I am a writer and musician based in Philadelphia+New York and the executive director of Asian Arts Initiative.
Some writing
The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 2021
BlackStar Live, Feb 2021
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 2020
The Comics Journal, 2015
The Comics Journal, 2015
Racked, 2015
The Japan Times, 2015
The Comics Reporter, 2014
Dame Magazine, 2013
Dame Magazine, 2013
Publishers Weekly, 2005
Work
I am the Executive Director of Asian Arts Initiative in Philadelphia. We are co-presenting A UTOPIAN STAGE with Bowerbird Philadelphia, and showing VICTORIA SHEN in the Pearl Street Gallery as of February 9, 2024. Start your visit here: https://asianartsinitiative.org/
Music
I play drums and electronics, mostly around Philly, often with TOTALLY AUTOMATIC who can be found on Bandcamp.
Video
I make video work, most of which can be found on Vimeo
Dust | Unrequited Love
Glass | Memory
SECURITY FIRST SEGURIDAD
Buchla Moon
Massive Goods
I own and run MASSIVE GOODS, which I started with Graham Kolbeins, in 2013. We have made:
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga
2013. AD: Chip Kidd, Publisher: Picturebox Inc.
This book officially launched the North American career of preeminent gay erotica master Gengoroh Tagame. Everything until then was a pirated scanlation or European import. Tagame continues to make amazing hard-core erotica and we continue to bring him to wider anglophone audiences.
What is Obscenity: The True Story of a Good For Nothing Pussy
by Rokudenashiko (Koyama Press, 2016)
Vagina artist Rokudenashiko was arrested for making artwork based on digital scans of her vulva, and transformed the discourse on censorship and gender expression forever.
2013. AD: Chip Kidd, Publisher: Picturebox Inc.
This book officially launched the North American career of preeminent gay erotica master Gengoroh Tagame. Everything until then was a pirated scanlation or European import. Tagame continues to make amazing hard-core erotica and we continue to bring him to wider anglophone audiences.
What is Obscenity: The True Story of a Good For Nothing Pussy
by Rokudenashiko (Koyama Press, 2016)
Vagina artist Rokudenashiko was arrested for making artwork based on digital scans of her vulva, and transformed the discourse on censorship and gender expression forever.
The Best Couple Sweatshirt
Artwork by Jiraiya, 2013
Though not directly inspired by Kadir Nelson’s album art for Drake’s “Nothing Was The Same,” there was A Moment in 2013 when hot beefy men with close-shorn hair posed against blue sky backgrounds and our sweatshirt became a viral phenomenon.
MASSIVE x Opening Ceremony SS14
This was a real coup for the queer Asian community, as Opening Ceremony debuted an explicitly gay capsule collection to celebrate Gay Pride 2014. A first for all! Plus, we made it into The New York Times!
MASSIVE: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It
Fantagraphics 2013.
Our survey omnibus of radical gay cartoonists.
Additionally...
I’ve worked on some great projects as a marketer, editor, agent, translator, and content strategist who speaks fluent Japanese.
QUEER JAPAN (Altered Innocence)
Co-Executive Producer, 2020
The Passion of Tagame: Volume 2, by Gengoroh Tagame
Edited by: Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, Graham Kolbeins Fantagraphics, Forthcoming (Spring 2022)
Our Colors (bokurano shikisai) by Gengoroh Tagame Agent, Editor, Translator
Pantheon (2023)
My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
Editor, Agent, Translator
Penguin Random House (2017)
Co-Executive Producer, 2020
The Passion of Tagame: Volume 2, by Gengoroh Tagame
Edited by: Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, Graham Kolbeins Fantagraphics, Forthcoming (Spring 2022)
Our Colors (bokurano shikisai) by Gengoroh Tagame Agent, Editor, Translator
Pantheon (2023)
My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame
Editor, Agent, Translator
Penguin Random House (2017)
Seeking Asian Female/They’re All So Beautiful
Web Content Director
A PBS documentary about white men seeking Asian women. Web forum exploring intersections of race & dating.
Paperhouses
Editor-in-Chief
Architecture in Open Source. Luxury prefab housing blueprints for the people, created by Joana Pacheco and featuring work by Tatiana Bilbao, Derek Dellekamp, Rintala Eggertson, Christian Potgiesser+
Architecture for Dogs
N.A. Producer
Design experiment overseen by Kenya Hara, delivering open source blueprints for dog-centered products made by architects such as Shigeru Ban, Toyo Ito, MVRDV and Kazuyo Sejima. Featured in Wallpaper* and the Wall Street Journal.
Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan
Translator/Editor
Knockaround
Consultant
The Coolest sunglasses you’ll never pay too much for.
Imprint Lab
Manager
Startup venture consultancy
Vertical Inc.
Dr. Marketing & Publicity
Specializing in popular fiction and exceptional graphic novels from Japan.
SOME OTHER TRANSLATIONS
Detroit Metal City by Kiminori Wakasugi
Loups Garous by Natsuhiko Kyogoku
Time For School PBS Docuseries
N.A. Producer
Design experiment overseen by Kenya Hara, delivering open source blueprints for dog-centered products made by architects such as Shigeru Ban, Toyo Ito, MVRDV and Kazuyo Sejima. Featured in Wallpaper* and the Wall Street Journal.
Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan
Translator/Editor
Knockaround
Consultant
The Coolest sunglasses you’ll never pay too much for.
Imprint Lab
Manager
Startup venture consultancy
Vertical Inc.
Dr. Marketing & Publicity
Specializing in popular fiction and exceptional graphic novels from Japan.
SOME OTHER TRANSLATIONS
Detroit Metal City by Kiminori Wakasugi
Loups Garous by Natsuhiko Kyogoku
Time For School PBS Docuseries
Information
You can find me on Twitter, Instagram and subscribe to my newsletter on Substack.
I went to UC Santa Cruz and studied enough French to last me a lifetime before moving to France for a couple years and deciding I didn’t want to spend a lifetime there.
I went to Columbia University to get a Masters Degree in Japanese Literature before deciding I wanted to sell Japanese literature, not write about it.
I went to UC Santa Cruz and studied enough French to last me a lifetime before moving to France for a couple years and deciding I didn’t want to spend a lifetime there.
I went to Columbia University to get a Masters Degree in Japanese Literature before deciding I wanted to sell Japanese literature, not write about it.
I am the Board Co-Chair of the Asian American Writers Workshop and serve on multiple commissions serving the City of Philadelphia on behalf of the Arts sector and the Asian American community.
I am in a band called TOTALLY AUTOMATIC. We are a stream of absurdities. One day the bandcamp page will be full of stuff.
I am in a band called TOTALLY AUTOMATIC. We are a stream of absurdities. One day the bandcamp page will be full of stuff.