October 16, 2023
The Oakland University AAPI and LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Groups (ERG) are partnering to bring renowned writer, Curtis Chin, to campus on Wednesday, Nov. 8.
Chin will discuss his memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” in which he talks about growing up in Detroit in the 80’s, coming out, and balancing life in the restaurant and the Chinatown community in Detroit.
This event, which will also serve as a kickoff for Chin’s Detroit book tour, is co-sponsored by the AAPI ERG, LGBTQIA+ ERG, Student Affairs and Diversity, the Department of Writing and Rhetoric, and the School of Education and Human Services.
The book discussion will take place at 6 p.m. in the Oakland Center Banquet Hall at 312 Medow Brook Road in Rochester, Mich. Chin’s book, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” will be available for purchase and there will be a book signing leading up to the invitation-only reception at 8 p.m.
Admission is free, but those wishing to attend are encouraged to reserve a spot by visiting www.eventbrite.com.
For more information about this event, contact Oakland University Professor Tomoko Wakabayashi at twakabwayashi@66hjcp.com.
ABOUT CURTIS CHIN
A co-founder of the Asian American Writer’s Workshop in New York City, Chin served as the non-profit’s first executive director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries.
Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in 16 countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit, the Detroit Free Press, and the Emancipator/Boston Globe.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His essay in Bon Appetit was recently selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023.
His memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” will be released on October 17, 2023. It traces Chin’s journey through 1980’s Detroit as he navigated rising xenophobia, the AIDS epidemic, and the Reagan Revolution to find his voice as a writer and activist — all set against the backdrop of his family’s popular Chinese restaurant. Publisher’s Weekly has already named it one of the Top 10 memoirs this fall.