Today will mark the start of the Asian American Writer's Festival, which will draw campus attention to Asian American literature as some of the leading names come to give lectures and workshops at Dartmouth.
"It's a pretty exciting time, especially if you're in the loop of Asian-American literature and literature in general," said Stella Lee '03, one of the editors-in-chief of Main Street, Dartmouth's Asian American and cross-cultural magazine.
"The field of Asian American literature is booming and growing, and we had a difficult time selecting writers," Asian-American adviser Nora Yasumura said.
The festival will continue through May 2 and combine the themes of National Poetry month and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. In fact, this event is characterized by synergy.
"I think what's very exciting about this festival is that you see three different areas of the college come together: English, the humanities, and student life," Yasumura said.
Yasumura and the faculty planners, English professors Jonathan Crewe and Josna Rege and visiting English professor Chin Woon Ping, wanted to select authors who represented a broad range, Yasumura said. "We wanted to offer authors who could speak to the whole field of writing."
The festival's top billing is Maxine Hong Kingston, an English professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the acclaimed author of "Woman Warrior," "China Men," "Tripmaster Monkey" and "To Be The Poet."
She will be joined by poetry and prose author Meena Alexander, who often focus on the South Asian experience.
Garrett Hongo and Li-Young Lee are both poets and authors of memoirs. Hawaii-born Hongo often focuses on his geographical roots as well as his heritage.
Poet and playwright Chin Woon Ping was instrumental in the organization of this festival and extended invitations to the selected authors.
The authors will also be conducting small poetry workshops for selected students enrolled in English or creative writing courses and those involved with the literary publication Stonefence.
In addition to the lectures and poetry workshops, the festival will include today's Student Poetry Slam in the Top of the Hop at 8 p.m.
This event offers students a chance to express themselves through their own poetry, "blending the academic pieces with students utilizing and being inspired by all these authors," Yasumura said.
"It's going to be a definitely different tone, not a Sandborn Library event at all."
"It's a way of celebrating together," Lee said.
The festival is organized by the Leslie Center and co-sponsored by the Asian American Student Adviser and the English department. It also received financial support from the Bilder Endowment for Human and Intergroup Relations and from the Dickey Center for International Understanding.
