Work Search Requirements
My dad hated work before hating work was cool. His first job in the United States was as a clerk at the San Jose Department of Motor Vehicles on Alma Street. It was 1975 and the position paid $6 an hour. When he became a driver’s license examiner, he earned a few pennies more. Though he was hired for his Vietnamese, he couldn’t keep up with needing to speak English to the DMV’s majority white clientele. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese test takers couldn’t drive. Still, they insisted he pass them anyway, citing compatriotism over common sense and safety.
Life Cycles
My mother says we’re strapped to a cosmic wheel, and you can’t just press a start button and expect to escape suffering. But Ama takes me on Sundays, and we run through the aisles laughing, flinging open the doors to every machine, witnessing rebirth: a crow gushing out like ink, a doe climbing out on wobbly legs, an octopus blended into jelly.
Tender Excavations: Retelling Origin Stories in Adoption Narratives
As an Asian American, the incessant insistence of the question “Where are you from?” often followed by “No, where are you really from?” can be so exhausting. In the poem, I can finally confront this question and push back. Tell a different story.
Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft
A conversation with David Mura
Under a Scrupulous Light: An Interview with Sueyeun Juliette Lee
Sueyeun Juliette Lee has produced some of my favorite poetry. Hers is a craft that inspires me to endeavor deeper. She’s a phenomenal poet, whose work I deeply admire and... Read More
All the Radical Words I’ve Loved: Interview with Jean Ho
Apogee Poetry Co-Editor, Muriel Leung interviews Issue 08 contributor, Jean Ho about her short story “Korean Boys I’ve Loved,” getting turned on by dentists, writing Asian American characters who challenge... Read More