Readings and Events for Breakpoint in 2022-23!

Featured

More stuff happening! If you want to schedule me for a virtual or in-person reading, please use the contact form at betsyaoki.com!

————————-UPCOMING——————————————

February 21, 2023 6:30-8pm EST Virtual STEM Poetry Series Farmingdale College

Technology poetry reading with Rebecca Durham, the author of two award-winning poetry books, Half-Life of Empathy (New Rivers Press, 2020) and Loss/Less (Shanti Arts, 2022.

Access Link:  https://tinyurl.com/kd5jsv45  External link

Learn more about the series

Our panel accepted for AWP 2023! Thursday March 9, 2023. Noon-1:25pm

Rooms 433-434, Summit Building, Seattle Convention Center, Level 4.

Race to Machine: Asian-Americans Write Tech, Colonialism, and Dystopia (Shankar Narayan, Franny Choi, Betsy Aoki, Neil Aitken, Margaret Rhee)

In-person event

The tech tsunami transforming our world isn’t new—but change is accelerating.  Tech may feed into intersectional crises in race, environment, disinformation, and intolerance, amplifying inequity and colonialist tropes. Five Asian-American voices tackle all of the above, drawing on roots in the tech space and in their race, gender, immigrant, and sexual identities.  We’ll explore the challenges of writing about tech with courage and authenticity, while exploring humanity’s love affair with tech.

————————-PAST ——————————————–

March 24 AWP panel and book signing at terrain.org booth

March 12 Writers with Drinks, The Makeout Room, San Francisco.

April 1 Virtual Reading with Erin Malone and Aby Kaupang, for Elliott Bay Books (Video)

April 25 5 p.m. Pacific Virtual Reading with Joe Wilkins and Scott Edward Anderson hosted by Terrain.org on Zoom.

April 29 5 p.m. Pacific Virtual 580 Split’s “Fever Dreams” reading

May 10 7 p.m.- 8 p.m. PDT In-Person Kundiman’s FREE reading at Hugo House (Full writers’ bios and registration here.)

June 4 1-2 pm PDT “The Language of Machines” hosted by Seattle Public Library and Open Books. Featuring Betsy Aoki, Neil Aitken, Margaret Rhee.

YouTube recording with closed captions!
Register today at Third Place Books!

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

REGISTER: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/betsy-aoki-cookie-hiponia

October 12 12 PM EDT (not PDT!) Fall for the Book

“Video Games and Coding Poetry” presentation

Learn more about Fall for the Book at fallforthebook.org

In her “techno-lit” poetry collection, Breakpoint, game designer Betsy Aoki leads readers into a world of Halo, Japanese folklore, robot factories, and code as poetry. Attendees will use their own tech to generate poetry in this interactive event. Breakpoint blends technology and the Asian-American experience in what poet Colleen J. McElroy calls, “an evocative mixture of sensual experiences, and mathematically infused linguistic patterns.” Aoki makes machines speak, while also giving voice to the women who are part of the technological future.

Location: Johnson Center, 3rd Floor, Meeting Room C, 4477 Aquia Creek Lane, Fairfax.

November 20 3:30 PM EDT (not PDT!) Miami Book Fair

Sunday, November 20 @ 3:30 pm

Room 6100 (Building 6, 1st Floor)

300 NE Second Ave., Miami, FL 33132 United States

Official Launch of Breakpoint!

Featured

Available now at Amazon & Small Press Distribution !

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.

Breakpoint Cover Reveal!

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.

Order from Small Press Distribution at https://bit.ly/breakpoint2022 .

Auburn Witness Poetry Prize 2021

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….

Jericho Brown standing with Betsy Aoki
Pre-reading wine reception, obligatory selfie (he was so kind!).

Jericho reads. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review Editor
Betsy reads. It’s harder than you think, through a mask.
Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review Editor
Q & A. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review Editor
Betsy answers a question. Photo Courtesy Caitlin Rae Taylor, Southern Humanities Review Editor
Southern Humanities Review