The Asian American Literary Review
The Asian American Literary Review is a space for writers who consider the designation “Asian American” a fruitful starting point for artistic vision and community. In showcasing the work of established and emerging writers, the journal aims to incubate dialogues and, just as importantly, open those dialogues to regional, national, and international audiences of all constituencies. It selects work that is, as Marianne Moore once put it, “an expression of our needs…[and] feeling, modified by the writer’s moral and technical insights.”
Published biannually, AALR features fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, comic art, interviews, and book reviews. Discover Nikkei will feature selected stories from their issues.
Visit their website for more information and to subscribe to the publication: www.asianamericanliteraryreview.org
Stories from this series
Compartment Comportment - Part 2
Feb. 14, 2010 • Marie Mutsuki Mockett
>> Part 1Mark Twain once said: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” But the question of what you do and don’t reveal in public is very much at the heart of what it means to be in Japan, where social rules are shared and where you can anticipate most people’s responses. It is not illegal in Japan, for example, for a landlord to evict a tenant for homosexuality alone. Nor would such an act surprise …
Compartment Comportment - Part 1
Feb. 7, 2010 • Marie Mutsuki Mockett
It was the summer of 2004 that my friend Hiro taught me how much fun it can be to lead a double life. We were hiding out in the lobby of a classy New York hotel on 57th Street. Outside, humidity squeezed through Manhattan’s canyon and up against the hotel’s glass doorway, like some invisible, fat monster in a horror movie. But inside, quiet industrial air conditioning kept us safe. Hiro had an idea for a game. We approached the …