May celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Month. In the United States, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a long history and have created an extraordinary legacy making our country what it is today. While the first Asians to come to North America were Filipino sailors in the late sixteenth century, immigrants from Asia and their descendants have made significant contributions to American culture for centuries despite numerous societal pressures, legislative policies, and cultural assertions. As a result, Asian American and Pacific Islander writers have created a literary legacy of published works and unpublished manuscripts since the nineteenth century; it is as diverse as the people their work represents. In the 21st century, we continue to see anti-Asian American sentiment and racism across our nation. Thus, it is even more critical to pay tribute to Asian American writers of the past and celebrate the Asian American and Pacific Islander writers of today.
Since its founding in 2015, PBS Books has captured the voices of Asian America and Pacific Islanders authors and poets writing for adults, young adults, and children of all ages in digital videos. We’d like to share a few notable conversations with you at pbsbooks.org/asianamericans. Selections include the following:
Adult Writers
Marilyn Chin
Poet Marilyn Chin and Poetry In America’s Elisa New
Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee, author of Pachinko, a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2017 joins PBS Books. The New York Times and USA Today said Pachinko was one of the Top 10 books to read in 2017.
Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng discusses Little Fires Everywhere at the 2018 National Book Festival.
Eboo Patel
In connection with The U.S. and the Holocaust, PBS Books is pleased to present a conversation with Interfaith America’s Founder and President Eboo Patel, author of We Need to Build: Fieldnotes for Diverse Democracy.
Amy Tan
Trailblazing author Amy Tan in conversation with actress Tamlyn Tomita.
Viet Thanh Nguyen
Library of Congress National Book Festival Author Talk: Viet Thanh Nguyen
Reshma Saujani
In celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Month, PBS Books is pleased to host a conversation with Reshma Saujani, discussing her latest book Pay Up. The Future of Women and Work (and Why It’s Different Than You Think).
Young Adult Writers
Sabaa Tabir
Sabaa Tahir discusses “A Torch Against the Night” and “An Ember in the Ashes.”
Gene Luen Yang
Gene Luen Yang, Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, talks “Paths & Portals” and “American Born Chinese” at BookCon 2016.
Paula Yoo
Paula Yoo, Award-winning author of “From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement” in conversation with interviewed by Zosette Guir, Manager of Detroit Public TV’s One Detroit initiative.
Children Writers
Mitali Banerjee Ruths
Author Talk with children’s author Mitali Banerjee Ruths about her new book Archie Celebrates Diwali.
Minh Lê
Minh Le reads aloud his book “Drawn Together,” illustrated by Dan Santat.
Grace Lin
Caldecott and Newbery honoree Grace Lin and bestselling author Kate Messner discuss their new book: “Once Upon A Book.” This story is a modern folktale about the joy of reading. Inspired by “Alice in Wonderland,” this book helps young readers explore their creativity on a fun adventure.
Dan Santat
Author and Illustrator Dan Santat reads aloud his book “Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend.”
Kelly Yang
An award-winning author, Kelly will share insights into her writing process, her latest works, and her creative inspiration. Her latest book New From Here is a poignant middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience as an Asian American boy fights to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.
With its 330 member stations, PBS, in collaboration with the Center for Asian American Media, has worked diligently to offer educational programming about the Asian American story and experience. In recent years, this has resulted in numerous films being shared throughout the system, including Asian Americans, Who Killed Vincent Chin, and documentaries on notable Asian Americans.
