Amy Uyematsu and the Zine scene of the 90s

Amy Uyematsu passed away on June 23, 2023. I find the dates to be in some ways interesting in their symmetry. During the formative years of dISorient Journalzine, she was an active supporter of the zine. She knew that there was very little in terms of AAPI focused outlets for AAPI authors, writers and artists.

The publishing landscape was very different during the 1990s. This was before the Internet, and the ablity for people to just open up a blog and to post work. Most submissions went to anthologies or local zines like Caffeine. Additionally, there were local publications like Pearl, which published a lot of Long Beach based writers. This was before print on demand became even possible.

Caffeine Zine

Today, it would hard to believe that editions of Caffeine could be found all over Los Angeles and free. You could pick them up at a coffee shop, and they were largely driven by ads. Bukowski was the king of the small press, and of these zines. Today, we are experiencing the demise of free periodicals like the LA Weekly, which used to have a list of poetry readings and book signings during the 90s. it used to be the go to guide to find readings, concerts and other events. For poetry focused calendars, you would find an edition of Next run by G Murray Thomas. The fact that a poetry focused zines could make a profit seems like a pleasant fancy today. As you can tell, Charles Bukowski’s name was very prominently displayed on this edition’s front page. These zines were ephemeral as they were printed using newsprint paper. This method of putting up a known name front and center was a logical marketing technique.

I advised that we needed to have prominent AAPI authors in our zine. This was in order to expose new writers to an audience. This formula worked, and Amy was always a draw whenever she would read at the annual release parties at Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica. (The bookstore no longer exists today, but as chains like Borders closed, independent bookstore have started to make a comeback.) She consistently submitted work for consideration. What I also did realize is that we needed to expand the audience. AAPI writers and poets will buy each others books, but that is a finite market. I started to work within the limitations of our mission statement, and I created a section called dIScourses. I matched AAPI poets and writers with other community creatives. I asked Amy if she wanted to try it out, and she was game. She suggested working with Nancy Padron, and it is one of the best examples of this project. If one runs a periodical, you must explore the concept of expanding the audience.

Without Amy’s generosity, dIS•orient probably would not have launched so many writing careers. She was a name before the zine came into existence. She was a name after the zine was defunded as a result of the collapse in support for the California Arts Council’s Small Organization grants during the 2000s.

When I was attempting to resurrect the zine a few years ago, Amy sent me a submission. Unfortunately, I was unable to get enough submissions in order to publish. So, I temporarily stopped the project. As I’ve gotten older, I do not have the network of editors that I used to have.

Without a doubt, without Amy Uyematsu, dIS•orient would not have been so successful.

How much things improved since the 90s.

When dISorient Journalzine started in the 90s, the state of AAPI literature was not very healthy. Most found access to publishing to be a challenge. This was why dISorient was created, in order to offer a chance to get published with an editor. Most of the submissions were screened by blind readings. We would have a person blank out the names, and we would read the work without any name association. This process allowed for a level of objectivity.

The result of this process was rather surprising. Many of the writers, poets and artists that we published ended up with extended careers. In this sense, the purpose of the journal accomplished what it was intended to do. It was designed to do. Today, I see a large amount of AAPI authors, and an increase in the level of diversity. For a while, it seemed that the Pulitzer only went to Caucasian male authors located in New York City. This has drastically changed.

The scene during the 90s focused on only several communities. Most of the authors were Chinese, Japanese or Filipino in terms of ancestry. We did a concerted effort to publish more from other communities like the Vietnamese, and also Biracial. Many of these authors would have careers. Today, I see Korean, Hmong, Vietnamese, Cambodian and other populations with quality artists and writers.

From a historical perspective, we have made some progress. On the other hand, we could see more diverstiy in the poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction scene. As Ronald Takaki would note, we need to create a Different Mirror of America.

Reviews Coming

We will be posting reviews of new books, art projects, theater and other creative works in this relaunch. Working on finalizing the structure.