WRITING FROM EXPERIENCE: THE ASIAN-AMERICAN POINT OF VIEW
I write from my experience, but I distill and shape events so that they add up to coherent stories. My sources are memories, life situations and occasionally dreams, all having to do with growing up as the child of mixed-race parents in rural America and later moving to New York City. I work hard to keep the voice consistent in my fiction pieces, because an energetic, edgy tone is a unifying element. I test my work by reading it aloud–I believe this brings an extra dimension to the text on the page. [Thaddeus Rutkowski] www.thaddeusrutkowski.com
THE ASIAN EXPERIENCE IN AMERICA
I write on the experience of being in an alien culture; my work explores such themes as the search for identity, cultural and religious relativism, and the sense of ancestry. I don’t write from my experience alone, but I borrow the voices and stories of other Asian immigrants — mostly those from my childhood and my family. In the event in January, I will be reading from my book length poem “In Thailand with the Apostles” as well as a new poem “The House of Happiness” about my grandmother. [Joanna Sit]
