Asian American Literary Review

Commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of Sept. 11: Preview AALR's Special Issue

On the ten-year anniversary of September 11th, experts of every camp and affiliation will compete to dictate its legacies for our collective memory. The danger isn't simply that the loudest voices will dominate—it's that only a limited range of voices will make it into the conversation at all. So many of our communities have borne witness to so much over the past 10 years; it behooves us to critically consider the moment and its aftermath—the various political, legal, and civil rights repercussions, particularly for the communities most directly affected, South Asian, Arab, Middle Eastern, and Muslim American. But how can we do so, when so many of the voices of affected communities remain unheard? How do we remember and reflect on this moment as Asian Americans when the public conversation is so circumscribed?

In the interest of broadening that conversation, The Asian American Literary Review (AALR) is publishing a special commemorative issue. It will feature:

a Sikh American musician on the traumas of experience, before and after
an Indian American lawyer on defending Guantanamo detainees
a Pakistani American Muslim feminist on teaching September 11th
an Afghan American poet on envisioning, then editing the first Afghan American literary anthology
an Arab American scholar on why Arab American fiction matters
organizers and participants on the 10-year anniversary of Desis Organizing, the first gathering of NYC South Asian activists and artists
scholars, activists, and students in dialogue about the significance of September 11th in literature, memory, and new community formations
community members on the personal and collective impact of September 11th, responses, and what the future might hold
photography by New York City Muslim American youth
a DVD with short video collaborations between spoken word/performance poets and video/visual artists on the ten years since September 11th
introduction and afterword by guest editors Rajini Srikanth and Parag Khandhar

View table of contents and excerpts here.

This special issue offers contributors a space to grieve, to think through, to make connections, to look ahead. It offers readers the same, and hopefully the chance to carry the contributors' insights and conversations forward. We expect this special issue to make its way to readerships—and classrooms—across the country and beyond. And we're planning a series of nationwide events to re-stage and extend some of the issue's key dialogues, which we hope to document and archive.

But we need your help. As a young arts organization, AALR simply does not have the financial resources to publish and distribute this issue in the way it deserves. How better to make this issue a community effort than to make its publication a collaborative one? Your assistance will ensure that the issue launches by early fall and makes its way into college classrooms, student hands, other audiences near and far, and, we hope, public discourse. Please consider making a donation, however large or small, and please consider passing this request along to friends, family, and colleagues. We will proudly list all donors as sponsors in the issue and on our website.

You can donate by visiting bit.ly/AALR-Sept-11-Issue. Or you can make checks out to "The Asian American Literary Review, Inc." and mail to:

The Asian American Literary Review, Inc.
P.O. Box 34495
Washington, D.C. 20043

Thank you so much for your consideration and support. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns at editors@aalrmag.org.