Male Monday

This Male Monday, to celebrate Asian Pacific Heritage month, I thought I’d mention books I’m aware of that were written by males of Asian or Pacific Heritage. Please feel free to add titles in the comment section! I’m expecting WordPress to mangle my layout, so if they do here are my apologies in advance.

Fair Coin by E. C. Myers; Pyr, 27 March

E.C. Myers was assembled in the U.S. from Korean and German parts and raised by a single mother and a public library in Yonkers, New York, where he survived an improbable number of life-threatening experiences—most miraculously, high school—with ample scars as proof.

He graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts, which was no use at all in his subsequent job as a technical writer but looks pretty nice on the wall. After a year in software development on Wall Street, he began a career in cable television and helped deliver quality women’s programming for nine-and-a-half years. He now uses his powers for good–as a development writer for a children’s hospital.

Another Jekyl another Hyde by Daniel and Dina Nayeri; 27 March, Candlewick

Daniel is a writer and editor in New York City. He wrote and  produced “The Cult of Sincerity,” the first feature film to be world premiered by YouTube. He has had all kinds of jobs around books, including book repairman, literary agent, used bookstore clerk, children’s librarian, Official Story-Time Reader Leader, editor, copy-editor, and even carpenter (making bookshelves). He’s also a professional pastry chef. He loves Street Fighter 2, hates the word “foodie,” and is an award-winning stuntman. He writes with his sister, Dina Nayeri.

 

 The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda; St Martin’s Griffin, Apr. 19

Born in Manhattan and raised in Hong Kong, Andrew Fukuda is half-Chinese, half-Japanese. After earning a bachelor’s degree in history from Cornell University, Fukuda worked in Manhattan’s Chinatown with the immigrant teen community. That experience led to the writing of Crossing, his debut novel that was selected by ALA Booklist as an Editor’s Choice, Top Ten First Novel, and Top Ten Crime Novel in 2010. His second novel, The Hunt, the first in a new series, was bought at auction by St. Martin’s Press and will be published in May 2012. Before becoming a full time writer, Fukuda was a criminal prosecutor for seven years. He currently resides on Long Island, New York, with his family.

Reincarnation (Legend of Snow Wolf series) by Fred Lit Yu; China Books, June 1

exerpt

Fred Lit Yu states “As a teenager, I was attracted to the art of war, and I often hid in the high school cafeteria studying military classics and the I Ching. It was a decent break from reading The Great Gatsby, though I did wonder at times why Jay Gatsby didn’t approach his dilemma with a better strategy. I spent my days studying battle formations used in ancient China, but never once entertained the idea of joining the military, or applying for West Point for that matter. I went to film school instead.

I graduated from New York University majoring in film and television but ended up working in a bank. The Snow Wolf saga began after eight years in the financial services industry.”

view trailer

Ash Mistry and the savage fortress by Sadwat Chadda; Harper Collins, October

Brought up a Muslim and married to a vicar’s daughter, inspired by his two daughters, Sarwat created Billi SanGreal, a heroine of both cultures. He and his family live in London, and if Billi has a home anywhere it’s the ancient and dark alleyways of this city. The mix of backgrounds informs his writing, which is urban, edgy, contemporary and gripping. He is a distinctive new voice in teen fiction.

In spite of this early love of stories, he went on to become an engineer, but harboured dreams of writing. These came to fruition when in 2007 he won an ‘Undiscovered Voices’ writing competition, bringing him to the attention of several publishers and resulting in a hotly contested auction for Devil’s Kiss – which Puffin won.

Male Monday

April is National Poetry Writing  month, National Card and Letter Writing Month,  Jazz Appreciation Month,National Arab American Heritage Month  and National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Here, today, it’s Male Monday! What better day for me to do something I rarely do: share a poem?

Sharif S. Elmusa was born in the village of al-Abbasiyya, Palestine. He is a widely published  scholar, and translator. He has co-edited, and contributed to, the anthology, Grape Leaves: A Century of Arab-American Poetry, first issued by Utah University Press in 1988, and then re-issued in 1999 in paperback edition by Interlink Books. He has translated extensively from Arabic poetry. He is currently visiting professor at Georgetown University, Qatar campus, from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, where he is an associate professor in the Political Science Department. And, he is a poet.

When writing about the recent Revolution in Egypt, he stated ”…writing a poem and engaging in a revolution are both acts of self-discovery. The revolution dignifies the ordinary, and elevates it, just as poetry transforms common words into rhythms and meaning.”

Nocturnal Window
A bright, three-quarters moon
beams in the eastern sky
over four million households.
Is it the same moon that
the wise Thoth fixed? This one
looks like it doesn’t wish to be alone,
could land in the lap
of a satellite dish any moment.
The neighbor’s dog howls.
My grandmother used to say
a long dog howl meant the family
was in trouble. But it is hard to tell
with such polished howl. The train,
as if hauling the vast woes of the city,
blows a grave, far-reaching whistle.
But the windows of many apartments
have already drawn their curtains.
The fountain in the square has gone to sleep.
The flowers of the Peruvian jacaranda
are completely still in the new home. 
No wind is blowing.
The world moves the mind 
like power the ceiling fan;
the poem is the breeze.

 

Martin Luther King Day

 

 

 

Male Monday: Walter Dean Myers

“Reading is not optional.”

Perhaps Walter Dean Myers writes for so well for today’s students because he has walked in their shoes. Myers was born in Martinsburg, WV in 1937 and was given away to live with a family for reasons unknown to him. Though his foster family loved and provided for him, he claims the streets and the church as his home. At the ripe old age of 17 he dropped out of school and joined the service. His passion? Basketball.

He became a writer through the inspiration of one of his teachers.

I actually had the honor of meeting Myers a few years ago at the McConnell Conference in Kentucky. I remember him saying that when he was developing a character, he would complete a McDonald’s job resume for that character. Quite often now when I’m reading a particular book, I’ll wonder how well a character or two would look on one of those applications. Would they have any previous experience or strong references? He’s kind of set a bar for me.

Myers is influencing young people all over the world with books from Where does the day go? (his first book) to The young landlords (they first book of his I read) to the multi award-winning Monster. He’s published fiction, nonfiction, poetry and fiction in screenplay form. In 2012 he will release (or sometimes re-release)

• The Cruisers Book 3: A star is born (Aug)
• The Cruisers Book 2: Checkmate (July; pbk)
• Harlem Summer (May; pbk)
• All the right stuff (Apr)
• Kick (Apr; pbk)
• The journals of Scott Pendleton Collins, A WWII Soldier (pbk)
• Hoops (Feb; pbk)

Last week, Mr. Myers became our country’s third National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. The Ambassador is chosen by a committee formed by two groups: the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Children’s Book Council, a trade association for children’s book publishers. His or her purpose is to” raise national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people.”

As ambassador, Mr. Myers will appear at Children’s Book Week in New York in May and at the National Book Festival in Washington. He will receive a medal at the Library of Congress on Tuesday. One of the first things he expects to say is that reading is not a Victorian pastime.

He probably thinks reading is meant to entertain.

For more information on Walter Dean Myers, visit the Library of Congress.

I’m currently reading Antarctica by Walter Dean Myers

 

 

Male Monday is a meme begun by Ari @ Reading in Color.