Readers include Frank Abe, Lucy Tan, Carla Crujido, Bruce Rutledge, and Dan DeWeese.
BOOK EVENT: WRITERS READ BEN MASAOKA’S “CRIMINALS”
Sunday, February 2, 2025
2 — 4PM PST
Mam’s Books
Free and open to the public.
To mark the Day of Remembrance, the Wing Luke Museum is a community partner for this event. The Day of Remembrance, February 19, observes the anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by President Roosevelt in 1942 that led to the WWII mass incarceration of Japanese immigrants and their American-born children.
Join Frank Abe (We Hereby Refuse), Lucy Tan (What We Were Promised), Carla Crujido (The Strange Beautiful), Bruce Rutledge (Chin Music Press), and Dan DeWeese (Propeller Books) for a reading and celebration of the Ben Masaoka’s posthumously-published debut novel Criminals.
Ben Masaoka, born and raised in Los Angeles, was a trianglist for many years between Los Angeles, Seattle, and Hawaii. He traded the sun for the tall, dark green trees of the Northwest. His short stories have been published in the Chicago Review of Books and Catamaran Literary Reader. Ben is the author of the novel, Criminals.
Of Criminals, Charles Johnson, author of Middle Passage and National Book Award winner says: “This decades-spanning story of a Japanese American family is filled with artfully crafted scenes, memorable characters, and a rare compassion that highlights our common humanity and suffering. Ben Masaoka’s debut novel is thoroughly engaging and a joy to read.”
Writers as Readers
FRANK ABE is lead author of the graphic novel, WE HEREBY REFUSE: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration; as well as the co-editor of JOHN OKADA: The Life & Rediscovered Work of the Author of No-No Boy and The Literature of Japanese American Incarceration. Abe also wrote, produced, and directed the award-winning PBS documentary, "Conscience and the Constitution," on the largest organized resistance to the WWII incarceration camps.
LUCY TAN is the author of the novel What We Were Promised, which was named a Best Book of 2018 by The Washington Post, Refinery 29, and Amazon. She currently lives and writes in Seattle.
CARLA CRUJIDO is the author of the short story collection, The Strange Beautiful, which Kirkus Reviews called one of the Best Indie Books of 2024. She lives in the Portland, Oregon.
BRUCE RUTLEDGE worked as a journalist in Japan for fifteen years before moving to Seattle to found Chin Music Press, located in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, with his wife Yuko Enomoto. Bruce is also the General Manager of the North American Post and Soy Source.
DAN DEWEESE is the author of the novels Gielgud and You Don’t Love This Man, and the short story collection, Disorder. He is editor-in-chief of Propeller, a literature, art, and culture website, and is also the managing editor of the magazine's publishing imprint, Propeller Books.