This place has been my standby breakfast and writing spot. The food is amazing, and the servers are always so helpful. They’ll watch your computer while you go to the bathroom–they’ll pull out the furniture to look for a lost car key. Did I mention the food is great? But mostly, smiling faces and friendly people […]
KB and Celeste! Again and again, they have been there for me. Celeste came by for Binder Con at UCLA and stayed weith me for the weekend and was amazing supportive. KB has been checking in with me almost daily, just to see how I am during some difficult times. What amazing people. And amazing […]
I was given the chance to close the Trans Asterisk Conference at UC Riverside. It was such an amazing warm and emotional experience. Not only did I run into Kay Ulanday Barrett and Jade Phoenix and Jade Hambaro, I made a lot of new friends. I read. I sold books, I talked to folks, I had […]
Happy that I finally worked out that rough spot in our basic hanbo (half-length staff) pattern. It works so much more like I intended it to. A little overbuilt to compensate for size differentials, with deflections, misdirections, targeted strikes to weak points. All key to what we do. We really are becoming our own school, […]
This is Melanie Cuesta. She’s the first student I’ve ever promoted to black belt. I’ve taught judo for many years, of course–but in judo, I never really promoted past brown belt because it is a competition-driven art. Most judo promotions happen on the mat. Not much to it–you win a lot of matches, you get […]
A day or two ago, Cat Fitzpatrick wrote this great article for the Guardian about trans people and their poetry. My work is mentioned there, as well as three presses I’ve worked with: Topside, Trans-Genre, and Biyuti. I want to talk a bit about Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul. It is my first book entirely dedicated toward […]
This is why I visit colleges… I think I’ll always love learning and sharing… “Ryka Aoki’s visit to Swarthmore was nothing short of extraordinary. Her readings from all three of her books were hilarious, deeply moving, and thought-provoking all at once. By far the most memorable part of her time here, however, was our post-reading […]
Photos by Julieta Salgado
Emails like this make me so grateful to speak with students. Thank you to Syracuse University, esp. Chase Catalano, for inviting me to speak! “Hi Ryka, You may or may not remember, but you visited Syracuse upon launching Seasonal Velocities, and gave a talk/reading at the university. Afterwards, I had the pleasure of meeting and […]
I am currently waiting for my ride in my hotel lobby. I had no idea I was to be in a hotel lobby. It’s been that sort of a trip so far. Due to bad weather, scheduling difficulties, airline miscommunication, I was laid over in Chicago last night. Not the most pleasant layover. Because we […]