A couple months ago, novelist and Prince-agitator Noel Alumit put PEN Center USA in touch with me because they had the crazy idea of organizing some kind of Thai-American literary event. Since I had always thought that I was the only Thai-American writer in existence (I mean, c'mon, try and name just one other one!—you can't!), I assumed this event was going to end up being something like The Prince Gomolvilas Ego-Stroking Extravaganza and Incidental Literary Salon (pronounced SAAHH-lon, of course).
However, in my extensive research (thanks, Google!), I discovered that there are about a half-dozen other notable Thai-American writers spread out across the United States. So then it became my turn to come up with crazy ideas. What if, I thought, we can gather almost every significant Thai-American writer in one place at the same time for the first and only event of its kind? I mean, if someone dropped a bomb on this event, Thai-American literature would cease to exist! There's something to be said for that!
So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you just that very thing! Four—count 'em—four of us will be reading from our work in Los Angeles on June 24, 2010. One writer is flying in from Washington state, another from Florida. This is crazy!
Click the accompanying photo to enlarge, and/or peruse the information below.
You're going to be there, right? RIGHT?!
However, in my extensive research (thanks, Google!), I discovered that there are about a half-dozen other notable Thai-American writers spread out across the United States. So then it became my turn to come up with crazy ideas. What if, I thought, we can gather almost every significant Thai-American writer in one place at the same time for the first and only event of its kind? I mean, if someone dropped a bomb on this event, Thai-American literature would cease to exist! There's something to be said for that!
So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you just that very thing! Four—count 'em—four of us will be reading from our work in Los Angeles on June 24, 2010. One writer is flying in from Washington state, another from Florida. This is crazy!
Click the accompanying photo to enlarge, and/or peruse the information below.
You're going to be there, right? RIGHT?!
PEN USA
USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences
and the
USC Master of Professional Writing Program
present
CUSTOMS AND DEPARTURES:
AN EVENING WITH THAI AMERICAN WRITERS
Featuring readings from this country's foremost Thai-American authors:
novelist/TV writer Cherry Chevapravatdumrong
playwright/blogger Prince Gomolvilas
memoirist Ira Sukrungruang
poet Pimone Triplett
Followed by a Q&A and a Thai Food Reception
Cherry Chevapravatdumrong is the critically acclaimed author of the young-adult novels, She's So Money and DupliKate. She is also a writer and producer on Family Guy. www.cherrycheva.com
Prince Gomolvilas is a playwright whose plays include Big Hunk o' Burnin' Love, The Theory of Everything, and the stage adaptation of the Scott Heim novel, Mysterious Skin. He is the recipient of the PEN Center USA Literary Award for Drama, and he teaches in the Master of Professional Writing Program at USC. http://bamboonation.blogspot.com
Ira Sukrungruang is the author of the memoir, Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy. He is the recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts Nonfiction Fellowship and an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award, and he teaches in the MFA program in creative writing at the University of South Florida. www.sukrungruang.com
Pimone Triplett is the author of three books of poems: Rumor, The Price of Light, and Ruining the Picture. She is the recipient of the Levis Poetry Prize and Hazel Hall Poetry Prize, and she is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Washington. www.amazon.com/Pimone-Triplett/e/B001IYZIB8
Thursday, June 24, 2010 @ 7:30PM
University of Southern California
Mark Taper Hall, THH 102
3501 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089
Admission: Free and open to the Public
Please RSVP: mpw@college.usc.edu
Or RSVP on Facebook!
$8 parking available at USC's Parking Structure X (Gate #3)
Click here for directions, parking instructions, a campus map, and more info.