Mouth to Mouth Open Mic Featuring Staceyann Chin
VIEW EVENT DETAILSA Special First Friday Leo Bar with the Asian American Writers' Workshop
Join us for a special edition of our First Friday Leo Bar, co-sponsored by the Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW). The museum stays open late from 6–9 p.m., offering free admission, exhibition tours, drink specials, late night shopping at AsiaStore, and—for this month only—AAWW’s signature Mouth to Mouth Open Mic series!
Co-hosted by AAWW’s Kay Ulanday Barrett and Jimena Lucero, Mouth to Mouth provides a safe community space for QTPOC and rising migrant artists to perform their work. This month's Mouth to Mouth was curated by Bushra Rehman and features powerhouse, world-renowned LGBTQ poet and spoken-word artist Staceyann Chin.
After the Open Mic, there will be a book signing for Crossfire: A Litany for Survival which collects Chin's empowering, feminist-LGBTQ-Caribbean, activist-driven poetry for the first time in a single book.
- FREE MUSEUM ADMISSION
- GUIDED EXHIBITION TOURS
- MOUTH TO MOUTH OPEN MIC with AAWW
Feature by Staceyann Chin
(Sign up for the Open Mic begins at 6 p.m.) - DRINK SPECIALS by Great Performances
(Happy hour prices from 6–7 p.m.) - ASIASTORE DISCOUNTS
- BOOK SIGNING for Staceyann Chin's Crossfire: A Litany for Survival
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Established in 1991, the Asian American Workshop is a national nonprofit dedicated to the creation, development, publication, & dissemination of Asian diasporic literature & storytelling.
AAWW's Mouth to Mouth Open Mic
Mic check! Are you a writer? Mouth to Mouth is a space for QTPOC and rising migrant artists to perform their work.
Inspired by Asia Society Museum’s current exhibition Xiaoze Xie: Objects of Evidence that explores banned books and the history of censorship in China, this month's Mouth to Mouth Open Mic invites writers and performers to explore their relationship to freedom of expression.
Sign up for the Open Mic begins at 6 p.m. Speaking slots are limited and will be given on a first come basis.
The Open Mic will be followed by a book signing with Staceyann Chin for her first full-length collection of poetry: Crossfire: A Litany for Survival.
Free admission. Cash bar.
Invite your friends on Facebook!
Staceyann Chin is a poet, actor, and performing artist. She is the author of the new poetry collection Crossfire: A Litany For Survival, the critically acclaimed memoir The Other Side of Paradise, cowriter and original performer in the Tony Award-winning Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and author of the one-woman shows Hands Afire, Unspeakable Things, Border/Clash, and MotherStruck. She has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and 60 Minutes, and her poetry been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post. She proudly identifies as Caribbean, Black, Asian, lesbian, a woman, and a resident of New York City, as well as a Jamaican national.
Kay Ulanday Barrett is a poet, performer, and cultural strategist. K. has featured at The Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, Princeton University, Tucson Poetry Festival, NY Poetry Festival, The Dodge Poetry Foundation, The Hemispheric Institute, and Brooklyn Museum. They are a 2x Pushcart Prize nominee and received fellowships/residencies from Lambda Literary Review, VONA/Voices, The Home School, and Macondo. They are guest editor for Nat.Brut and guest faculty for The Poetry Foundation. Their contributions include: Academy of American Poets, The New York Times, Asian American Literary Review, PBS News Hour, F(r)iction, VIDA Review, NYLON, The Huffington Post, Them., Bitch Magazine, Apogee, and more. Their first book, When The Chant Comes was published by Topside Press in 2016. Their second collection More Than Organs, will be published by Sibling Rivalry Press, Spring 2020. See their work at Kaybarrett.net or on social media: @brownroundboi.
Jimena Lucero is a poet, artist, and actor from Queens. She is a Pink Door fellow and you can find her writing in EOAGH, Colorbloq.org, and more. Jimena has performed her work at the Brooklyn Museum, Poetry Project, and Flux Factory. She is currently working on her first poetry manuscript.
Exhibitions on View
Xiaoze Xie: Objects of Evidence, September 10, 2019–January 5, 2020
Through painting, installation, photography, and video, Xiaoze Xie traces the history of banned books in China.
Wang Dongling: Ink in Motion, September 10, 2019–January 5, 2020
The first public presentation of a large-scale calligraphy work created for AsiaSociety Museum by Wang Dongling, one of the most celebrated living calligraphers from China.
In Focus: Lakshmi, September 10, 2019–January 5, 2020
This exhibition explores the importance and worship of Lakshmi, a beloved goddess who is part of the complex Hindu culture that originated in India.
Event Details
Asia Society
725 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021