Rigoberta Menchu Hall buzzed with activity on Nov. 12 as SF State students celebrated the works of SF State’s Asian-American and Filipino-American authors. The event featured readings by the authors, as well as musical and dance performances.

The event was organized by the Asian Student Union (ASU) and the Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor (PACE) to mark the recent publications of books by past and present SF State professors in the Asian American Studies department. Authors Jeffrey Chan, Abe Ignacio Jr., Oscar Penaranda, and Russell Jeung all read from their new works.

“We just wanted to celebrate them and show (the authors) our respect,” said Jessie Nguyen, ASU treasurer and one of the organizers of the event. “And we just want to get the Asian community heard on campus, because they have published something, and accomplished something that they have been working towards for a long time.”

Students sipped on juice and cookies and sat in concentric semi-circles around the microphone as they listened to the authors read.

Chan kicked off the evening with a reading from his novel “Eat Everything before You Die: a Chinaman in the Counterculture.” The novel details the experiences of protagonist Christopher Columbus Wong from a childhood in 1950's Chinatown and beyond.

Next came Oscar Penaranda, who read from his book of poems "Full Deck," as well as "Seasons By the Bay," a volume of short interrelated stories.

"Everything that comes out of my mouth is a little bit fiction," Penaranda joked as he began reading from "Seasons By the Bay," a semi-autobiographical look at the Filipino experience in America.

Russell Jeung also read from his book, "New Asian American Churches: The Religious Construction of Race." The book discusses religious and Asian identity issues in the United States.

"I did a study of Chinese and Japanese American churches, and I had this sort of remarkable finding that a lot of them are claiming to be Asian rather than ethnic congregations," Jeung said. "And that’s a big shift, because previously, Chinese and Japanese … were at war with each other, and so I wanted to explore what this new pan-Asian identify meant to the ministers, and what did it look like in their churches."

Next came Jorge Emmanuel and Abe Ignacio Jr., who spoke about “The Forbidden Book: The Philippine-American War in Political Cartoons.” The book, which highlights anti-Filipino sentiment in the political cartoons of the last turn of the century, was co-written by Enrique De La Cruz and Ignacio’s wife, Helen Toribio.

Toribio, originally scheduled to participate in the event, passed away in mid-October. A tribute to Toribio’s memory was read, and the remainder of the evening was dedicated to her honor.

The night's entertainment included jazz-funk band Mystery Funk Trio, a string quartet, and a Pandanggo Sa Ilaw dance by PACE coordinators and “one brave intern.” A crowd favorite, the Filipino folk dance whose name means “fandango with light” featured the dancers balancing candlelit glasses in their hands and on their heads.

The event also featured an acoustic number by singer/guitarist Charito, with whom the enthusiastic crowd clapped along. According to her, the song “Nandito Ako," originally recorded by popular Filipina artist Lea Salonga, had a special meaning that night.

“It means ‘I am here,’ which is a pretty good song for this (occasion),” said Charito.

Organizers said the event, which drew over 60 people, was a success.

“I think it went really well tonight,” said ASU member Tiffany Evangelista. “We had a lot of people coming in and we had young students, old students, and new people, so it was a great turnout.”