Curtis from Detroit
Writer/Producer/Director/Activist
Bio
SHORT VERSION
A co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the non-profits’ first Executive Director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in twenty countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit, the Detroit Free Press and the Emancipator/Boston Globe. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His memoir, "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant" will be published by Little, Brown in Fall 2023. His essay in Bon Appetit was just selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023.
LONG VERSION
This October, Chin's memoir, "Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant" will be published by Little, Brown and Company. The book is about growing up Asian American in the Black and white city of Detroit and coming out in his working-class immigrant community, as well as being a first-generation college student at the University of Michigan.
Graduating with a degree in creative writing, Chin has written for CNN, Bon Appetit, the Detroit Free Press, and the Boston Globe, as well as for shows on network television. Chin has received fellowships from ABC/Disney Television, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has won awards from the National Association for Multicultural Education, the National Association for Ethnic Studies, the American Librarians Association, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and served as a Visiting Scholar at New York University.
Chin has screened his films with over 600 entities in sixteen countries including the White House, Lincoln Center, Amnesty International, SXSWEdu, and the Government of Norway. Past media include CNN, MSNBC, and public radio, as well as the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and Huffington Post.
As an organizer, Chin co-founded the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the premiere non-profit dedicated to promoting Asian American writers. He has also worked as the Director of Outreach for the Democratic National Committee and served on Barack Obama’s Asian American Leadership Committee during his 2008 Presidential Campaign.
Chin recently completed work on a short documentary on photographer, Corky Lee. The film, "Dear Corky" premiered at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific American Film Festival in May 2022.