tokyo’s avant-garde poetry scene. Her life was cut short by cancer at the age of 24 but the words she left behind linger on.

“CURB” (Nightboat) is a new collection of poems by Divya Victor. This book documents how immigrants and Americans both, navigate the liminal sites of everyday living, ripped by violence and paved over with possibilities of belonging.

“Ichiro” (Etch) by Ryan Inzana was a Will Eisner Award nominee, received the Asian/Pacific American Award and was a Junior Library Guild Selection. This graphic novel tells the story of a boy raised by his Japanese mother in Brooklyn who grows up idolizing his American father he never knew who was killed in combat. When he is forced to go to Japan with his mother who is on a work trip, he is left with a grandfather, a stranger to him in a country he doesn’t know. When he finds himself a fugitive in a land of mythic gods, he must figure out who he is and how he can escape.

“Séance Tea Party” (RH Graphic) by Reimena Yee. A lonely girl meets a ghost who haunts her home and finds a new friend. But what happens as the girl grows older and the ghost stays the same age?

 “Nina Soni, Master of The Garden” (Peachtree) by Kashmira Sheth and illustrated by Jenn Kocsmiersky. This young adult series about an Indian American fourth grader finds her working on a   garden project with her siblings supervised by their landscape architect mom. What they hadn’t counted on was the unpredictability of mother  nature. Can Nina Soni help this garden survive?

 “Constellation Route” (Alice James) by Matthew Olzmann This new book of poems (due out March, 2022) by this mixed-race poet uses the form of the letter to explain issues related to contemporary American society. The book is a metaphysical tribute to both the Post Office and the act of letter writing as a way to understand and create meaningful connections with the world at large.

Mindy Kim, Class President” (Aladdin) by Lyla Lee is part of a series of books on the adventures of a teenage Korean American girl. In this story, she decides to run for class president but first she must overcome her fear of public speaking.

“The Truffle Eye” (Zephyr) by Vann Nguyen is the debut collection of poems by this Vietnamese-Israeli poet as translated by Adriana X. Jacobs. In it she tackles questions of identity and cultural legacy from points of emotion and shock.

“Flowering Tales – Women Exorcising History in Heian Japan”  (Columbia University Press) by Takeshi Watanabe. This is the first extensive study of this historical Japanese tale. It unravels 150 years of happenings in Heian era society penned by female writers.

“Pippa Park Raises Her Game” (Fabled Films Press) by Erin Yun. This loose reimaging of “Great Expectations” follows a young Korean American girl learning to navigate her new life at an elite private school in this young adult novel.

 

 “Some Girls Walk Into The Country They Are From” (Wave)  is a new book by Sawako Nakayasu, an artist working with language, and translation – separately and in various combinations. She, alone is responsible for introducing a wide variety of modern Japanese poets  to English readers throughout the years with her fresh and skillful translations. This new volume is a multilingual work of both original and translated poetry.

 “A Taste for Love” (Razorbill) by Jennifer Yen. When a rebellious teenage girl agrees to help her mom’s bakery stage a junior competition, she soon realizes it’s a setup. All of the contestants are young Asian American men her mom has handpicked for her to date. What can she do?

“That Was Now, This Is Then” (Greywolf Press) is the first new collection from Paris Review Editor Vijay Seshadri since his 2014 Pulitzer Prizewinning book, “3 Sections.” Rosanna Warren says of this new book, “These are poems of lacerating self-awareness and stoic compassion. It is a book we need, right now.”

“Midsummer’s Mayhem” (Yellow Jacket) by Rajani LaRocca. When her dad , a renowed food writer loses his sense of taste, it puts a damper on this eleven-year old girl’s dream of becoming a baker and winning a cooking contest. When she meets a boy in the forest, he teaches her about new natural ingredients. Will the everyday magic of baking give her the courage she needs to save her father?

“Every Reason We Shouldn’t” (Tor Teen) by Sara Fujimura. When a teenage girl’s Olympic figure skater dreams fade, she meets a young man at her family’s rink who’s driven to get to the Olympics in speed skating. As a rivalry develops, so does a romance.

“My Name Will Grow Wide Like A Tree” (Greywolf) by Yi Lei and translated from the Chinese by Changtai Bi and Tracy K. Smith. Yiyun Li says of this book, “Yi Lei, one of China’s most original and independent poets, documents not only Chinese history in the past four decades, but also more importantly a woman’s private history of rebellion and residence.”

“Disappear Doppelganger Disappear” (Little A) is by the author of “The Hundred-Year Flood”, Matthew Salesses. Laura Van den Berg writes “How to live in a world that refuses to see you? Matt Kim’s intoxicating battle with his mysterious doppelganger moves him deeper and deeper into the vast and urgent sea of this question – and towards a possible answer. Inventive and profound, mordantly hilarious and wildly moving.”

“The Boys in the Back Row” (Levine Querido) by Mike Jung. When band geeks, comic nerds and best friends Eric and Matt tire of being bullied by racist comments and being called “gay”, they hatch a plan to meet a famous comic book artist during regional marching competition but an enemy has other ideas.

“The Girl Who Stole an Elephant” (Peachtree)  by Nizrana Farook. Deep adventures in the Sri Lankan jungle await young readers as a nobleman’s rebellious daughter steals the queen’s jewelry and makes her escape on the king’s elephant. How will things turn out in the end?

“Pink Mountain on Locust Island” (Coffee House) by Jamie Marina Lau. In her debut novel, shortlisted for Australia’s prestigious Stella Prize, old hazy vignettes conjure a multi-faceted world of philosophical angst and lackadaisical violence. A teenage girl drifts through a monotonous existence in a Chinatown apartment until her dad and boyfriend plot a dubious enterprise that requires her involvement.

 “Sachiko” (Columbia University Press) by Endo Shusaku as translated by Van C. Gessel. This novel tells the story of two young Japanese Christians in Nagasaki trying to find love in the painful war-time years between 1930 and 1945.

“Kimono Culture – The Beauty of Chiso” (Worchester Art Museum) by Vivian Li and Christine D. Starkman tells the story of a Kyoto-based draper that is one of the oldest and most prestigious kimono makers in Japan today.

“Anna K – A Love Story” (Flatiron Books) by  Jenny Lee.  A re-imaging  of “Anna Karenina”. This time in the persona of a  teenage Korean American girl in Manhattan. 

 

“Bestiary” (One World) by K-Ming Chang. This debut novel brings myth to life, revealing layer by layer origin stories of what becomes of women and girls who carry the spirits of beasts within.

“Land of Big Numbers” (Mariner) by Te-Ping Chen. This debut story collection depicts the diverse people of China, their government and how it has tumbled into the present. The author is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

“Other Moons – Vietnamese Short Stories of the American War and Its Aftermath” (Columbia University Press) translated and edited by Quan Manh Ha and Joseph Babcock. In this anthology, Vietnamese writers describe their experience of what they call the American war and its lasting legacy through the lens of their own vital artistic visions.

 “Everything I Thought I Knew” (Candlewick) by Shannon Takaoka. A teenage girl wonders if she’s inherited more than just a heart from her donor when odd things begin to happen. As she searches for answers, what she learns will lead her to question everything she assumed she knew.

“New Deal Art In The Northwest – The WPA And Beyond” (UW) by Margaret Bullock. This book tells the story of hundreds of Northwest artists employed by the U.S. Federal government under the WPA Project and also serves as the catalog for an accompanying exhibition at Tacoma Art Museum. Includes work by Kamekichi Tokita, Kenjiro Nomura and Fay Chong.

“Goat Days” (Seagull Books) by Benyamin as translated by Joseph Koyippally. A poor young man in Southern India dreams of getting a job in a Persian Gulf country so he can earn enough money to send to his family back home. When his wish becomes reality, things don’t turn out as planned and he is locked into a slave-like existence herding goats in the desert. Circumstances force him to conceive of a hazardous scheme  to escape his life of loneliness and alienation. But will it be enough?

 

“Last Tang Standing” (Putnam) by Lauren Ho. “Crazy Rich Asians” meets “Bridget Jones” in this funny debut novel about the pursuit of happiness, surviving one’s thirties intact and opening one’s self up to love.

 “AN I NOVEL” (Columbia) by Minae Mizumura as translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter. This novel focuses on a single day of a Japanese expatriate in America as she reflects on her life in this country and why she wants to return to Japan to become a writer and write again in Japanese.

“My First Book of Haiku Poems – A Picture, A Poem And A Dream – Classic Poems by Japanese Haiku Masters” (Tuttle) by Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen and illustrated by Tracy Gallup. Classic Japanese haiku imaginatively illustrated with bilingual English and Japanese text. Each poem comes with questions for the young reader to think about.

“Sacrificial Metal” (Conduit Books & Ephemera) by Esther Lee. It won the Minds on Fire Open Book Prize. Sean Dorsey writes that the book “dances with astute curiosity and deep tenderness across the shifting grounds of grief, touch, bearing witness, memory, and our obstinate human instinct for future planning. With great compassion, Lee’s poems remind us that everything human eventually unravels…”

 “Forbidden Memory – Tibet During the Cultural Revolution” (Potomac)  by Tsering Dorje. Edited by Robert Barnett and translated by Susan T. Chen. The author uses eyewitness accounts with expert analysis to tell the story of how Tibet was shaken by foreign invasion and cultural obliteration. This book is a long-overdue reckoning of China’s role in Tibet’s tragic past.

 “Paper Bells” (The Song Cave) by Phan Nhien Hao and translated by Hai-Dang Phan is a new volume of poems by a poet shaped by the Vietnam War, forced to re-start a life as a teenager in the U.S. His poems bear witness to a delicate balance between two countries and cultures.

 “So This Is Love: a Twisted Tale” (Disney) by Elizabeth Lim. A young  adult re-telling of the Cinderella story. In this one, Cinderella leaves the house where she works and gets a job as the palace seamstress. Here she becomes witness to a grand conspiracy to overthrow the king. Can she find a way to save the kingdom?

“From Maybe To Forever – An Adoption Story” (Creston) by M. L. Gold and N. V. Fong as illustrated by Jess Hong. Told from a big sister’s point of view, this picture book makes the complicated adoption process clear for the youngest readers and the colorful art shows how many different kinds of families there can be. 

 “Butterfly Sleep” (Tupelo) by Kim Kyung Ju as translated by Jake Levine is a historical drama based in the early Joson Dynasty. With a mixture of magic realism and dark humor, he tells an existentialist allegory of Korean’s rapid development. This play is a modern fable of a rapidly changing country that must confront its ghosts.

“Lion Boys and Fan Girls” (Epigram) by Pauline Loh looks at teenage boys who make a pledge to ban dating and focus on lion dancing. But they must contend with unusual girls and cyberbullying. The rich culture of Singapore and the fascinating history of lion dance make this a compelling young adult read.

“Eat A Bowl of Tea” (UW) by Louis Chu is a classic influential novel that captured the tone and sensibility of everyday life in an American Chinatown. This new edition comes with a foreword by Fae Myenne Ng and an introduction by Jeffrey Paul Chan.

Set in a New England town where accusations led to the Salem witch trials, Quan Berry’s novel “We Ride Upon Sticks” (Pantheon) looks at a 1980’s girls field hockey team who flaunt society’s notions of femininity in order to find their true selves and lasting friendship.

“People From My Neighborhood – Stories” (Soft Skull) by Hiromi Kawakami and translated by Ted Goossen. From the author of the internationally bestselling “Strange Weather in Tokyo”, this new book is a collection of interlinking stories that masterfully blend the mundane and the mythical. In these people’s lives, details of the local and everyday slip into accounts of duels, prophetic dreams, revolutions and visitations from ghosts and gods. Here is a universe ruled by mystery and transformation.

“A Bond Undone” (St. Martin’s Griffin) by Jin Yong is the second volume of “Legends of The Condor Heroes”, one of Asia’s most popular martial arts novels. Translated by Gigi Chang.

 “Taiwan In Dynamic Transition – Nation Building And Democratization” (UW)  edited by Ryan Dunch and Ashley Esarey. This book provides an up-to-date assessment of contemporary Taiwan highlighting that country’s emergent nationhood and its significance for world politics.

 “The Journey of Liu Xiabao – From Dark Horse to Nobel Laureate” (Potomac) edited by Joanne Leedom-Ackerman with Yu Zhang, Jie Li and Tienchi Martin-Liao. Liu Xiabao was more than a dissident poet and this collection of essays capture the intellectual and activist spirit of this late literary critic and democracy icon.

“Harris Bin Potter And The  Stoned Philosopher” (Epigram) by Suffian Hakim. This young Singapore-based writer’s parody of Harry Potter bases the story in Malaysia and seasons it with local and pop cultural references.

“Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade” (Aladdin) by Lyla Lee and illustrated by Dung Ho. Mindy is excited to go to the annual lunar new year parade but things don’t go as planned. Can she still find a way to celebrate?

 “From Maybe To Forever – An Adoption Story” (Creston) by M.L. Gold and N.V. Fong and illustrated by Jess Hong. Told from the view of an eager older sister, this is an endearing story about adoption from an often-neglected point of view.

 “Grievance is Their Sword, Subterfuge Is Their Shield” (OkeyDokeySmokeyPokey Publishing) in the words of former IE staff person Thomas R. Brierly is “an intersectional persuasion to elucidate and educate on matters of race, violence, white supremacy and the United States’ adherence to brutal capitalism…”. Go to vvovnn.bigcartel.com to order.

News & Information 

The 2021-2022  Heritage Arts Apprenticeship pairs have been chosen by Humanities Washington. These sixteen teams of artists and craftspeople chosen by the Center for Washington Cultural Traditions will help preserve traditional skills for our future. Through the program, a skilled and experienced master artist will mentor an apprentice in a one-on-one program throughout the year. Some participants include the following – Kagura (Sacred Japanese Dance) master Kazuko Kaya Yamazaki will mentor Gabrrielle Kazuko Nomura Gainor. North Indian regional folk music specialist Srivani Jade will mentor Vibhuti Kavishwar. South Indian classical dance form Bharatanatyam will be taught by Sandhya Kandadal Rajagopal to Dhanshika Vijayaraj. Tai Tu music which is South Vietnamese folk music will be taught by Sinae Joy Chek to Siyeon Park. Madhubani painting is one of the most ancient visual art styles in the world, originating in the prehistoric Kingdom of Mithila India. It will be  taught by Deepti Agrawal to Harini Ihiagarajan. Lao food ways are a vital part of preserving Lao culture and building a positive relationship with one’s heritage.  It will be taught by  Phoukham Kelly Bounkeua to Kitana Ludwig. For more information on this program and the artists and craftspeople chosen, contact the Washington Cultural Traditions at waculture.org.

The University of Washington Press issues a call for writers working on a manuscript or new book proposal. The editors at this local press want to connect with current and prospective authors about new projects and book proposals. They invite writers to contact them by email to set up a meeting by phone or zoom. If interested, contact Executive Editor Lorri Hagman at [email protected].

The Readings & Workshops program at Poets & Writers has funds to provide mini-grants to pay poets, fiction writers and creative non-fiction writers to give readings throughout King County between now and June 30, 2022. Deadline is six weeks prior to any event. Email [email protected] for more information.

For more arts, click here