Recording Patrick Rosal

Kavad Storytelling creates collaborative storytelling between Asian American poets/writers and their family members. In traditional Indian storytelling, a "kavad" is a box with panels that unfold three dimensionally to tell a story. We have chosen the kavad as a metaphor for this program as it evokes the partnership of generations of Asian Americans in the telling of the collective Asian American story.

As the Asian American immigrant population ages, so many stories such as that of the Filipino Manongs of Southern California, the Chinese War Brides of WWII, or of Japanese-Americans who suffered the internment of the 1940Õs will be lost altogether. By preserving these stories and responding to them creatively, Rattapallax and Kundiman are bringing more people to literature and connecting culturally underserved communities and young people to their literary heritage through the use of technology.

Kavad Storytelling is the only program of its kind in the country and is of particular significance in that it not only employs ethnological means of preserving Asian American history but also helps to re-create and re-invigorate it through creative work. Through our experience of preliminary interviews, we have found that the process of interviewing a family member has a profound impact on both the interviewer and interviewee. All interviews and creative work will be made accessible to the public via the Internet.

"Kavad: Asian American Storytelling" is inspired by Amy Tan's biographical novels (i.e. The Joy Luck Club) and the StoryCorp project, which aims to record interviews between American generations. This project adds an unique and important perspective on the cultural heritage of Asian Americans and their impact on the United States.

1st Phase
In order to help ground and contextualize the program, immigrant Master Asian American writers will be interviewed by first generation Asian American writers and their creative work rendered on the Internet. Master writers will have achieved exceptional success in their careers as artists.

2nd Phase
First generation Asian American writers will interview family members about their immigrant experiences. These writers will then respond creatively to the interview and the interviewing process through poetry/fiction.

3rd Phase
First generation Asian American writers will teach combination oral history/creative writing workshops in partner high schools. Students will be charged with interviewing an older family member, transcribing this interview and then rendering this process creatively through poetry/fiction. Selected second generation Asian American students will showcase their interviews and creative work on the Internet.

Additionally, Kavad Storytelling welcomes submissions of interviews and fiction/poetry inspired by interviews from all Asian Americans. Selected interviews and creative writing will be posted to this website.

Partners:

Kundiman, which is a not-for-profit organization committed to the discovery and cultivation of emerging Asian American poets.

Rattapallax publishes literary work that represents the diversity of American culture and influences that have created contemporary writing in our country. We host events addressing multicultural issues in the United States and their correlating traditions.

Advisors:

City Lore is dedicated to the documentation and preservation of New York's -- and America's -- folk culture.

Meena Alexander was born in Allahabad and divided her childhood between India and the Sudan. She is the author of several books of poetry, Raw Silk and Illiterate Heart (Triquarterly Books), which won the 2002 PEN Open Book Award. Her memoir Fault Lines, chosen as a Best Book of 1993 by Publishers Weekly -- was recently reissued by the Feminist Press. She lives in New York City where she is Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the University of New York.