September 12 - October 31

Eating our words: creative nonfiction with Thy Tran

Mondays, 7 - 9PM
180 Capp Street (@17th street ), San Francisco

Class Description:
Using food as inspiration, this intensive workshop will develop your ability to project sensory experiences onto the written page. We will explore how to weave place and memory into your writing without submitting to clichés or stereotypes. Reading, free-writing, peer critique, and extensive revisions will all strengthen your own voice while instilling good writing habits.

Depending on class interest, we can also address the more pragmatic aspects of writing about food—how to instruct a reader to prepare a dish, how to pitch a magazine, how to find a book agent. Or the political—how to treat family stories, how to negotiate authenticity, how to create personal meaning amidst mass consumerism. Be prepared to clarify your specific interests at the first meeting.

Expect to finish one creative essay or narrative piece by the last class. Beginners in writing and cooking are welcomed. Ambitious or experienced writers may also be able to conduct research (yes—eating is encouraged!) or develop one to three original recipes.

Student work will be presented at a KSW-sponsored event open to the public.

About the Instructor:
THY TRAN is a San Francisco-based writer specializing in the history and culture of food. Trained as a professional chef at the California Culinary Academy, Thy has worked in the kitchens of restaurants, food magazines, newspapers, cooking schools and hungry friends and family. She received an international writing award from the Salon du Livre Gourmand for her culinary nonfiction and a grant from the International Association of Culinary Professionals for four months of travel and research. Her stories have appeared in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times. Currently, she teaches cooking classes in between researching her next book and writing a column for the food section of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Class size: minimum of 6, maximum of 14.
Cost: $195 non-members, $175 for KSW members.

To register, please send a check for the full amount to: Kearny Street Workshop, 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Please include your name, contact information (phone number and email address if possible), and which class you are registering for. For questions, please contact program director Samantha Chanse at 415.503.0520 or sam@kearnystreet.org.

September 25

The Cannery's Screening of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo
with special Taiko Performance by Meloda Takata of Gen Taiko

After KSW's APAture festival wraps up on Saturday, September 24th, treat yourself to a free screening of Akira Kurosawa's 1961 film, Yojimbo, and support KSW at the same time! Yoshimbo, Kurosawa's classic adaptation of Dashiell Hammet's Red Harvest, is the story of an unemployed samurai (Toshiro Mifune) who plays two criminal gangs against each other.

The screening is part of SF's only outdoor film series, and takes place at THE CANNERY at Del Monte Square. Proceeds from the event will go to KSW.

Date: Sunday, September 25, 2005

Time: 7.30 - 10PM

Location: THE CANNERY at Del Monte Square; 2801 Leavenworth Street, @ Columbus Street; San Francisco

Cost: Free and open to the public, but donations to KSW are suggested.

September 30

Katrina Relief Benefit

Featuring Shailja Patel, Tensegrity Nine, The Skyflakes, Ill-Literacy, Proletariat Bronze, and Iris!

Join api arts organizations and collectives Kearny Street Workshop, Locus Arts, and many others, for a benefit to raise funds for Katrina relief efforts.

Date: Friday, September 25th, 2005

Time: 8pm; doors open 7.45pm

Location: 180 Capp Street, @17th Street (San Francisco)

Cost: $7 - 15, sliding scale

All proceeds will go to: www.therearenowords.com. More information below.

Copresented by Kearny Street Workshop and Locus and and Tactile Pictures and so many more people.

So many more details to come. Visit nosheetsleft.com frequently for updates!

MORE ABOUT THIS EVENT:

New Orleans: home of cajun cooking and true American jazz, the birthplace of Asian American history. 400 years ago, Filipino settlers established the first known Asian American community in the U.S. here. In recent weeks, the entire city has been ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, devastating floods, and thousands have lost homes and loved ones' lives.

Media coverage of Hurricane Katrina's destruction has consistently shown FEMA and the Red Cross helping to rebuild the lives of those affected by Hurricane Katrina. But firsthand accounts of survivors and volunteers in the hurricane-hit region have contrasted these accounts to the extreme. Thousands of displaced immigrants and undocumented residents, including Vietnamese and other poor communities of color in the South, have been neglected and denied aid from the U.S. government's attempts to provide relief to the area, due to language barriers and lack of documentation.

It is up to us, the APIA community, to help out our brothers and sisters in need, because as writer K.W. Lee has said, " We are our first and last line of defense." Come out to support these communities in need down South! 100% of proceeds go to There Are No Words, an Asian American-run nonprofit organization helping the Vietnamese communities of New Orleans to recover from the hurricane and floods.

Join three different cities; New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles; help raise funds for Asian Pacific Islander - Americans left homeless after Hurricane Katrina.

See who'll be featured in your city!

New York, NY Thurs. September 29, 2005

San Francisco, CA Fri. September 30, 2005

Los Angeles, CA TBA October, 2005


Help us and spread the word!

All proceeds will go to therearenowords.
www.therearenowords.com email to katrina.therearenowords@gmail.com

"therearenowords" was created by New Orleans Korean American activist, Seung Hong, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, in particular the Vietnamese immigrant neighborhood of Versailles in Eastern New Orleans and other small APA businesses that were completely destroyed by the hurricance and neglected by federal
officials and programs.

Sponsored by:
ImaginAsian

Space180

NYU a/p/a

Thank you to the following people and organizations for making these events possible:
REACHiphop //
UgnayanNYC //
Stormwatch Coalition //
NAPAWF //
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre //
Locus // Kearny street workshop // Tactile Pictures // Jesse Olanday (Art/Flyers) // Derek Srisaranard (Photo) // Corinne Manabat (Video) //
evil cottonball productions // Michael Nailat // Team Voltron NYC // Terry Park (38th Parallels)