The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration hits bookstore shelves today. You will finally be able to walk into a shop and buy a copy to take home. With their iconic black-and-white-and-orange covers, everyone has read or seen a Penguin Classic at some point in their lifetime. Whenever a character carries one in a movie, it’s a visual shorthand to signal the character is a scholar or book nerd.

That’s why it’s still astonishing to me to have assembled such a volume for the imprint with Floyd Cheung. In the words of Seattle Times reviewer Paul Constant, “The Classics line has democratized quality literature for over 75 years, putting affordable paperback editions of the most important stories in human history in the hands of millions of readers. In addition to celebrating the best writers in history, Penguin Classics also publishes anthologies contextualizing important historical periods for a modern audience through titles like “The Portable Nineteenth-Century African-American Women Writers” and “The Women‘s Suffrage Movement.” A new Penguin Classics release, “The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration,” will undoubtedly serve as a seminal text for generations of students learning about the United States government’s incarceration of 125,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.”

We owe our inclusion in this long-running series to our editor and publisher Elda Rotor and what Floyd calls “her vision for a more diverse Penguin Classics.”  To prepare for this moment, we met in November with Elda at her Penguin Random House headquarters in New York City, where she took what she called a “Filipino selfie” with our publicist Becca Stevenson on the left, flanked by her manager Rebecca Marsh. The three of them have worked since then to expose our book to the widest possible audience, through the news media and personal appearances.

REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS

SEATTLE, WA
Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 11:00 am
New Day Northwest
KING-TV 

An interview on Seattle’s premier morning television talk show to launch The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration. Thanks to producer Joseph Suttner for reaching out to book me; his grandmother he says was in camp too.

We have more interviews and reviews in the pipeline, including NPR’s Here and Now, LitHub, the Pacific Citizen, the Journal of Asian American Studies, and more. If you are able to review the book for your favored outlet, please contact Becca Stevenson at Viking/Penguin Publicity [[email protected]} for a review copy.

Alta Journal, May 13, 2024
“Executive Disorder,”
review by books editor David Ulin

The Seattle Times, May 7, 2024
“New anthology highlights Japanese American incarceration literature,”
review/interview by Paul Constant

International Examiner, May 1, 2024
“Landmark Penguin anthology brings to light the multifaceted literature of Japanese American incarceration,” review by Ana Tanaka

Booklist: the book review journal of the American Library Association,
March 15, 2024
“The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration,”
review by Terry Hong

BOOK EVENTS

We have book launches lined up in Seattle, Portland, and Massachusetts, and are working on events in San Francisco and Los Angeles. If you are interested in having Floyd or I present the book in your city, please contact us.

SEATTLE, WA
Thursday, May 16, 2024, 7:00 pm
Book launch for The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration
Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Avenue

Book maven Karen Maeda Allman will host me in conversation for the official launch of the new anthology from Penguin Classics. We will be joined by the families and friends of several of the locally based authors who contributed to the volume. Look for the event page to come here.

PORTLAND, OR
Saturday, May 18, 2024, 1:00 pm
Book launch for The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration
Japanese American Museum of Oregon
One Pacific Square, 220 NW 2nd, first floor conference room

Portland launch for the new anthology from Penguin Classics, in conversation with Emily Teraoka of the Manzanar National Historic Site. We will be joined by the families and friends of the locally based authors who contributed to the volume. Free registration here.

SOUTH HADLEY, MA
Thursday, May 23, 2024, 7:00 pm
Odyssey Bookshop
9 College Street

East Coast launch for the new anthology from Penguin Classics, featuring co-editor Floyd Cheung. Free Eventbrite registration here.