BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//PYVOBJECT//NONSGML Version 1//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:events.uid.6525@www.discovernikkei.org DTSTART:20220319T000000Z DTEND:20220319T000000Z DESCRIPTION:<strong><span style="color: #c21313\;">$5 General\, FREE for Me mbers</strong>\n\nJoin poets <strong>Brian Komei Dempster</strong> and  <strong>Brynn Saito</strong> in a dynamic virtual conversation and readin g about the legacy of Japanese American wartime imprisonment and how it in forms the present. Their dialogue will explore these vital\, timely themes : What does it mean to inherit the saga of incarceration? How do we proces s trauma and respond to racism\, anti-Asian sentiment\, and violence? In w hat ways can we—as artists\, activists\, and community members—carry f orth our vision to enact social change? Throughout the presentation\, Demp ster and Saito will share poems that resonate with their responses and enc ourage interaction with audience members.\n\n<strong>Brian Komei Dempster< /strong> is an award-winning poet\, editor\, and teacher. His volumes of poetry\, Seize (Four Way Books\, 2020) and Topaz (Four Way Books\, 2013)\, have received several honors\, including the Julie Suk Award\, an NCPA Go ld Award in Poetry\, and a Human Relations Indie Book Silver Winner award. He is the editor of From Our Side of the Fence: Growing Up in America's C oncentration Camps (Kearny Street Workshop\, 2001)\, which received a Nise i Voices Award from the National Japanese American Historical Society\, an d Making Home from War: Stories of Japanese American Exile and Resettlemen t (Heyday\, 2011). Dempster is a professor of rhetoric and language and Di rector of Administration for the Master’s in Asia Pacific Studies progra m at the University of San Francisco\, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award. In addition\, he teaches for the Colrain Poetry Manuscrip t Conference.\n\n<strong>Brynn Saito</strong> is a poet\, organizer\, and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and English at California State U niversity\, Fresno. She is the author of two books of poetry\, Power Made Us Swoon (2016) and The Palace of Contemplating Departure (2013)\, winner of the Benjamin Saltman Award from Red Hen Press and a finalist for the No rthern California Book Award. Brynn is a two-time recipient of the Califor nia State Library’s Civil Liberties Public Education grant for her work with Yonsei Memory Project (YMP). Co-founded with farmer and artist\, Niki ko Masumoto\, YMP uses art and storytelling to connect the WWII-era incarc eration of the Japanese American community with current struggles for just ice. In 2019\, Brynn was featured in Vogue magazine for her work with YMP and has received support from Densho\, Hedgebrook\, and Santa Fe Art Insti tute’s “Truth and Reconciliation” program. Her poetry has appeared i n the New York Times\, the American Poetry Review\, and was featured in th e opening ceremony for The People’s Inauguration\, a 10-day event inspir ing collective action led by activist\, Valarie Kaur.\n\n<a href="https:// 9644p.blackbaudhosting.com/9644p/tickets?tab=2&amp\;txobjid=60daeeb9-f642- 4ee8-ae11-6f9f489724d7">RSVP</a>\n\n DTSTAMP:20241007T170427Z SUMMARY:Virtual Author Discussion—Art\, Identity\, and Legacy with Brian Komei Dempster and Brynn Saito URL:/en/events/2022/03/19/virtual-author-discussionart-identity-and-legac/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR