Fordham Joins Kundiman to Bring Renowned Poets to Campus

In collaboration with the nonprofit literary group Kundiman Poets, Fordham University is sponsoring the sixth annual Asian-American Poetry Retreat at its Bronx campus from June 22 to 27.

The event has drawn nationally renowned Asian-American poets for workshops and writing circles to promote and mentor new generations of Asian-American poets. Among its highlights is a public reading by faculty and fellows at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 25, at the Lincoln Center campus. This year’s faculty members include:

• Regie Cabico, winner of three National Poetry Slams and a recipient of the 10th Annual Writers for Writers Award sponsored by Poets & Writers. Cabico has appeared for two seasons on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam.”

• Paisley Rekdal, associate professor of English at the University of Utah and author of the forthcoming hybrid photo-text memoir, Intimate (Tupelo Press). Rekdal is the recipient of a Village Voice Writers on the Verge Award, a Fulbright Fellowship and a 2009 Pushcart Prize. Her poems are widely published.

• Tan Lin, professor of English and creative writing at New Jersey City University and author of two collections of poetry, Lotion Bullwhip Giraffe(Sun & Moon Press, 2000) and BlipSoak01 (Atelos, 2003).

The Fordham-based event highlights the beginning of an affiliation between Fordham and Kundiman that bring up to five Kundiman retreats annually to the Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses, said Sarah Gambito, director of Fordham’s creative writing program. It also seeks to strengthen the outreach of Fordham’s Department of English.

“This partnership enhances the University’s reputation as a key participant in the vibrant New York poetry scene and as a stronghold for multicultural cosmopolitanism and Asian-American letters,” Gambito said.

Since its inception in 2004, the annual poetry retreat has provided 68 emerging poets with a distinguished faculty and writing environment. Its public readings have brought the work of emerging and established Asian-American poets and writers to new audiences.

Founded in 2002, Kundiman seeks to provide a community in which Asian-American poets can explore—through art—their unique culture, history and experience. A Kundiman Poetry Prize, in partnership with Alice James Books, is given annually to an Asian-American poet for a first or second book. It is the only poetry prize dedicated to Asian-American poets in the country.