July 8 7 p.m. PDT In-Person In conversation with Cookie Hiponia (Author of We Belong), at Third Place Books Ravenna, 6504 20th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA
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April 1 Virtual Reading with Erin Malone and Aby Kaupang, for Elliott Bay Books (Video)
March 24 AWP panel and book signing at terrain.org booth
March 12 Writers with Drinks, The Makeout Room, San Francisco
April 255 p.m. Pacific Virtual Reading with Joe Wilkins and Scott Edward Anderson hosted by Terrain.org on Zoom.
April 295 p.m. Pacific Virtual 580 Split’s “Fever Dreams” reading
Dedicated to all the women in tech making it happen!
I see you.
Breakpoint by Betsy Aoki, March 1 2022, published by Tebot Bach
More info about awards Breakpoint poems have won, full blurbs (from Jericho Brown, Kimiko Hahn, Colleen J. McElroy, Dorothy Barresi, Elisa C. Page) , resources for book clubs and poetry workshops can be found on the permanent landing page here.
Cover of Breakpoint, Publication Date March 1, 2022
Breakpoint’s cover is an amazing piece of art called THIS WAY UP by Yejin Park.
I had originally begun working with another amazing artist, Cathy Kwan but found due to unforeseen circumstances, they needed to refer me to someone else. They noticed that there was already a work in existence that seemed to have a lot of the elements we talked about for the “Coder Girl” persona and the need for circuitry textures, and when I saw there was a fragile sticker on her cheek that was it! Breakpoint!
Yejin was really easy to work with and 10/10 would work on a cover again!
The cover reveal is happening in time for the pre-orders coming online.
I was over the moon to learn “Slouching like a velvet rope” won the Auburn Witness Poetry Prize Honoring Jake Adam York for 2021, and very blessed to have shared a stage with the judge, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jericho Brown, in October 2021.
It’s of course only now I have time to post any of the reading photos here on my web site….
Pre-reading wine reception, obligatory selfie (he was so kind!).Jericho reads. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review EditorBetsy reads. It’s harder than you think, through a mask. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review EditorQ & A. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review EditorBetsy answers a question. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review EditorSouthern Humanities Review
“Congratulations to Betsy Aoki, winner of the 2021 Patricia Bibby First Book Award for her poetry manuscript, Breakpoint.
Final judge Dorothy Barresi called Breakpoint “cutting edge” and praised its many “moments of brilliance.”
By day, Elizabeth (Betsy) Aoki leads tech teams to build social applications, search/metrics products and video games. By night, she writes fiction and poetry, and contributes poetry book reviews to the International Examiner.
Her work has been included in two anthologies Fire On Her Tongue: An Anthology of Contemporary Women’s Poetry (Two Sylvias Press) and Yellow as Turmeric, Fragrant as Cloves: A Contemporary Anthology of Asian American Women’s Poetry (Deep Bowl Press). Her chapbook, Every Vanish Leaves Its Trace was published by Finishing Line Press.
There are a number of reasons you might find me here – my technology projects, social media, public speaking, or my writings (technology or creative). Though most of my post-MFA creative energy has been devoted to poetry, I was fortunate to join the speculative fiction writing community by attending Clarion West in 2016. I work on technology projects by day, and dream up new worlds at night. :)
For the most part, social media channels are the most active (and timely!) ways to reach me, or you can use the contact form on this Web site.
Betsy Aoki 
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