In the last few months, I’ve become a big fan of the Clubhouse app. It’s a social networking app that is all live audio. The experience is sort of like live radio / podcasting only the audience can talk back to you.
As someone who has been stuck in pandemic lockdown with her family for a VERY long time, it was so refreshing to talk to adults about things like books and writing (things my family are also into, but not to the degree I am).
I found talking to readers so delightful and a great way to pull me out of my pandemic reading slump. At the same time, I found that although there were some great reader rooms like Daily Romance Reads, writer rooms like The Author Arena, Asians are Visible rooms, even rooms like Strong Asian Lead (dedicated to increasing Asian rep in Hollywood), there were no rooms focused on Asian literary pop culture. So I decided to found a new club on Clubhouse called Inclusive Asian Reads. You can click here for the website, or here for the direct Clubhouse link.
What is Inclusive Asian Reads?
A place for inclusive pop culture and literary discussions about works by Asians in the diaspora, adoptees, mixed race and other Asian intersectionalities.
Let’s push back against stereotypes and the idea that there is a single “Asian” story by talking about awesome manhwa, kick ass wuxia fantasy, funny romcoms, far future sci-fi, thought-provoking memoirs, fan fiction, grandma-substitute cookbooks and more.
Who Inclusive Asian Reads has been talking to!
John Kang and A.Y. Chao are my co-conspirators for this club and we had a delightful debut party with authors like Andrea Stewart, Julia Vee, and Jeannie Lin. We’ve talked about strong heroines with Jadie Jang, Evangeline Rain and Helen Li, as well as Xianxia and Wuxia with Tao Wong, J.F. Lee, and John Kang. A.Y. Chao and I also did lovely mid year check in with authors like Jen Trinh dropping by.
What’s Upcoming for Inclusive Asian Reads!
I’m hoping to put together more interesting panels for Inclusive Asian Reads at least once a month. In August we’ll have SF/F authors Zen Cho, Aliette de Bodard, and Vida Cruz talking about their favorite comfort reads.
Right now I’m working on more panels like:
-The new Asian Kidlit you wish you could have had
-Book influencers talk about what they want to see from Asian authors
-Asian diaspora cookbook authors – Food, Culture, and books
-How Asian Romance authors are going to save the world
If you have an idea for something you want to talk about, or know an Asian author you think we should talk to, or you ARE and Asian author that would like to join us, please fill out this form https://bit.ly/IAReads
FYI this community is open to ANYONE who wants to talk about the works of Asian heritage authors!