In this intergenerational reading, Sansei poet and editor, Brian Komei Dempster, will discuss his community-based writing projects and anthologies, in which Japanese Americans—mostly Nisei—tell their stories of wartime incarceration and post-war resettlement. Dempster will also read poems from his debut collection, Topaz, which looks at the legacy of the camp experience and its impact on younger generations.

Joining Dempster is project participant Toru Saito, along with prominent Nisei writer, Wakako Yamauchi, whose granddaughter Alyctra Matsushita, will read excerpts from Yamauchi’s dazzling story collection, Rosebud (University of Hawaii, 2011, edited by Lillian Howan).

Co-sponsored by Collecting Los Angeles, a program of UCLA Library Special Collections.