Finding a Penfriend in Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the Arts
An open letter to n+1’s new anthology, which explores themes of racial aggression and privilege as well as celebrating solidarity
Dear
Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the Arts,
First, a confession: I am not Asian American. (I was born in London, am Chinese and monoracial, and have lived in both New York and Hong Kong, where I’m currently writing this letter.) Asian American identity politics is, generally, a no-go area for me: it is a delicate space; I do not want to intrude. I think of one particular literary magazine whose submission page includes the lines: ‘Do not send ideas about people and events in Asia unless they convey something about the Asian diaspora that resonates with the Asian American experience.’ Interesting. I wonder who decided that division – not unification – defined experiences of colonialism, oppression, pain and resilience? (Y
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On Thursday, February 25, as part of Printed Matter’s Virtual Art Book Fair, Paper Monument guest editors Daisy Nam and Christopher K. Ho spoke to contributors Mel Chin, Aruna D’Souza, Hyperlink Press, and Patrick Jaojoco about Paper Monument’s new anthology,
Best! Letters from Asian Americans in the Arts.
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Editors Christopher K. Ho and Daisy Nam will lead a conversation with Mel Chin, Aruna D’Souza, Hyperlink Press, and Patrick Jaojoco, all contributors to Paper Monument’s new anthology,
Best! ignite new ways of being and modes of creating at a moment of racial reckoning. The panelists will read from their letters, discuss
Best!‘s origins, and touch on topics such as how the project shifted throughout 2020, the intimacy and complexity of the epistolary form, and the urgency of moving beyond and exploding open the model-minority myth.
6:30–7:30 PM EST
Thursday, February 25