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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20251006T203000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20251006T213000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20250930T071303Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250930T071303Z
UID:10001897-1759782600-1759786200@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:Panel: San Francisco Opera: The Monkey King (Hybrid)
DESCRIPTION:This program features a unique public affairs arts conversation between Chinese-born composer Huang Ruo and Matthew Shilvock\, who is in his tenth season as San Francisco Opera’s general director. \nThe Monkey King (猴王悟空)\, by Huang Ruo and American librettist/playwright David Henry Hwang\, conducted by Carolyn Kuan\, is of topical interest as an action hero story with moments of peace and reflection. The Monkey King centers around the mythic hero from China’s classic novel Journey to the West. A monkey born from a stone becomes the ruler of the monkeys and challenges the gods of the seas and heavens in a bid for immortality. SF Opera is producing the world premiere\, performed in English and Chinese\, uniting the disciplines of opera\, dance and puppetry. \nThe Monkey King‘s blended production is not your grandmothers’ traditional opera! It’s also a 2024 blockbuster video game Black Myth: Wukong. \nMusical theatre audiences are familiar with Broadway’s acclaimed Tony award winning M. Butterfly team\, which was also led by Ruo and American librettist/playwright David Henry Whang and conductor Carolyn Kuan. \nDescribing a technique he calls “dimensionalism\,” Ruo uses a “musical voice which draws equal inspiration from Chinese folk\, Western avant-garde\, rock and jazz (Mimakos\, 2011).” Of Monkey King\, he says\, “In our new opera\, which blends cultural traditions with a spectacular multidisciplinary production\, I hope to bring this Eastern superhero to life and shine a hopeful light that will always appear in any turbulent time.” \nShilvock announced that The Monkey King\, opening November 14 at War Memorial Opera House\, reflects SF Opera’s commitment to global storytelling that makes a difference. He notes that “It’s indicative of artistry that affirms the Bay Area as one of the great cultural centers of the world.” \nOur moderator will be Cole Thomason-Redus\, vice chair of the Arts Member-led Forum\, and educational content curator for San Francisco Opera.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/panel-san-francisco-opera-the-monkey-king-hybrid/
LOCATION:Commonwealth Club of California\, 110 The Embarcadero\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94105\, United States
CATEGORIES:Hybrid,In Person,Panel,Theater,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20251006-Monkey-King-HERO_0.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250911T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250911T220000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20250905T125506Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250910T122133Z
UID:10001780-1757624400-1757628000@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:Fall Literary Salon: Maxine Hong Kingston\, Aimee Liu\, Lily Hoang and Pete Hsu (Virtual and S.F.)
DESCRIPTION:Join the incomparable Maxine Hong Kingston\, alongside bestselling and award-winning authors Aimee Liu and Pete Hsu\, in a riveting conversation moderated by Lily Hoang at Commonwealth Club World Affairs in San Francisco and Online on Thursday\, September 11\, 2025. \nIt’ll be a beautiful evening of literary readings and discussion about the impact of America’s current politics on marginalized writers\, readers\, and independent presses. Without NEA and NIH funding\, what is the fate of literary diversity in America? What can publishers do to prevent erasure of BIPOC perspectives? What can artists do to defend their legacy and protect the future for imagination\, creativity\, and radical inclusivity? And what rich reserves of literary history can we all draw upon to embolden the voices of resistance in our modern reckoning? We invite you to participate in an urgent exploration of the good\, the bad\, and the courageous in publishing today. \nAbout the Speakers \nMaxine Hong Kingston\, daughter of Chinese immigrants\, is a literary pioneer\, poet\, memoirist\, and fiction writer. She is the author of numerous nonfiction books including National Book Critics Circle Award-winner\, The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976) and National Book Award-winner China Men (1980). She also edited the anthology Veterans of War\, Veterans of Peace (2006)\, compiled from the work of participants in the therapeutic poetry workshops she has led for more than 500 veterans of war. Her honors include the National Medal of Arts (presented by former President Barack Obama)\, the National Endowment for the Humanities’ National Humanities Medal (presented by former President Bill Clinton)\, the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Award in Literature\, the National Book Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award\, and has been named a Living Treasure of Hawaii. She is a professor emeritus at UC Berkeley and lives in Oakland\, California. \nAimee Liu is the bestselling author of the novels Glorious Boy\, Flash House\, Cloud Mountain\, and Face and the memoirs Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders and Solitaire. Her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages\, published as a Literary Guild Super Release\, and serialized in Good Housekeeping. She’s received a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award\, a Bosque Fiction Prize\, and special mention by the Pushcart Prize. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books\, the Los Angeles Times\, Poets & Writers\, and many other periodicals and anthologies. A past president of the national literary organization PEN Center USA\, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Bennington College and is on the faculty of Goddard College’s MFA in Creative Writing Program at Port Townsend\, WA. She lives in Los Angeles\, California. \nLily Hoang is the author of five books\, including the upcoming short story collection Timber & Lua (Red Hen Press\, 2025) A Bestiary (finalist for a PEN USA Nonfiction Book Award) and Changing (recipient of a PEN Open Books Award). She has been a Mellon Fellow at Rhodes University in South Africa\, a Distinguished Visiting Writer at Cornell College\, and a Cultural Exchange Faculty Fellow at Wuhan University in China. To date\, she has taught creative writing on five continents. She currently teaches in the MFA Program at UC San Diego. She lives in San Diego\, California. \nPete Hsu is a Taiwanese American author of the short story collection If I Were The Ocean\, I’d Carry You Home (Red Hen Press\, 2022) and the experimental chapbook There Is A Man (Tolsun Books). His writing has also been featured in The Los Angeles Review\, The Bare Life Review\, F(r)iction Magazine\, Faultline Journal of Arts and Letters\, The Los Angeles Review of Books\, and others. He was a 2017 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow and the 2017 PEN in the Community Writer in Residence. He teaches at the UCLA Extension Writers Program. He was born in Taipei\, Taiwan and currently resides in Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/fall-literary-salon-maxine-hong-kingston-aimee-liu-lily-hoang-and-pete-hsu-san-fran-and-online/
LOCATION:Commonwealth Club of California\, 110 The Embarcadero\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94105\, United States
CATEGORIES:Book,Hybrid,In Person,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/20250911-Fall-Literary-Salon-HERO.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250731T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250731T220000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20250717T144334Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250717T144336Z
UID:10001606-1753995600-1753999200@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:Climate: Premal Shah and Kinari Webb: Small Dollar\, Big Impact  - Hybrid
DESCRIPTION:The climate doesn’t care where emissions cuts come from; what matters is that the world transitions to renewable energy quickly and cheaply. If it’s significantly cheaper to install solar panels in India than on a rooftop in California\, then isn’t that where they should be built? \nIn 2005\, Premal Shah co-founded Kiva.org\, a global anti-poverty effort that has loaned more than $2 billion for low-income entrepreneurs in 80 countries. He recently applied a similar microfinance model to climate\, creating renewables.org\, with the goal of leveraging small amounts of money for the greatest impact. \nKinari Webb saw a similar opportunity in rain forest communities around the world. Currently\, less than 1 percent of climate finance goes to these communities\, yet transferring funds directly to the local people with the greatest stake in preserving their land can have outsized impact. \nWhere does the climate dollar go furthest? Join Climate One’s Greg Dalton for an illuminating and encouraging conversation with Premal Shah and Kinari Webb.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/climate-premal-shah-and-kinari-webb-small-dollar-big-impact-hybrid/
LOCATION:Commonwealth Club of California\, 110 The Embarcadero\, San Francisco\, CA\, 94105\, United States
CATEGORIES:Hybrid,Virtual,Webinar
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/20250731-Premal-Shah-and-Kinari-Webb-HERO.jpeg
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250411T213000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250411T230000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20250326T151338Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250326T151338Z
UID:10001139-1744407000-1744412400@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:Songkran Southeast Asian New Year Celebration -Virtual/ San Francisco
DESCRIPTION:Songkran is a festival from Southeast Asia marking the new year and celebrating making a fresh start. \nThis special program includes a program discussion hosted by Michelle Meow featuring conversations on cultural heritage\, community impact\, and empowerment initiatives; cultural performances\, including traditional dances\, live music\, and storytelling sessions; a traditional water blessing ceremony; and delicious authentic Southeast Asian cuisine prepared by local chefs. \n\nKenya Prach – Martial Artist; Khmer Rouge survivor\nMaly Phommavong – Interpreter\nKesinee Angkustsiri Yip – Communications Strategist; Co-founder\, Creative Catalyst\nMichelle Meow – Producer and Host\, “The Michelle Meow Show\,” KPIX+; Member\, Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California Board of Governors—Host
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/songkran-southeast-asian-new-year-celebration-virtual-san-francisco/
LOCATION:Virtual
CATEGORIES:Festival,Hybrid,In Person,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20250411-Songkran-Southeast-Asian-Celebration-HERO_0.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250408T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20250408T220000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20250326T092234Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250326T092549Z
UID:10001132-1744146000-1744149600@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:Author Talk Vicky Nguyen - Boat Baby
DESCRIPTION:NBC News anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen has a story to tell of her family’s daring escape from communist Vietnam and her unlikely journey from refugee to reporter—a story told with laughter and fierce love. \nStarting in 1975\, Vietnam’s “boat people”—desperate families seeking freedom—fled the Communist government and violence in their country any way they could\, usually by boat across the South China Sea. Vicky Nguyen and her family were among them. Attacked at sea by pirates before reaching a refugee camp in Malaysia\, the Nguyen family survived on rations and waited months until they were sponsored to go to America. \nBut deciding to leave and start a new life in a new country is half the story; figuring out how to be American is the other. Join us as Nguyen recounts the story from her memoir Boat Baby of growing up in America with unconventional Vietnamese parents who didn’t always know how to bridge the cultural gaps. It’s a childhood filled with misadventures and misunderstandings\, from almost stabbing the neighborhood racist with a butter knife to getting caught stealing Cosmo in the hope of learning “Do You Really Think You Know Everything About Sex?” In the face of prejudice\, Nguyen’s parents taught her to be gritty and resilient\, skills Vicky used as she combatted stereotyping throughout her career\, fending off the question “Aren’t you Connie Chung?” to become a leading Asian American journalist on television. \nFunny\, nostalgic\, and poignant\, her story is a testament to the messy glue that bonds a family\, and is an optimistic story full of heart that illuminates the promise of what America can be. \nShe will be in conversation with Raj Mathai.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/author-talk-vicky-nguyen-boat-baby/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Book,Hybrid,In Person,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/unnamed-32.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241219T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241219T220000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20241216T084857Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241216T084857Z
UID:10000475-1734642000-1734645600@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:The Power of Human Connection: Photographer Harry Williams
DESCRIPTION:Join us for our celebratory year-end Michelle Meow Show special. We’ll start with a conversation with local photographer/artist Harry Williams\, who photographs the people of San Francisco. We’ll explore human connections and how community engagement can preserve our dignity and compassion for each other. \nWe’ll end our program with a special performance by SNOWW. Then stick around for a fun reception and holiday cheer.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/the-power-of-human-connection-photographer-harry-williams/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Hybrid,In Person,Interview,Music,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241219-Meow-HERO.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241210T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241210T220000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20241202T052921Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241205T224237Z
UID:10000390-1733864400-1733868000@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:What Is Cultural Appropriation?
DESCRIPTION:In recent headline news\, actor Simu Liu called out a boba tea company for cultural appropriation saying “There’s an issue of taking something that’s very distinctly Asian in its identity and quote-unquote ‘making it better\,’” \nThe comment generated a lot of feedback from consumers who then chimed in to add their thoughts on what cultural appropriation\, especially in food\, actually means. \nJoin us for a lively discussion with Bay Area brand founders on what their thoughts are on cultural appropriation. \nAbout the Speakers \nOlivia Chen\, co-founder and CMO of Twrl Milk Tea\, is a creative entrepreneur passionate about community building\, storytelling and marketing. An expert in guerrilla marketing\, Olivia has a proven track record in developing brand stories with focus on optimizing messaging\, effective marketing mix\, and maximizing sales conversion. She is passionate about creating positive change and growth while sharing her Taiwanese culture and traditions\, especially Boba Milk Tea\, with the world. Chen holds a B.S. from University of California\, Berkeley\, Haas Business School and an MBA/MA from University of Pennsylvania\, The Wharton School and The Lauder Institute. She led global and domestic product marketing teams at Estee Lauder (Clinique\, Donna Karan Cosmetics\, and Origins) and is a former publicist for Amazon and New York Times bestselling authors. In her spare time\, Olivia is an avid baker and bento creator. \nAruna Lee\, a South Korean native and former Buddhist nun\, founded Volcano Kimchi in 2014 in the heart of San Francisco. Specializing in vegan\, organic kimchi and Korean-inspired fermented foods\, Volcano Kimchi reflects Aruna’s passion for sustainability\, health\, and community. Rooted in her deep values\, Aruna emphasizes high-quality\, eco-friendly ingredients to craft wholesome\, flavorful ferments. Beyond food\, her work is about connection—nurturing a sense of togetherness through the shared love of nourishing meals. Volcano Kimchi isn’t just a business; it’s Lee’s way of promoting health\, sustainability\, and community\, one delicious jar at a time. \nJaneen and Rodrigo Cruz\, the husband-and-wife team behind Kuali. They say: “Our story is rooted in love—for each other\, for our culture\, and for the flavors that remind us of home.” Janeen\, the daughter of Mexican immigrants from El Ejido Hermosillo\, Baja California\, and Rodrigo\, who grew up in the bustling heart of Mexico City\, met over a shared passion for food and tradition. For Rodrigo\, the kitchen is a sacred space where he reconnects with his mamá\, Mely\, and relives memories of México with every dish. It’s where he recreates the vibrant salsas he grew up with—the same flavors that captured Janeen’s heart. As a first-generation Mexican-American\, she hadn’t tasted anything like it: a salsa that truly tasted like México. “In 2020\, with the world at a standstill\, we felt inspired to bring the soulful\, authentic taste of Mexico to the U.S. We couldn’t find anything that captured the bold\, unapologetic flavors we cherish\, so we started Kuali right here in our kitchen in Oakland. Now\, we’re thrilled to share that taste with you\, a taste that makes you say\, ‘esto es México.’ For us\, salsa is life. It’s more than just a condiment; it’s the heart of our table\, our heritage\, and our everyday meals. When you open a jar of Kuali salsa\, you’re tasting the magic that brings us together—our culture\, our story\, and the passion we pour into every batch.” \nModerator: Michele Meow
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/what-is-cultural-appropriation/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Hybrid,In Person,Panel,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/20241210-Cultual-Appropriation-HERO.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241022T210000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241022T220000
DTSTAMP:20260509T004621
CREATED:20241012T195544Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241012T195939Z
UID:10000236-1729630800-1729634400@potluckasianamerica.org
SUMMARY:The 2024 Election and the AANHPI Vote
DESCRIPTION:According to APIA Vote and TargetSmart\, Asian American\, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders have had the largest increase in voter registration of any racial group in the country from January to June\, compared to the same time back in 2020. This statistic alone is enough to expect AANHPI voters to have an impact on this year’s election—whether local\, statewide or federal. \nJoin us for a conversation to understand the issues that are important to AANHPI voters as they cast their votes\, some for the very first time\, in this election. \nAbout the Speakers \nKarthick Ramakrishnan has served in leadership roles that span academia\, government\, public policy\, and philanthropy. He is founder and director of AAPI Data\, a nationally recognized publisher of demographic data and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. \nNancy Tung was elected as chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party in April 2024.
URL:https://potluckasianamerica.org/event/the-2024-election-and-the-aanhpi-vote/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Hybrid,In Person,Virtual
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://potluckasianamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20241022-AANHPI-Vote-HERO-1.png
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