Presented by the Asian American Resource Center

In collaboration with ATX Asians

Introduction

From a need to cultivate community during a time when we were doing our best to social distance, stay at home, and protect our communities, ATX Asians partnered with the Asian American Resource Center to co-host a two-part online writing workshop and virtual storyteller showcase to explore the meaning of home.

There was no better time to do so as Asian Pacific Americans than during a pandemic when we are all trying to stay safe, deal with isolation, and protect loved ones.

Though the space was intended for Austin-based community members, the workshops also brought together storytellers from across state lines and even national borders! Everyone from writers by trade and hobbyists joined and were guided through writing exercises and drafts by ATX Asian community member and writer, ena ganguly. Our time spent together focused on collective healing by excavating our unique ideas of what “home” means to each of us. Participating in this process led us to incredible self-reflection and community connection. The theme of “home” connected our stories in a diversely beautiful quilt of experiences and perspectives.

Our storytellers wrote, workshopped, and polished their meaning of homes, which they recited to a live audience over Zoom on September 12, 2020.

The exercise of community building with strangers over Zoom, with a limited amount of time along with the hefty task of building the meaning of home through words, was met with great fervor, commitment, and diligence by each of one our writers. We are grateful to have shared valuable time and space with one another to hone in on the craft of storytelling on home, healing, and community. The writings of each author were so generative, moving, and thoughtful that the Asian American Resource Center suggested a digital anthology to immortalize the works of each writer.

Without further ado, we are honored to present to you the stories from Home-Making 2020: An Anthology on Belonging, Transience, and Memory. This anthology will bring the reader to a sense of home that may be astonishingly familiar or brilliantly new. No matter your sense of home, we hope you feel the tenderness with which each story was crafted.

ena ganguly

Editor

About The Organizations

ATX Asians for Social Justice is a group for individuals who identify as part of the Asian diaspora to build communities, coalition, and solidarity with Black, Latinx, Indigenous/Native American, LGBTQIA+, disabled, undocumented, and other marginalized communities. The mission of ATXAsians is to provide opportunities for all members of the Asian communities in Austin, Texas to learn, explore, promote, organize, and take action around issues in the realm of racial justice, especially against anti-Blackness, and liberation.

The City of Austin’s Asian American Resource Center opened in 2013 as part of the Parks and Recreation’s Department Museum and Cultural Programs Division. As one of the rare city funded community and cultural centers for Asian Americans in the United States, the AARC’s vision is to empower Austin's diverse communities through cultural understanding and life-enhancing opportunities. The AARC provides a variety of programs and events to the public throughout the year, such as weekly senior meals and wellness classes , educational workshops, cultural festivals and resource fairs, and a year round community exhibit program dedicated to showcasing Asian American artists. Even though the AARC facility is currently closed to the public due to COVID-19, the staff continues to work diligently to build community online.

Video: AARC Presents: Home-Making, A Live Storytelling September 12, 2020 Event Recording