Sunday, May 22, 2016

CONFESSIONS OF A NUMBER ONE SON: CHINESE AMERICAN LITERATURE NOW


Presented by Before Columbus Foundation
Laurel Book Store: May 22, 11:00am—12:15pm

The Chinese presence in North America predates the formation of the United States by several centuries, thus making Chinese-American Literature one of the most complex traditions in contemporary letters. The arc and panorama of this vibrant, urgent stream among American artistic tributaries will be discussed with one of its master practitioners and grand iconoclasts, Frank Chin. The Confessions of a Number One Son: The Great Chinese American Novel, Mr. Chin's most recent novel, will serve as the axis of this conversation, which will include its editor, Prof. Calvin McMillin, and Genny Lim, a key presence in contemporary Chinese-American culture.

 FRANK CHIN is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and cultural critic. His first two plays, The Chickencoop Chinaman and The Year of the Dragon, remain seminal works in the history of Asian American theater. Chin’s books include Donald Duk, Gunga Din Highway, and Bulletproof Buddhists. He is also the coeditor of two landmark anthologies of Asian American literature: Aiiieeeee! and its sequel, The Big Aiiieeeee!

GENNY LIM's poetry books are Winter Place from the San Francisco Kearny Street Workshop and Child of War. She is author of two plays: Paper Angels and Bitter Cane and the nonfiction book Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island. Lim has performed and recorded in poetry and music collaborations with jazz greats Max Roach, Herbie Lewis, John Santos, Francis Wong, and Jon Jang. Paper Angels was performed in San Francisco's Chinatown and won the Fringe Festival Top Ten Award for Best Site Specific Work. Her performance piece, Where is Tibet? premiered at CounterPulse, and was performed at AfroSolo Arts and Women on the Way Festivals.

CALVIN MCMILLIN is a writer, teacher, and scholar. Born in Singapore and raised in rural Oklahoma, he received his PhD in literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He writes fiction and previously worked as a film critic for LoveHKFilm.com, a Hong Kong cinema Web site. He is the author of The Sushi Bar at the Edge of Forever.