In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we’re looking at some of the best recent books written by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. This list builds on our efforts previously reported by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders must rewrite their stories in history and look Asian Pacific American Stories which go beyond the month of celebration.
From memoirs to poetry and anthologies, here are some interesting new nonfiction books.
1.”Last boat out of Shanghai: the epic story of the Chinese who fled Mao’s revolution» by Hélène Zia
Growing up, journalist and activist Helen Zia often asked her mother about her early life in China and her journey to America. His mother deflected attention, calling this period “a memory of war and misfortune.”
But one day, when Zia was in her fifties, she said to her mother: “Too bad you can’t tell me about my grandparents in China. » Her mother put down her chopsticks and began to tell Zia the most astonishing and heartbreaking story: a story of abandonment, adoption, war and escape.
The story featured interviews with Zia’s mother and others who fled Shanghai at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
After 12 years of research and writing, Zia wrote a history of this exodus, focusing on the dramatic stories of four young people who dared to flee to start new lives in new countries, on what this generation of Chinese and their children accomplished and how these stories relate to the current journeys of today’s immigrants and asylum seekers.
Memories of Asia-Pacific America
2. “Everything You Can Know: A Memoir» by Nicole Chung
Nicole Chung grew up knowing that she was born very prematurely and placed for adoption by Korean-American parents who could not care for her.
When she asked her adoptive parents, a white couple from Oregon, for more information, her mother often said that this might be “all you can know.”
She eventually searched for her birth family, and as she neared the birth of her first child, she found an older sister and a story very different from the one she knew.
Warm, frank, and insightful about race, heritage, family, and motherhood, this memoir from the editor of Catapult magazine and former editor-in-chief of The Toast was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Autobiography, long-listed for the PEN Open Book Award and named a best book of the year by nearly two dozen media outlets, including the Washington Post, Boston Globe, NPR, Time, Newsday and Library Journal.
3. “Not Quite Not White: Losing and Finding Race in America” by Sharmila Sen
Growing up in Calcutta (then called Calcutta), India, Sharmila Sen, a literary scholar and editor at Harvard Press, did not experience the concept of race because her world was instead stratified by ethnicity, language, geography and religion. and castes.
Then in 1982, she moved to America at the age of 12. She spent her early years trying to assimilate Americanness by watching “The Jeffersons” on TV, dancing to Duran Duran and perfecting the art of no-bake Jell-O desserts. .
Along the way, she realized that she was “Not quite not white“, and began to question what it meant to be American or Americanized, and to chart a path forward for herself, her children, and her country.
Describe as “part memory, part manifest”, this book won an adult nonfiction award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association.
Asian Pacific Americans work on creativity
Memoirist, poet, critic and performance artist David Mura examines the challenges of writing about race and identity with narrative art in “A Stranger’s Journey.” He critiques that whiteness is often the default viewpoint and argues that the ability to discuss race and identity is crucial to teaching creative writing.
Poet Garrett Hongo describes the book as “a new type of literary criticism—personal, postcolonial, analytical, and dramatic.” His ideas on the situation of the writer of color amidst centrist assumptions and prohibitions open a new field of critical and creative thought woven together in a book that could have been called “The Courtier of Castiglione meets the art of Sun-tzu war.
5. “No Mistake: A Perfect Workbook for Imperfect Artists” by Keiko Agena
Actress Keiko Agena created a creative journal based on mindfulness practices and the “no mistakes” principles of improvised comedy.
With coloring pages and original illustrations by Agena, each exercise encourages the reader to confront their emotions, rethink their art, and take mindful breaks to recharge. Actress and documentary filmmaker Kulap Vilaysack said: “There are many days when I feel like a crazy piece of children’s art. “No Mistakes” helps me point out the art and appreciate the janky.
6.”How to write an autobiographical novel” by Alexandre Chee
Award-winning novelist and professor of English and creative writing at Dartmouth College Alexander Chee has brought together a collection of essays exploring questions about self-creation in life and art.
It examines how his many identities—student, teacher, reader, writer, son, gay, multiracial Korean-American—came together through his life’s formative experiences, while also discussing the craft of writing and art to be a writer. .
7.”Made Out of Stars: a journal for self-actualization” by Meera Lee Patel
“Made of stars” is Meera Lee Patel’s third inspirational journal or workbook, following the best-selling “Start Where You Are” and “My Friend Fear.”
Filled with bright watercolors, the book is intimate and warm, and filled with encouraging quotes and thought-provoking suggestions to gently guide the reader to understand that “nothing is missing.” You are already whole.”
Asian Pacific American Anthologies
8. “John Okada: the life and rediscovered work of the author of “No-No Boy”‘” edited by Frank Abe, Greg Robinson and Floyd Cheung
John Okada’s only published novel, “No-No Boy,” is a classic of Asian American literature, telling the story of a Japanese American as he returns home to Seattle after was incarcerated during World War II after refusing to fight for the United States.
With articles by Lawson Fusao Inada, Martha Nakagawa, Stephen H. Sumida, Shawn Wong, and Jeffrey T. Yamashita, “JOHN OKADA: The life and rediscovered work of the author of “No-No Boy”,” is the first comprehensive examination of Okada and his work.
Author Ruth Ozeki describes the book as “part eulogy, part pedagogy, part literary excavation, and part scholarly compendium.” These editors, scholars, and writers have created a monument that will keep John Okada’s work relevant and his legacy alive. »
9. “Displaced People: Refugee Writers on Refugee Life» edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer Prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen brought together 17 refugee writers from countries including Mexico, Bosnia, Iran, Afghanistan, Soviet Ukraine, Hungary, Chile and Ethiopia to write about their experiences as refugees.
Many arrived as children in places like London and Toronto, Oklahoma and Minnesota, South Africa and Germany. As tens of millions of people today flee persecution and conflict as refugees, according to the United Nations, these voices and these stories are more relevant than ever. A portion of the proceeds will help support the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit organization that works on behalf of refugees.
Asian Pacific American Poetry
ten. “Eye of Pidgin» by Joe Balaz
Joe Balaz, born and raised in Wahiawa on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, is of Hawaiian, Slovak and Irish descent.
A poet, visual artist, and editor of “Hoʻomānoa: An Anthology of Contemporary Hawaiian Literature,” Balaz is known for writing in both standard English and English. Sabirwhich developed from the mixture of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese, Hawaiian and English languages spoken by workers on Hawaii’s sugar plantations.
In “Eye of Pidgin», Balaz brings together 35 years of his poetry written in pidgin. Her poems are funny and lyrical and feature themes of history, protest, and love of the land.
11. “Effigies III: indigenous poetry of the Pacific Islands» edited by Allison Adelle Hedge Coke, Brandy Nālani McDougall and Craig Santos Perez
Third in the Effigies of Indigenous Writers series, “Effigies III: indigenous poetry of the Pacific Islands” celebrates the work of four emerging poets from the Pacific Islands of Guam, Hawaii and Fiji: No’u Revilla, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Kisha Borja-Quichocho-Calvo and Tagi Quolouvaki.
Both critical and lyrical, these poets take a fresh look at culture, history, politics, genealogy, feminism and the environment.
“The voices that gather here, in Effigies III, take shape and give rhythm to the ocean itself,” said author Lehua M. Taitano. “Chamoru, Kanaka ‘Ōiwi, Fijian and Tongan, these poets of Oceania speak of and for the waters and all their kin with insightful, critical and lyrically stunning undulations. »
12. “Indigenous literatures of Micronesia» edited by Evelyn Flores, Emelihter Kihleng and Craig Santos Perez
Featuring more than 70 authors, 100 plays and nine of the 13 basic Micronesian language groups, “Indigenous literatures of Micronesia» brings together poetry, short stories, critical and creative essays, songs and excerpts from plays by indigenous Micronesian authors.
Works include writings of historical significance, contemporary plays, as well as those of emerging writers from the two thousand islands of Micronesia.
Follow NBC Asian America on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram And Tumblr.
