Dear Brown Girl, It’s a new year, and I arrive again at questions of writing. This morning, it occurred to me that I have expended a lot of energy trying to explain the “how” piece, elaborating on craft and construction. I used to think this was what students and readers wanted to hear — how …
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This is an ongoing outline/list of ideas, reading materials, et al, as I am thinking about my next next book project. On social media, I noted: in so many of the Filipino American community events I participate in as a poet, the same question in different iterations always arises: “Why poetry?” “Why do you write …
With the permission of author and publisher Christina Newhard, who sent me these questions, I am posting my responses here: Name: Barbara Jane Reyes Where you live: Oakland, CA Descriptor: Author and Educator What are your works of / about Philippine mythology (books/ podcast/ art /classes, organizations)? Please list them: Poeta en San Francisco (Tinfish …
Questions while reading Pinay authored literature What do we see, and what do we not see in the literature? What is women’s work? Who gets to write books? Who has access to literacy? Who has access to formal education? To secondary education? To college education? Who has access to (constitutional and social) freedom of speech? …
What follows is my introduction to the reprint/re-issue of Liwanag, the 1975 Filipino American arts anthology, which I am just so honored to have written. I. What happens when a group of young Pinoy and Pinay writers, artists, and students — Flips — take the means of production into their own hands. They create a …
What’s This Thing About Orientals Together On A Bus “Well, here we are, Orientals together on a bus.”—Hisaye Yamamoto, Seventeen Syllables “Oriental was a rug that everyone steps on, so we ain’t no Orientals. We were Asian American.”—Richard Aoki 1. “Asian American Literature” had already arrived. Just like José Garcia Villa wrote, “Have come, am …
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