ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH PURVI SHAH

Purvi Shah is a Kundiman Fellow who attended the inaugural Retreat in 2004. She has since facilitated a Kundiman Retreat as well as a retreat for the Kundiman Staff and Board. She was interviewed by Gina Chung on June 18, 2025.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 1

Purvi Shah discusses the connection between art and advocacy. She recalls the inaugural Kundiman Retreat and describes how — in the decades since — she’s grown with other Kundiman Fellows not only as writers, but also as people, community members, and advocates for justice.

TRANSCRIPT

SHAH: For me, art and advocacy have always been interconnected and linked -- and so that work has been consistent for me. I was really lucky to be one of the initial Fellows for Kundiman. The Retreat began in 2004, and I got to be part of that initial group and met amazing people -- like Margaret Rhee and Ron Villanueva [R.A. Villanueva], and just so many great people -- to be able to connect and grow as writers, as community makers, as storytellers. Even now when I partner with Ching-In [Chen] or when I partner with other people, it's through the home of Kundiman that we got to connect, and do work together and grow together, and grow as writers -- but fundamentally also as people, and as community members, and as advocates for equity and justice and what we want to see in the world around us.

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 2

Purvi Shah calls for a greater focus on the intersections of AAPI history with global politics and movements of solidarity. She discusses Kundiman’s connections with organizations like Cave Canem, Mizna, and CantoMundo, and emphasizes the importance of supporting not just writers, but an ecosystem that enhances equity and liberation across communities.

TRANSCRIPT

SHAH: I feel like there's often a sense of just being in this current moment -- and not seeing the history before and also particularly not necessarily seeing the intersections of API history with global politics, with U.S. foreign policy decisions, and movements of solidarity with other communities. One of the things that has been so important to me for Kundiman is the connection we have with Cave Canem, with Mizna, with CantoMundo, and other organizations that are here to support various communities. That ecosystem is very connected to the intertwined struggles for civil rights, for racial justice, for LGBTQ rights. I think the work of Kundiman is to support writers -- but also this ecosystem is really crucial. And for me, for example, I had the opportunity to be in Cave Canem's "Writing across Cultures Workshop" with Eduardo [C.] Corral, and I think those spaces are really important. One thing I would love to see as we continue to grow is: how do we do more work in solidarity? How do we do more work across communities and cultures -- where we know we're all striving for enhancing equity, for a sense of what liberation looks like for our communities?

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 3

Purvi Shah shares her belief that organizations like Kundiman exist for writers to be able to take “brave positions” and speak out on behalf of various communities. She also explains her view that organizations like Kundiman should have transparent decision-making processes that balance stewardship with the community’s goals.

TRANSCRIPT

SHAH: I believe that organizations like Kundiman exist for us to be able to take brave positions, for us to be able to speak on behalf of and for communities, including communities that might be within the Kundiman umbrella but not centered. It's important to thoughtfully be able to voice important positions that may not be popular or may not be what the mainstream current is. That said, I think it's also important, within an organization -- having been a nonprofit director and working in advocacy in a nonprofit framework, which is imperfect to every degree -- I think it's important to have decision-making processes that are transparent and that are understandable, that balance stewardship and fiduciary responsibility with community input and with what the community goals are. 

INTERVIEW EXCERPT 4

Purvi Shah discusses her hopes for the just transition process that Kundiman embarked upon at the end of 2024 following an organizational crisis. She shares her thoughts around the importance of practicing accountability rather than punishment and focusing on community building throughout a repair process.

TRANSCRIPT

SHAH: As we think about a just transition process, I'm hopeful and curious how we can also utilize this moment as an opportunity to practice accountability and not punishment. The human longing for punishment is real and we have to acknowledge that. We're also so trained to think about punishment. Thinking about what accountability looks like or what people need is a really deep process and it involves a lot of self-reflection. I'm curious to see how part of the work going forward is harm reduction for the future, or setting up processes to address small harms before they get to big harms, and to see it as community building and as something generative. I do feel, because I do work around restorative practice, nobody is disposable: we're all really needed in our communities. So how do we create space for people to mess up and also to understand the impact of their choices and actions, and also not feel like exclusion is the only answer? This is not easy. This involves a lot of process, a lot of time, a lot of energy, but it is a curiosity that I have for this moment, which is: "How do we enable our vision of just transition, of accountability, of repair, to also not duplicate or replicate systems of punishment, even as we strive for the world that we want to see?" Because that is part of the world we want to see. We want to see a world, from my vantage, where people don't have to be perfect to be in community with each other.

CITATION

Shah, Purvi, Oral history interview conducted by Gina Chung, June 18, 2025, Kundiman Oral History Project.