ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH CHING-IN CHEN

Ching-In Chen (they/them) is a Kundiman Fellow who has also served as Kundiman Retreat Faculty and Retreat Staff. Chen is currently the Co-Chair of Kundiman’s Pacific Northwest Regional Group. In addition, as of October 2024, Chen serves as Treasurer for Kundiman’s Board of Trustees.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 1

Ching-In Chen describes the ways in which Kundiman broadened their exposure to AAPI literature and provided a context for learning how to read certain writers.

TRANSCRIPT

CHEN: Just reading all the Faculty members' books, for instance, was an education in and of itself, because I hadn't done that a lot. And I think now, looking back, I feel like I have incorporated elements of performance in my writing, but my writing is very attentive to the landscape of the page. And I think a lot of me uncovering a lot of that literary landscape happened at Kundiman, because I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of writers, and I was exposed to experimental writers like Myung Mi Kim. And I think it also helped me learn how to read those writers in a context, because I think that if I had found them just on my own without the context of an organization like Kundiman, I may have just looked at it briefly but not deeply, and not known how to enter.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 2

Ching-In Chen recalls feelings of comfortable kinship at the early Kundiman Retreats. They also describe the intimacy, vulnerability, joy, and feelings of “community care” created in the Opening and Closing Circles of the Retreat.

TRANSCRIPT

CHEN: There was just also a lot of organic moments of hanging out. I remember there was this bench outside the dorms and -- I'm trying to remember if it was the first or second [Retreat] -- it was one of the Retreats, Ishle Yi Park was there and brought her guitar and had a little jam session. Jon Pineda came, and he — I eventually did have him as a Faculty member — but I think the first time he came he wasn't a Faculty member, he just came, he just drove up to hang out. And he also had a friend who brought a guitar, so it was kind of that vibe, where you might just be walking outside and there's, like, a jam circle [laughs] like, spontaneously. And I felt very much like, even if I hadn't spoken to someone [before], that there was a vibe created, or a space created, of a certain kind of kinship — so I felt comfortable sitting there and just starting a conversation, even if I had never spoken to that person. And I would also say that, I know that the [Opening and Closing] Circle is kind of legendary for being, you know, a cry-fest but I think [laughs], it was something like — it felt to me like I was hearing other people’s stories, and it was really resonating, even if it was an experience that was very far from my own. It almost felt like there was a vibrating thread humming through during the salon, and I was holding it too, I was holding this thread. And I think it was hard not to release emotion because it was just so — I feel like that circle, that thread, held so much, and it felt like this intimate space of sharing. And also it did feel like a space of community care, where we were able to be vulnerable and share really — I think deep, a lot of times, it's like deep pain that maybe hadn't been shared before in that way. But there's also a lot of joy as well in sharing. It was like everything, in that space, and it was something that I think started at the Opening Circle, and then it kind of continued on.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 3

Ching-In Chen describes a “haiku slushie challenge” that was started by Kundiman Co-Founder Joseph O. Legaspi at an early Retreat (which Chen attended as a Fellow). Chen recalls recreating this slushie challenge at a later Retreat, during which they served as Retreat Staff.

TRANSCRIPT

CHEN: I have so many fond memories of Kundiman. I think earlier on, during my Retreat experience, there was this haiku slushie challenge. [laughs] I think it was started by Joseph [O.] Legaspi, but I think it embodied the surprise and fun of Kundiman, because I don't think he told us what it was. I think we just arrived and it was like, "Oh! Have a slushie!" and then, like, "And write a haiku in exchange for the slushie." It was pretty fun. And there were a lot of moments like that. So, I think it was not this last Retreat, but I think the time before; I was a staff member, so… I can't remember what year, I think it was, like, two Retreats ago. No, sorry, three Retreats ago. We brought back the slushie haiku and poor [Jai] Dulani, who was a staff member with me, I just remember Dulani taking large ice bags and smashing them for the slushie, but it was fun, I think. Also, my experience of being a staff person on the other side is like, "Oh, wow! This took a lot of work, you know?" [laughs] Like, to create the slushie experience, but it was still fun. I felt like part of a team with Dulani, and it was really cool to see what people made in response to the prompt. So I feel like I have a fond memory of that: both the original and also the reconstituted memory of it.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 4

Ching-In Chen observes an increased awareness of the importance of inclusivity within the literary community. They believe that Kundiman has changed over the years by becoming more open and mindful about inclusivity, especially as it applies to disabled writers, queer writers, and trans writers.

TRANSCRIPT

CHEN: It feels like it looks really different now, working in the literary community. It just feels like (not everyone, as they should), but I think many people have an awareness that they need to be working with folks from different communities and making opportunities available. And I think that that is one of the big contributions of these ethnic-specific [communities], I would say, or communities that are centered around communities that have been excluded in the past. I would also say that Kundiman has changed a lot. I feel like there has been more openness to try to be more mindful about different communities that might be more in the margins, and that’s in a lot of different ways. I think that, in the past, there have been suggestions or requests — and there’s a lot of different kinds of requests, but one specific example I can think of is disability. I know that there have been certain requests that, I think, it took awhile for Kundiman to become more disability-minded and accessible. I think that’s [becoming more disability-minded and accessible] a good thing. I would say that, as well, for folks who are queer or trans; I think there has been more of a mindfulness around, even like, “What kind of Faculty are we inviting?” Or, “What kinds of ways are we considering making the program something that is mindful of different people’s needs?”

CITATION

Chen, Ching-In, Oral history interview conducted by Gina Chung, June 18, 2025, Kundiman Oral History Project.