The Annual Asian American Literary Awards

I’m seated in the front row at the 11th Annual Asian American Literary Awards, in the company of some of the most distinguished veterans of the Asian American literary world. Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang sits a few seats down to my left. Behind me, I’m surrounded by author and professor Vijay Prashad and Andrew Hsiao of The New Press and The Village Voice. Jennifer 8. Lee of The New York Times is here as well as actor B. D. Wong. As a writer myself, it is difficult not to be humbled by present company.

The Asian American Literary Awards are the highest honors given to Asian American writers. The ceremony culminates a year of workshops and programs offered by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, which presents awards of excellence in three categories - fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Yet, despite being the most prominent Asian American literary organization in the country, Ken Chen, Executive Director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, reminds us of the Workshop’s humble beginnings.

The Workshop began as a community organization, serving as an “advocate and incubator” for Asian American writers as a whole. I’m reminded of this every time I think about all the venerable writers that have set foot through the Workshop’s halls and each fresh crop of writers that the Workshop nurtures and promotes.

Last Thursday, I attended a joint event sponsored by the Workshop and the Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab. The event featured 10 short plays based on randomly assigned book titles in the Workshop’s bookstore. The catch? Each play had to be written in just 5 days over Thanksgiving break. In addition, the young playwrights themselves performed each play, with direction. The result? It was a night of uproarious laughter and triumph.

But tonight, I’m awestruck with B.D. Wong and David Henry Hwang as they read a few sides from their Tony Award-winning play, M. Butterfly. David Henry Hwang is tonight’s recipient of the Workshop’s Lifetime Achievement Award. As a long time member of the Workshop, David Henry Hwang has mentored many young writers and playwrights throughout his illustrious career. It is extremely fitting as this year also marks the 20th year anniversary of the Broadway debut of M. Butterfly.

Certainly, things have come full circle and tonight’s event truly crystallizes the significance of the Workshop and the fundamental role it plays in furthering Asian American literature. A few weeks ago, I attended a panel held at the Workshop by Andrew Hsiao, who also happens to have edited Vijay Prashad’s latest book, The Darker Nations, tonight’s recipient of the Asian American Literary Award for Non-Fiction. Attending this event tonight made me realize so many great, great things about the Workshop and the significance of the Asian American Literary Awards.

The Asian American Writers’ Workshop, with all of its writers, past and present, is the living history of our community, of our people. It is our oral tradition, captured permanently through writing as something we can share and physically pass on to generations after us. And tonight, it is our opportunity to highlight the excellence and the achievements of our own community and share an experience that is irreplaceable in the larger society. An experience that is not only Asian, but uniquely American.

Recipients of the Asian American Literary Awards:

The Literary Award for Fiction to MOHSIN HAMID for The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

The Literary Award for Poetry to SUN YUNG SHIN for Skirt Full of Black.

The Literary Award for Non-Fiction to VIJAY PRASHAD for The Darker Nations.

The Members’ Choice Award to ED LIN for This is a Bust.

The Lifetime Achievement Award to DAVID HENRY HWANG.