95bFM Aotearoa writers affected by Asian American Literary Festival's abrupt cancellation
18 July, 2023
Interview by Rosetta Stone, adapted by Athena Li-Watts
Local writers Chris Tse and Saraid de Silva were set to attend the prestigious Smithsonian Asian American Literary Festival before it was cancelled with no explanation.
The Asian American Literary festival, set to take place in August at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center has been abruptly cancelled due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
The cancellation has been met with frustration from Asian writers globally, who have not had the opportunity to attend since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With 130 American and international Asian artists expected to participate, the festival was anticipated to draw in thousands of attendees.
The Smithsonian has offered little explanation for the cancellation. On July 14, The Washington Post reported on the cancellation, which included an official statement from the Smithsonian alleging that the festival was cancelled due to event planning being behind schedule despite organisers claiming otherwise.
Local writers Chris Tse and Saraid de Silva were both planning to attend the festival.
Tse told 95bFM’s The Wire that participants and event organisers only received a few week's notice that the event was being cancelled, and have been given no reimbursement from the Smithsonian to cover travel costs.
De Silva believes this is a very callous move of the Smithsonian, stating that it seems the institution is “unprofessional” and does not care about marginalised communities.
Asian Americans and other diasporic Asians have been subject to increasing violence inspired by the pandemic. Tse and de Silva believe the cancellation removed an opportunity to commiserate that experience.
Tse said the cancellation would impact their career as it removed an opportunity for Asian writers from Aotearoa and elsewhere to platform their work.
“I've never had the chance to perform or present my work in the US before, so this would have been a huge milestone in my career. To lose that is really, really upsetting.”
Shortly before its cancellation, the festival was under routine review for controversial content. There has been widespread speculation that the Smithsonian was potentially uncomfortable platforming trans and non-binary writers in its event.
“If that’s true, it’s a really insidious reason for cancelling it,” Tse said.
As a queer, Asian writer, de Silva added that deplatforming trans and non-binary Asian writers isolates queer and trans Asians from their community.
“It's a huge slap in the face.”
Due to participants' distrust of the Smithsonian, de Silva is unsure if the festival will resume next year.
“It's just devastating to see how little institutions care about the people who make them great.”
According to Tse, no formal apology has been issued to participants.
The writers have published an open letter, calling for the Smithsonian to explain their decision.
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