Kundiman is a nonprofit organization dedicated to writers and readers of

Asian American literature Asian American literature is the body of literature produced in the United States by writers of Asian people, Asian Ancestor, descent. Since the 1970s, Asian American literature has grown from an emerging category to an established tradition with ...

. Among its services are readings, workshops, mentorship programs, writing intensives, as well as a poetry prize and an annual writing retreat, the Kundiman Retreat.

History

Kundiman was co-founded in 2004 by poets

Sarah Gambito Sarah Gambito is an American poet and professor. She is the author of three collections of poetry, ''Loves You'' (Persea Books, 2019), ''Delivered'' (Persea Books, 2009), and ''Matadora'' (Alice James Books, 2004). Her first collection, ''Matadora ...

and

Joseph O. Legaspi Joseph O. Legaspi is an American poet. He is the author of two full length poetry collections and two full-length poetry chapbooks. With the poet Sarah Gambito, he cofounded Kundiman (nonprofit organization), Kundiman, a national nonprofit orga ...

after discussing the need for literary community among

Asian Americans Asian Americans are Americans with Asian diaspora, ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are Immigration to the United States, immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). A ...

while at Gambito's family barbecue. The organization’s name refers to a style of Filipino love song,

kundiman Kundiman is a genre of traditional Filipino ballads, predominantly with romantic themes. The lyrics of the kundiman are written in Tagalog. The melody is characterized by a smooth, flowing and gentle rhythm with dramatic intervals. Kundima ...

, that served as veiled patriotism during colonial times. In 2009, Kundiman announced a collaboration with

Alice James Books Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in New Gloucester, Maine. History and mission "Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: ...

for a $2,000 book publication prize for

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

poets, marking the first book prize ever of its kind. In 2018, Kundiman Fellow Kyle Lucia Wu hosted a

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...

edit-a-thon An edit-a-thon (sometimes written editathon) is an event where some editors of online communities such as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap (also known as a " mapathon"), and LocalWiki edit and improve a specific topic or type of content. The events typ ...

in partnership with Wikimedia NYC and the

Asian American Writers' Workshop The Asian American Writers' Workshop (often abbreviated AAWW) is a New York–based nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1991 to support Asian American writers, literature and community. Cofounders Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Marie M ...

to create, revise, and update pages pertaining to

. New pages resulting from the event included Alice Sola Kim, Weike Wang, and

R. F. Kuang Rebecca F. Kuang (born May 29, 1996) is an American novelist. Her first novel, ''The Poppy War'', was released in 2018, followed by the sequels '' The Dragon Republic'' in 2019, and '' The Burning God'' in 2020. Kuang released a stand-alone nove ...

. In October of 2023, Kundiman posted and subsequently deleted a social media post declaring solidarity with

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

, after which it was replaced with a more neutral position. For months afterward, members of the Kundiman network would meet and discuss internally about the aforementioned events. In May of the following year, over a hundred Kundiman Fellows, including

Ocean Vuong Ocean Vuong (born , ; born October 14, 1988) is a Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist. He is the recipient of the 2014 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, 2016 Whiting Award, an ...

and

Solmaz Sharif Solmaz Sharif (; born 1983) is an Iranian-American poet. Her debut poetry collection, ''Look'', was a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award. She is currently an Assistant Professor of English at UC Berkeley. Early life and education Sharif wa ...

, signed and published an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

to the Kundiman board calling for their resignation due to the organization's conflicted posture and their failure to meet certain demands. Two days later, Kundiman responded, stating that, as an organization, they could not take "specific advocacy positions". In September of 2024, Kundiman announced that

Kazim Ali Kazim Ali (born April 5, 1971) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and professor. His most recent books are ''Inquisition'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2018) and ''All One's Blue'' (Harper Collins India, 2016). His honors include an Individu ...

and David Mura would join the organization's board of trustees. One month later, they announced that Andy Chen, Ching-In Chen, Rana Tahir,

Seema Yasmin Seema Yasmin is a British-American physician, writer and science communicator based at Stanford University. She is Director of Research and Education at the Stanford Health Communication Initiative. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yasmin helped to ...

, and Timothy Yu would join Ali and Mura. After the

Asian American Literature Festival The Asian American Literature Festival is a biannual Washington, D.C.–based literary festival dedicated to sharing and growing Asian American literature. It was first held in 2017. History The Asian American Literature Festival is an event pr ...

's cancellation in 2023, Kundiman and several other Asian American literary and arts organizations launched a series of in-person, hybrid, and online programming across the United States and beyond taking place near the end of 2024. Past programming and event partners with Kundiman have been the

Cave Canem Foundation Cave Canem Foundation is an American 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1996 by poets Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady to remedy the underrepresentation and isolation of African-American poets in Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree programs and wr ...

Kearny Street Workshop Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) in San Francisco, California, is the oldest multidisciplinary arts nonprofit addressing Asian Pacific American issues. The organization's mission is to produce and present art that enriches and empowers Asian Pacific ...

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) is a migratory museum that shares Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture through innovative museum experiences online and throughout the U.S through the Smithsonian Institution T ...

Vermont Studio Center The Vermont Studio Center (VSC) is a non-profit arts organization located in the town of Johnson, Vermont. It conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the United States, with a significant population of international artis ...

Kaya Press Kaya Press is an independent non-profit publisher of writers of the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora. Founded in 1994 by the postmodern Korean writer Soo Kyung Kim, Kaya Press is housed in the Department of American Studies and Ethnicity at the ...

Fine Arts Work Center The Fine Arts Work Center is a non-profit enterprise that supports emerging visual artists and writers in Provincetown, Massachusetts. The Work Center was founded in 1968 by a group of American artists and writers to support promising individual ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and more.

Kundiman Retreat

The inaugural Retreat was hosted at the University of Virginia in 2004. Later, in 2010, Kundiman and

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

formed a partnership in which the Kundiman Retreat would be hosted on the Rose Hill campus, while Kundiman-sponsored readings and events would happen at the Lincoln Center campus. Additionally, Fordham would provide Kundiman with $60,000 for programming support over the course of three years. In 2015, the retreat was opened up to fiction writers as well as poets. Altogether, Kundiman Fellows have published 311 books and counting, as well as pieces in literary magazines like ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Colorado Review The ''Colorado Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine published by the Center for Literary Publishing at Colorado State University. History and profile The magazine was established in 1956. It presents the annual Nelligan Prize for Short Fict ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''Poetry'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', and more. Past Kundiman Fellows include: Past and present Kundiman faculty includes:

References

{{Reflist 2004 establishments in New York City American poetry American writers' organizations Arts organizations based in New York City Arts organizations established in 2004 Asian-American literature Asian-American organizations Culture of New York City Non-profit organizations based in New York (state) Poetry organizations

History

Kundiman Retreat

See also

References