Mata Ashita Reading and Workshop (Online)
Join Mata Ashita in celebrating the launch of The Gate of Memory. 11am-1pm PT / 2-4pm ET on Zoom. This special event will feature readings from numerous Canadian contributors (including some Mata Ashita alumni), a facilitated Q&A, and a writing activity inspired by the anthology's themes. No prior experience is necessary, just a commitment to holding space for yourself and others as we navigate what it means to be together in community. Funding for this event is provided by the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation. RSVP and event details.
Heaven Looks Like Us & The Gate of Memory (Toronto, ON)
Join us to celebrate the launch of poetry anthologies HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US, edited by George Abraham and Noor Hindi, and THE GATE OF MEMORY, edited by Brynn Saito and Brandon Shimoda, published by Haymarket Books in spring 2025. Please register here. Featuring work by anthology contributors and community artists, including Bassam Jamil (with translations by Nicole Mankinen), Erica H Isomura, Hajer Mirwali, Leanne Toshiko Simpson, Mona Oikawa, Nawal Serhan, Paper Cranes for Palestine, and shō yamagushiku. This free, all-ages community event will include poetry readings, art installations, a print fundraiser for Hamza, book sales by Another Story bookshop, and more.
Saturday, May 31, 2-4pm ET | In-person at It’s OK* Studios (468 Queen Street W, Toronto)
The venue is accessible via the 501/510 streetcar. Street parking is limited. The venue entrance and bathroom are accessible at ground level. All performances and art installations will be on the first floor. Masks will be available at the door. Funding for this event is provided by the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation. Registration link and event details.
Haymarket House (Chicago, IL)
“The Gate of Memory Community Gathering: Poetry, Intergenerational Healing and Imagining Nikkei Futures.” This gathering will feature poetry readings by contributors of The Gate of Memory (including Katherine Terumi Laubscher and Erica H. Isomura) and work by local Nikkei artists (including Conal Abatangelo, Mari Yamagiwa, Cori Nakamura Lin and Jami Nakamura Lin). The readings will be followed by discussion circles and a mini poetry/art making session, along with music by JJ Ueunten. With poetry, discussion, and art, we will reflect on the past, create visions of Nikkei futures, and explore how to tell and re-tell these histories in resistance to state violence, imperialism, and racial violence. The program hosted by Anne Watanabe and Brynn Saito, and co-sponsored by Nikkei Uprising, a collective of Nikkei and Japanese folks in Chicago organizing against all forms of incarceration, imperialism and state violence with an abolitionist lens. Funding for this event is provided by the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation. RSVP link to come.
J-SEI (Emeryville, CA)
Join us for the anthology’s first Bay Area event, featuring readings by many of the local (or local-adjacent) contributors, including: Brian Komei Dempster, Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, Lauren Fujimoto-Johnson (Sharon’s daughter), Steve Fujimura, Rebecca A. Green, Jodi Hottel, Susan Kiyo Ito, Amanda Mei Kim, Casey Hidekawa Lane/Levinski, Ali Meyers-Ohki, Ryan Hitoshi Nakano, Dana Swensen, Syd Westley, Doug Yamamoto, and Lauren Emiko Ito. Hosted by Brandon Shimoda. Eastwind Books, Berkeley’s Asian American bookstore, will be selling copies of the anthology. Funding for this event is provided by the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation. RSVP link to come.
Meet and Greet at University of San Francisco (CA)
At this reception, Brynn Saito will speak about The Gate of Memory. Hosted by the Center for Asia Pacific Studies and co-sponsored by the AAPI Center and Asia Pacific American Studies program.
Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle, WA)
Brynn and Brandon visit Elliott Bay Book Co to discuss the anthology with author Frank Abe. The evening will begin with readings from anthology contributors Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi, Sharon Hashimoto, Tamiko Nimura, and Troy Osaki, followed by a conversation. This event is cosponsored by La Resistencia, a grassroots organization led by undocumented immigrants and people of color that have been oppressed by the immigration enforcement system. La Resistencia fights to shut down the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma. No more deportation and family separations. RSVP here.
Haymarket Book Launch (Online)
Join us as we gather for the official launch event for The Gate of Memory. The event will begin with words from poet and concentration camp survivor Mitsuye Yamada followed by readings and conversation with Cathlin Goulding, Michael Ishii, Mia Ayumi Malhotra, Emily Mitamura, Paulette “Tkl' Un Yeik” Moreno, Carolyn Nakagawa, Michael Prior, and Anne Yukie Watanabe. This event is co-sponsored by Tsuru for Solidarity, a nonviolent, direct action project of Japanese American social justice advocates and allies working to end detention sites and support directly impacted immigrant and refugee communities that are being targeted by racist, inhumane immigration policies. RSVP here.
AWP Offsite Reading (Los Angeles, CA)
Join poets Brynn Saito and traci kato-kiriyama for a reading in conjunction with the 2025 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) conference celebrating the forthcoming April release of The Gate of Memory. Readers include David Mura, Hikari Leilani Miya, Micah Tasaka, Mia Ayumi Malhotra, Susan Kiyo Ito, Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson, James Fujinami Moore, Steve Fujimura, Heather Nagami, Jodi Hottel, Lauren Emiko Ito, Erica H. Isomura, Laura K. Fukumoto, Alison Lubar, Garrett Kurai, Christine Kitano, Dana Swensen, Traise Yamamoto, Keiko Lane, Noriko Nakada, Kurt Ikeda, Miya Iwataki, and Patrick Shiroishi. RSVP here.