Chinese, English, Spanish: Writing a Third Literature of the Americas

Program
5:30PM to 6:30PM Reception with light refreshments (Limited to first 50 RSVPs)
7:15PM to 9:15PM Panel Discussion & Readings
9:15PM to 9:30PM Book Signing
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Since 30 years ago when writers such as Kingston, Huang, and Chin first made American readers aware of Chinese American literature, exciting new developments have taken place. Readers and scholars alike have discovered that "Chinese American literature" can no longer be limited to works written in English alone. Due to a number of factors… Show more including globalization, the rise of China, ethnic studies, and new critical scholarship, we are finding that the 21st century signals a "third literature of the Americas"---novels, stories, and poems written in English, Chinese, and Spanish. These new developments have resulted in a special volume of Amerasia Journal published by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center entitled "Towards a Third Literature: Chinese Writing in the Americas" edited by Russell C. Leong (CUNY Thomas Tam Visiting Professor at AAARI); Evelyn Hu-DeHart (Professor of History and Ethnic Studies at Brown University); and Wang Ning (Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Tsinghua University, Beijing). Tonight's trilingual program consists of an exciting panel discussion and a reading of selected works in English, Chinese, and Spanish by some of the editors and contributors to this special volume of Amerasia Journal (available at a special booksigning price during the program).
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Panel: "From Chinese American to a Third American Literature"
Prof. Evelyn Hu-Dehart will provide a keynote overview of how and why Asians entered the literary scene of Central and Latin America. Prof. Dehart will introduce Prof. Kathy Lopez, a Latin American expert who will provide commentary. This talk will be in English and Spanish.
Prof. Russell Leong will introduce the special volume of Amerasia Journal. (Talk in English)
Dr. Maan Lin, Associate Professor of Chinese and Spanish and Coordinator of the Chinese Program at Queensborough Community College, will talk about translating Kam Wen Siu s "La primera espada del imperio." (Talk in Chinese and Spanish.)
Dr. Yibing Huang, Professor of Modern Chinese Literature at Connecticut College and past contributor to Amerasia Journal, will talk about Simon Ortiz in China, and bringing ethnic and minority writers for cross-literary exchanges in China. (Talk in Chinese and English.)
Dr. Wen Jin, Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, will talk about the future of racial and minority literary contacts from two nations. (Talk in Chinese and English.)

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