On this date we’re in a strange transitional phase, preparing to defend democracy and civil liberties, books and libraries, history and knowledge and education, as they all come under concerted and coordinated attack in the four years to come. The example and literature of Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration is more relevant than ever, and the script will continue to be written and rewritten to confront events as they unfold. Without question, we will look back at this time of relative peace and grace with nostalgia and a degree of anger at how we got here. However, we press forward, and here’s what’s on tap for the first half of 2025. One major event can only be disclosed after the fact.
SEATTLE, WA
Sunday, February 2, 2025, 2:00-4:00 pm
tribute to Ben Masaoka and Criminals
mam’s books
608 Maynard Ave. S.
A panel discussion and celebration of Ben Masaoka’s remarkable novel, Criminals, published posthumously by Propeller Books of Portland. I’ll read a passage from the novel along with novelist Carla Crujido and others TBA and pay tribute to the late author.
SAN JOSE, CA
Sunday, February 23, 2025
2025 Films of Remembrance
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin
I will moderate the Q and A following the screening of two films on Japanese American resistance to wartime incarceration TBA.
NEW YORK, NY
Tuesday, February 25, 2025, 6:00-8:30 pm
screening of Conscience and the Constitution
Center on Asian Americans and the Law at Fordham Law School
Gabelli Business School
McNally Theater, First Floor, 140 W 62nd St.
The Center on Asian Americans and the Law at Fordham Law School is screening Conscience and the Constitution, followed by a panel discussion moderated by Judge Denny Chin and featuring Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto, Kathy Hirata Chin, and Professor Thomas Lee. More details and RSVP here.
SEATTLE, WA
Thursday, April 10, 2025, 7:00 pm
The Gate of Memory book launch
Elliott Bay Book Company
I will moderate Brynn Saito’s Seattle appearance for her launch of The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration, edited by Brynn and Brandon Shimoda. The evening will also feature readings from featured local poets Sharon Hashimoto, Tamiko Nimura, and Troy Osaki. Preorder it now from Haymarket Books.
BOSTON, MA
Thursday, April 17, 2025, 10:00-11:30 am
Association for Asian American Studies annual conference
The Westin Boston Seaport District
425 Summer Street, Carlton Room
I’ll reflect on a 50-year journey of reinterpreting camp history and, in particular, my current project to adapt John Okada’s No-No Boy for the stage, on the panel, “Interpreting Japanese American Incarceration in the 21st Century Through Alternative Methods.” Our panel features the powerful lineup of Elena Tajima Creef, Dr, Erin Aoyama, Dr. Hana Maruyama, and chair Julia Shizuyo Popham.
WELLESLEY, MA
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Wellesley College
Presenting We Hereby Refuse. Details to come.
SEATTLE, WA
Saturday, May 10, 2024, 11:00 am
University of Washington Humanities First program
Seattle’s Chinatown/International District
For the fourth year, I’ll be taking the UW’s freshman core program, Humanities First, on a walking tour of John Okada’s Chinatown, with a stop at the Panama Hotel and ending with lunch at the Bruce Lee table at Tai Tung.
NEW YORK, NY
Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 6:00 pm
Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College
City University of New York
47-49 East 65th Street
Floyd Cheung and I will present The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the New York City home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, “where some of the most iconic public policy of the 20th century was shaped” — including perhaps his Executive Order 9066?
BRONX, NY
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 10:20-11:05 am
Seminar in Literary Studies
Horace Mann School
231 West 246th Street
Presenting The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration to high school seniors in the Seminar in Literary Studies studying “Man’s Search for Meaning in Literature and Film,” taught by Deborah Kassel, a former NEH fellow at the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation summer workshop.
