This article contains text that is written in a promotional tone .(November 2022) |
Kundiman is a nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature. [1] The organization offers an annual writing retreat, readings, workshops, a mentorship program, [2] and a poetry prize, and aims to provide "a safe yet rigorous space where Asian American poets can explore, through art, the unique challenges that face the new and ever changing diaspora." [3] Kundiman was co-founded in 2004 [4] by Asian American poets Sarah Gambito and Joseph O. Legaspi, [5] and has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Poetry Foundation, the New York Community Trust, Philippine American Writers, PAWA, and individuals. [6] [7]
Kundiman and Fordham University have formed an affiliation in which Kundiman will "enhance the outreach of Fordham’s English Department," and Fordham hosts the annual Kundiman Poetry Retreat on Fordham's Rose Hill campus beginning in 2010, and host Kundiman-sponsored readings and events at the Lincoln Center Campus. Fordham also provided a total of $60,000 over three years in financial support for Kundiman's programs. [8] [9]
The organization’s name refers to a style of Filipino love song that served as veiled patriotism during colonial times. [10] Kundiman Fellows have published in The Virginia Quarterly Review,The Colorado Review, Pleiades, Black Warrior Review and Crab Orchard Review." [11] There have been over 302 books published by Kundiman fellows. [12]
Honors given by Kundiman include The Kundiman Poetry Prize, for a book by an Asian American poet at any stage in their career. [13] The winning manuscript is published by Tupelo Press, [14] and according to Kundiman, "is the only poetry prize dedicated to Asian American poets in the country." [15] [16] [17]
In light of "systemic bias" [18] within the Wikipedia community, Kundiman hosts Wikipedia Edit-A-Thons in order to address the lack of visibility of Asian American writers and accuracy about their work. Kyle Lucia Wu, the programs and communications manager at Kundiman, said the idea of creating a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon came to her when she saw that there were, at the time, only 240 names listed on Wikipedia's page for Asian American writers. [19]
The Kundiman Retreat was started in 2004 by Sarah Gambito and Joseph O. Legaspi. The inaugural Retreat was hosted at the University of Virginia in 2004. [20] It now takes place at Fordham University. [21] Poet Duy Doan said of the Kundiman Retreat: "I would never be able to overemphasize the positive impact that the Kundiman retreats have had on me—writing, musing, connecting with other Asian–Pacific Islander American writers, being taken in by a richly talented and generous community." [22] Poet Chen Chen said that the Kundiman Retreat was "really magical and opened up my eyes to what was possible in the Asian American literary community." [23]
The Kundiman Retreat has received support from the National Endowment of the Arts. [24] Starting in 2015, the retreat was opened up to fiction writers as well as poets. [25]
Kundiman fellows include:
Kundiman Faculty includes:
Chen Chen is a Chinese-American poet. His book, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, was longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Poetry. Chen serves on the poetry faculty for the low-residency MFA programs at New England College and Stonecoast. He served as Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence at Brandeis University from 2018-2022.
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is an American poet and essayist. Nezhukumatathil draws upon her Filipina and Malayali Indian background to give her perspective on love, loss, and land.
Vè or Đồng dao is a poetic and song form for children, most typical of Vietnam.
Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.
Sarah Gambito is an American poet and professor. She is the author of three collections of poetry, Loves You, Delivered, and Matadora. Her first collection, Matadora, was a New England/New York Award winner and won the 2005 Global Filipino Literary Award for Poetry.
Nguyen Do (1959) is the pen name of Dos Nguyen, a Vietnamese American poet, editor, and translator.
Vietnamese philosophy includes both traditional Confucian philosophy, Vietnamese local religious traditions, Buddhist philosophy and later introducing French, Marxist and other influences.
Jennifer Chang is an American poet and scholar.
Cathy Linh Che is a Vietnamese American poet from Los Angeles. She won the Kundiman Poetry prize, the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America, and the Best Poetry Book Award from the Association for Asian American Studies for her book Split.
Janine Joseph is a Filipino-American poet and author.
Patrick Rosal is a Filipino American poet and essayist.
Fatimah Asghar is a South Asian American poet, director and screenwriter. Co-creator and writer for the Emmy-nominated webseries Brown Girls, their work has appeared in Poetry, Gulf Coast, BuzzFeed Reader, The Margins, The Offing, Academy of American Poets, and other publications.
Ching-In Chen is a genderqueer Chinese American poet and multi-genre writer.
Joseph O. Legaspi is an American poet. He is the author of two full length poetry collections and two full-length poetry chapbooks.
Diana Khoi Nguyen is an American poet and multimedia artist. Her first book, Ghost Of, was a finalist for The 2018 National Book Award in Poetry. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Tiana Nobile is a poet based in New Orleans, Louisiana where she works at an arts education nonprofit called KID smART. She is a Korean American adoptee. Her debut collection of poetry, Cleave, was published by Hub City Press in the spring of 2021.