Kundiman
Program: Arts in Health
Area of Work: Arts
Grant Purpose: Trauma-Informed Creative Writing Workshops for the Asian American Community
Overview:
Kundiman is dedicated to nurturing generations of writers and readers of Asian American literature, using the arts as a tool of healing, empowerment, education, and liberation.
COVID-19 has been devastating to the Asian American community. STOP AAPI HATE has recorded 6,600+ incidents of harassment and assault against Asian Americans since March 31, 2020. The rise in anti-Asian rhetoric and an unequal distribution of resources have exacerbated the systemic violence that Asian American communities continue to endure.
Further, because many Asian American writers come from lineages that include war, torture, colonization, and forced escape, the barriers to writing may be internal, connected to intergenerational trauma. Asian American writers also face external challenges, including access to resources, cultural isolation, and a lack of visibility. Data collected from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) found that Asian Americans have a 17.30 percent overall lifetime rate of any psychiatric disorder, 3 times that of their White peers. Suicide was the leading cause of death for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, ages 15 to 24, in 2019, and only 8.6 percent of Asian Americans sought any type of mental health services or resource compared to nearly 18 percent of the general population nationwide.
Asian Americans who have experienced racism have heightened symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress; and experience of racism during COVID-19 is found to be more strongly associated with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Grant:
Purpose: To support trauma-informed creative writing workshops and annual retreat for the Asian American writers’ community.
Kundiman’s programs include a Bronx-based Retreat, Online Creative Writing Classes & Workshops, and Readings & Panels across NYC.
Impact:
Since 2004, Kundiman’s signature Asian American Writing Retreat, a five-day in-person community building and writing space, has taken place annually. The only one in the country specifically for Asian American writers, the Retreat has welcomed over 300 Fellows and 50 faculty members. As a response to the pandemic and rise of anti-Asian sentiment, Kundiman has centered mental health at their workshops and annual retreat and integrated a trauma-informed approach to all programming.
In 2023, as part of the “Trauma-Informed Creative Writing Workshops for the Asian American Community,” Kundiman continued to work with its mental health consultant; audit its annual Retreat through a trauma-informed lens and offer Mental Health First Aid Training for Retreat staff; and updated its Harm Management Guide, Harassment Policy, Complaint Form and Guide, and Community Guidelines.
