YAY! THE ASIAN AMERICAN LIT REVIEW - Special Mixed Race Issue

When The Asian American Lit Review (AALR) asked if I’d contribute short stories to their Special Issue on Mixed-Race as part of their Mixed Race Initiative involving 100 universities worldwide including contributions by U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey and Afro Cuban Filipino King of Latin Soul, Joe Bataan, I was like HELLS YES!

Besides that, I thought, I’m black and AALR is a stellar platform for Asian writers. And since the writers are of all different races, that must mean “Mixed Race.” But later I found out that “mixed race” is another term for “biracial" and the like. Like my children. Oh, I thought. A little less excited about a subject that I thought was a non-issue for me.

What surprised me was how it wasn’t. How the topic was fuel, and became the subjects of not one but my two stories printed on the back of cards in this gorgeous deck—a collaboration of writers and painters and other artists from all over the world. It’s centerpiece is a global conversation on race.

“It isn’t simply a reexamination of race or a survey of mixed voices, important as both are. It’s a provocateur, inspiring new conversations and cross-pollinations, pushing into new corners.”

And since I always go for “the dirty,” I can assure you that the above quote is true.

If honest discussions on race matter to you, (not the “permitted” and sanitized version that we see on social media) SUPPORT THIS EFFORT and BUY A COPY HERE.

  

Well done, AALR!

JOSEPH MATTSON MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST ESSAYISTS OF OUR TIME

"The wicked irony of alcoholism, of addiction, is that the cure is denial: Either we’re in denial of our patterns or we’re denying ourselves what we need." --Joseph Mattson


I heard Joseph read last night at the Bird Sanctuary at Griffith Park and he totally blew me away. I liked his books, especially the title story in his book "Eat Hell," but last night he read a piece that was tragic and close in time and it was brilliant. It's about his mother's murder. The sentencing phase of the murder trial hasn't even been completed yet the essay he delivers feels complete.


I don't know many writers who can write about trauma so brilliantly while they're still experiencing it, without the essay being super depressing or turning into a meditation. 


He writes about addiction often, Skid Row-type homelessness and topics that aren't easily relatable to most people but he makes it real though hard to watch sometimes. But this particular essay that he read last night went above and beyond. He could have dragged us through the emotional pain of the story and the essay would have still been good because he's a great writer and editor anyway, but instead he found a way to look at the murder more objectively and at the same time, with so much care. He was her son. Brilliant. I encourage you to read it HERE. Thank you Joseph!

THE DIRT as told by Chiwan Choi of Cultural Weekly

IF YOU'RE COMING TO CLOTHING OPTIONAL SATURDAY...or even if you're still thinking about it or you'll make it next time, you MUST read former-DLL reader, Writ Large Press co-founder's, piece on "the dirty". Thanks, Chiwan Choi. This is gonna be bonkers!

http://www.culturalweekly.com/the-dirty-truth-about-las-literary-scene.html

WE'RE ON THE RADIO!!!!

DIRTY LAUNDRY LIT Host, Jeff Eyres and I will be on LATalkRadio.com’s State of the Arts radio program hosted and produced by Michael Sterling and Paul Stroili. (60-65,000 listeners) tomorrow, August 1st, LIVE at 1:00 pm PST at www.latalkradio.com. Yay!

You can listen through your tabletop internet radios, personal computers or smart phones (smart phones need the proper app). If you listen through your computer, once you arrive on the home page of the LATalkRadio.com Network, you just click on the “Listen Live” button and you’re on board.

Don’t forget us!!!

And if you did. Ha! Or were busy. Here it is...We talked about my brief time as a video vixen--I was 13--and it became my most embarrassing moment ever, we talked about Dirty Laundry Lit, and spackle. I hope you'll check it out.

MY FIRST PODCAST...YAY!

I can't believe any of this is happening...I'm so glad you're here. This past Friday, I had my FIRST EVER on-air interview for Joseph Lapin's podcast "Working Poet Radio." All of this leading up to Thursday's RADIO interview--60,000 listeners (MY FIRST EVER!) on LA TALK RADIO. Yay! And Thursday, I'll be with my co-pilot, Dirty Laundry Lit host, Jeff Eyres (woo hoo!) promoting DIRTY LAUNDRY LIT: CLOTHING OPTIONAL. (Yay! I'll tell you more on Thursday.)

But TODAY at 2:30 pm, you'll hear how I said too much about dildos--one word is enough, no?, waiting to hear back from my agent on the novel, about writing, and I read a 3 minute excerpt from the essay I most regret ever writing (I read it to let that memory go.)

It's a conversation between friends and awkward at times because we're being recorded. And at one point, I couldn't find the words when Joseph asked me about my law work--it's so personal--and why my clients touch me. I told him ego...seeing myself in them. But if I'm honest--naked--I feel like I can see God in others then...where there's mercy.

At 2:30, can you come over? Go to Joseph's websitehttp://josephalapin.com/, scroll down to the bottom "Episode 5", and click on our podcast, set it to play and wash dishes or drive or something fun. You'll be supporting a working poet--Joseph (because people are watching his numbers and he took a chance on me and Dirty Laundry Lit. Thank YOU, Joseph!!!!) and you'll be supporting 7 incredible Clothing Optional writers (yay!), our host-with-the-most, me (of course) and our incredible volunteer team as I cheer for all of them, every chance I get, leading up to Saturday.

Thanks y'all!

PROOF! AND THIS MAY BE THE LAST POST ON PRAGUE...MAYBE :)

So, I've been back for three full days from Prague and it's already becoming a blur. The more I try to hold onto pieces of memories, the more they pull away. I knew in Prague that I would have a hard time bringing any of this to the surface. (See my weird post, 3 posts back)

So last night, when I was at the PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Final Reading, I told a columnist "No, no I can't be sure," I said. "In fact, I can't say with certainty that I was even in Prague, at all." She had just asked me, "Are you sure there were really babies crawling up that radio tower...I will text my friend who's there in Prague now, shooting a movie." I told her that there was a photo but...I'm not in it.

Then I read this just now. I WAS THERE. Thanks again B O D Y for inviting me to read at your Birthday Bash and to the Muse Paper Press in Prague...thank you for agreeing that I was there, too. FRIENDS, I HOPE YOU'LL READ THIS PROOF. xo

http://musethepaper.blogspot.de/2013/07/body-birthday-bash.html

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A FEMINIST?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A FEMINIST? I think I am...by my own definition. Especially when it comes to literature. And as a reflection of the human condition, I like literature that shows women as heroes--at home and in the street--where soft doesn't mean weak. So when L.A. Weekly asked me to choose my favorite L.A. novel, I chose the detective novel, Shooting Elvis, by Robert Eversz which features a kick-ass female protagonist. 

In the interview, I talk about what I think it means to "come of age" as a woman and how it relates to the novel, Shooting Elvis. So THANK YOU L.A. Weekly for letting me contribute to the conversation in "17 L.A. Literary Figures Pick Their Favorite L.A. Novels." I hope you support it by clicking on the link and reading more.