UC Berkeley Professor to Join Conversation on Literature of a Changing Little Tokyo

Lynell George, Andrew Leong, Amy Uyematsu

UC Berkeley Professor Andrew Leong, the translator of 1920s Issei writer Shoson Nagahara, will join former L.A. Times reporter Lynell George and poet Amy Uyematsu in a conversation about a changing Little Tokyo.

Part of the Bull & Puppy book series hosted by mystery novelist and nonfiction writer Naomi Hirahara, “Stepping Out: Walking Through Our Past and Present” will be held on Tuesday, May 14, at 7:30 p.m. 341 FSN, 341 E. First St. in Little Tokyo.

The conversation is one of many “Centering the Masses” free pop-up events hosted by Visual Communications.

Leong won an Association for Asian American Studies award for “Lament in the Night” (Kaya Press), the translation of Shoson Nagahara’s serial in The Rafu Shimpo’s Japanese section and a novella published by a small press in prewar Little Tokyo. He is currently assistant professor of English at UC Berkeley.

George is the author of “After/Image: Los Angeles Outside the Frame” (Angel City Press), which explores the struggle to hold onto L.A.’s past, including the movement to save the 800 Traction building in the Arts District.

Uyematsu’s first volume of poetry, “30 Miles from J-Town,” will be reissued by Red Hen Press in the near future. Uyematsu, who was raised near the Sawtelle District, now has five volumes of poetry in publication and teaches a poetry workshop in conjunction with the Little Tokyo Service Center’s Far East Lounge.

For more information on “Centering the Masses,” visit http://vcmedia.org/centerthemass.