by Julia Pierrepont III
LONG BEACH, the United States, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has long been marginalized in the literary world, but one book fair offers an opportunity to make them feel heard, seen and understood, said Cathy De Leon, director of the Long Beach Public Library.
The library hosted Saturday the popular AAPI book fair, a literary event founded last year to spread diverse voices of the community. It serves as a platform for AAPI writers to showcase their work, connect with readers and gain greater visibility and recognition.
"I firmly believe that there is a book for every person. They just have to find it," noted Joanna Belfer, who owns Del Canto, a local bookstore.
Long Beach, a coastal city in southern California, is home to one of the largest Asian American communities in the United States.
This year's fair featured personal memoirs, fiction, illustrated children's books and graphic novels.
Chinese American author Jane Wong read a stirring excerpt from her coming biographical book, "Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City." It depicted her life growing up surrounded by casinos with a Chinese immigrant father, who struggled with a gambling addiction.
"My stories are very personal to me, but are also part of a larger, systemic issue due to casinos deliberately targeting low-income immigrant populations like Asians to take advantage of our cultural emphasis on 'luck' and 'good fortune' to lure Asian immigrants into compulsive gambling."
Filipino American author Albert Samaha told Xinhua that Filipinos are still confused about their identity after centuries of colonization.
"A lot of Filipino Americans grow up struggling to sort out who they should identify as. There's no specific Filipino culture to turn to," he said, recalling every island in the Philippines once had its own specific culture, and there are over a hundred languages.
Alan Nakagawa, a Japanese American writer, stressed the importance of resurrecting the dying art of family albums to preserve the valuable AAPI culture.
"If we reestablish family photo albums, we would have a fighting chance to keep our own form of time travel. Each home would have its own portal to the past." said Nakagawa.
"I love this Book Fair," local Chinese American teenager, Alexa Yu, told Xinhua. "I hope I can write my own stories one day." ■