One year ago on January 27, 2021, Corky Lee, a beloved photographer, journalist and activist, passed away from complications of COVID-19. His passing was a loss felt deeply throughout the Asian American community, whom he had served, documented and celebrated through his vivid images. (Hyphen featured a spread on his work in Issue 3, published in 2004.)

Shortly after Lee's passing last year, we reached out to a few in the community who knew him and/or were touched by his work for some thoughts about Lee, his career and his impact and legacy.

On Wednesday, March 11, amidst increasingly concerning reports on the spread of COVID-19, I attended the Asian American Night performance of “Cambodian Rock Band” at the Signature Theatre in New York City — the last performance of the stage play before theaters across Manhattan went dark.

Something we noticed as we scrolled through our social media feeds is that for many of us — those of us with the privilege of health, time and regular (if limited) access to groceries — sheltering in place means spending a lot of time cooking. We've seen photos of sourdough bread, fried chicken, homemade pizzas and more roll through our timelines as people experimented with new recipes and fell back upon old favorites.

When things are in crisis, I sometimes find myself questioning what the point of art is. As a creative writer myself, I wonder if focusing on literature is a frivolous thing — after all, there are bigger problems in the world. And yet. Who among us has not turned to a rapturous piece of music or an achingly good film or a breathtaking poem in times of fear or heartbreak or anxiety? Art heals the spirit and soul.

As this year draws to a close, we thought we'd highlight some of the writing, movies, books, shows, products and more created by the Asian American community that we loved from this year. Read on and support these creators, and comment below to add some of your own that we missed!

The Asian Prisoner Support Committee (APSC) seeks skilled writing mentors to work with incarcerated API writers in developing original pieces for our second anthology.

Through mail correspondence facilitated by APSC, each mentor will empower an incarcerated writer to polish their work through feedback and guidance.

We’re looking for mentors who are:

Searching, the new movie starring John Cho, is a first-of-its-kind thriller. Told entirely through computer screens (think iMessage texts, internet browsers featuring Gmail and Facebook, Facetime calls), the plot follows David Kim (played by Cho), a suburban dad searching for his teenage daughter (played by newcomer Michelle La). As he frantically uncovers clues through her email and social media, he begins to understand he doesn’t know his daughter very well at all.

Ever since I read Celeste Ng’s first novel, Everything I Never Told You (Penguin Books, 2015), I’ve been anticipating her next one. Little Fires Everywhere, due out September 12, 2017, from Penguin Press, does not disappoint. Revolving around two families, the Richardsons and the Warrens, in the idyllic town of Shaker Heights, the book examines class, race, privilege, and the fears and hopes that drive people to take extraordinary actions.

We have a confession: we hate "best of" lists. Thousands of books are published every year and to try to whittle those books down to a few "best" seems near impossible. Whether a book is good/important/groundbreaking/heartbreaking or not is subjective, and we recognize that. We recognize it's ridiculous to claim to create a definitive list.

Grave

By Justin Chin

In the harsh glare of an easily
reprehensible life. The channel changer is lost
in the crack of an infinite sofa.
       Everything falls apart, everything breaks
down, torn into a million
              fragments, Jericho everyday.

I want to be the blameless
victim in this canceled puppet show,
the marionette every mother loves, the one
souvenirs are modeled from.

Dear Readers,

It's our second birthday! Yes, the Hyphen Reader was started in October two years ago! Crazy how time flies... but I hope you've been enjoying our curation!

October brings us an excerpt from Alexandra Kleeman's acclaimed debut novel, a haunting poem from Monica Sok, and a review of Hyphen's former music editor's debut novel (which we excerpted a few months back!).