Kundiman (nonprofit organization)
Encyclopedia
Kundiman is a nonprofit organization which offers writing retreats, a reading series, and a poetry prize, and is dedicated to providing "a safe yet rigorous space where Asian American poets can explore, through art, the unique challenges that face the new and ever changing diaspora." Kundiman was co-founded in 2002 by Asian American poets Sarah Gambito
and Joseph O. Legaspi, and has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts
, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
, University of Virginia, Asian American Arts Alliance’s (SOAR) Program, Philippine American Writers, PAWA, and individuals.
Recently, Kundiman and Fordham University
announced that they have formed an affiliation: Kundiman will "enhance the outreach of Fordham’s English Department," and Fordham will host the annual Kundiman Poetry Retreat on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus beginning in 2010, and host Kundiman-sponsored readings and events at the Lincoln Center Campus. Fordham will also provide a total of $60,000 over three years in financial support for Kundiman’s programs.
According to the University of Virginia, which hosted Kundiman's inaugural writing retreat, "The organization’s name refers to a style of Filipino love song that served as veiled patriotism during colonial times." According to Sarah Gambito, "Kundiman Fellows have published poems in The Virginia Quarterly Review,The Colorado Review, Pleiades, Black Warrior Review and Crab Orchard Review" and "Three Kundiman fellows have gone on to publish full-length collections of poetry."
Honors given by Kundiman soon will include The Kundiman Poetry Prize, for a first or second book by an Asian American poet. The prize is being co-sponsored and the winning manuscript published by Alice James Books
, and according to Kundiman, "is the only poetry prize dedicated to Asian American poets
in the country."
Sarah Gambito
Sarah Gambito is an American poet and professor. She is the author of two collections of poetry, most recently, Delivered...
and Joseph O. Legaspi, and has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation
The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation was created in 1973 with an $85 million bequest following the death on August 13, 1973, of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge. Dodge was the youngest child of Standard Oil tycoon William Rockefeller and Almira Geraldine Goodsell....
, University of Virginia, Asian American Arts Alliance’s (SOAR) Program, Philippine American Writers, PAWA, and individuals.
Recently, Kundiman and Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
announced that they have formed an affiliation: Kundiman will "enhance the outreach of Fordham’s English Department," and Fordham will host the annual Kundiman Poetry Retreat on Fordham’s Rose Hill campus beginning in 2010, and host Kundiman-sponsored readings and events at the Lincoln Center Campus. Fordham will also provide a total of $60,000 over three years in financial support for Kundiman’s programs.
According to the University of Virginia, which hosted Kundiman's inaugural writing retreat, "The organization’s name refers to a style of Filipino love song that served as veiled patriotism during colonial times." According to Sarah Gambito, "Kundiman Fellows have published poems in The Virginia Quarterly Review,The Colorado Review, Pleiades, Black Warrior Review and Crab Orchard Review" and "Three Kundiman fellows have gone on to publish full-length collections of poetry."
Honors given by Kundiman soon will include The Kundiman Poetry Prize, for a first or second book by an Asian American poet. The prize is being co-sponsored and the winning manuscript published by Alice James Books
Alice James Books
Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.- History and mission :...
, and according to Kundiman, "is the only poetry prize dedicated to Asian American poets
in the country."