''Hyphen'' is an American print and online magazine, founded in 2002 by a group of

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

journalists, activists, and artists including Melissa Hung, a former reporter for the ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

'' and ''

East Bay Express The ''East Bay Express'' is an Oakland-based weekly newspaper serving the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is distributed throughout Alameda County and parts of Contra Costa County every Wednesday. The ''E ...

''; Claire Light, former executive director at

Kearny Street Workshop Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) in San Francisco, California, is the oldest multidisciplinary arts nonprofit addressing Asian Pacific American issues. The organization's mission is to produce and present art that enriches and empowers Asian Pacific A ...

; Yuki Tessitore, of ''

Mother Jones Mary G. Harris Jones (1837 (baptized) – November 30, 1930), known as Mother Jones from 1897 onwards, was an Irish-born American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent union organizer, community organizer, and activist. She h ...

; '' Mia Nakano, photojournalist; filmmaker Jennifer Huang; Stefanie Liang, a graphic designer from ''

Red Herring magazine Red Herring is a media company that publishes an innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters, and hosts events for technology leaders. Red Herring is perhaps best known for its Red Herring Top 100 techno ...

''; journalist Bernice Yeung; and Christopher Fan, now a professor of English and Asian American Studies. Its advisory board included notable Asian American journalists such as

Helen Zia Helen Zia is a Chinese-American journalist and activist for Asian American and LGBTQ rights. She is considered a key figure in the Asian American movement. Life and career Early childhood and education Zia was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1952 ...

and Nguyen Qui Duc, the host of ''

Pacific Time The Pacific Time Zone (PT) is a time zone encompassing parts of western Canada, the western United States, and western Mexico. Places in this zone observe standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time ( UTC−08:00). ...

''. The first issue was released in June 2003. ''Hyphen'' was one of several Asian American media ventures created in the wake of ''

A Magazine ''A. Magazine'' was an East Asian American-focused magazine published by A.Media, Inc., headquartered in Midtown Manhattan and with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.Wan, William.Pop Culture Asian American Magazine Falters" ''Los Angel ...

s demise. Shortly after its release, the publication was sharply criticized by ''

AsianWeek ''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English language print and on-line publication serving Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian America”. ...

'' columnist

Emil Guillermo Emil Guillermo is an American print and broadcast journalist, commentator and humorist. His column, "Emil Amok", appeared for more than 14 years in ''AsianWeek''—at one time, the most widely read and largest circulating Asian American newsweekly ...

who theorized that ''Hyphens young editors were arrogant, ashamed of their Asian heritage, and disrespectful of existing ethnic media in his weekly column. He later said that he had not actually read the magazine. The magazine's first issue contained a story package on the history of Asian American community activism. Its content is decidedly to the left,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, and non-mainstream. Its coverage includes politics, arts, and

pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...

. In 2004, the magazine was nominated for an

Utne Independent Press Award ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

for Best New Title. In January 2006, ''Hyphens Body Issue won the Independent Press Association's Best Cover award for an image of an Asian American man, Yusuke Miyashita, partially submerged in a bathtub full of

edamame is a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod, found in cuisines with origins in East Asia. The pods are boiled or steamed and may be served with salt or other condiments. In Japan, they are usually blanched in 4% salt water for 5 minut ...

. Mr. Hyphen, a pageant created by the magazine to showcase more positive images of Asian American men, debuted in May 2006. In the fall of 2007, the magazine received its second nomination for an Utne Independent Press Award, this time for Best Design. Started in 2007, ''Hyphen'' partnered with the

Asian American Writers' Workshop The Asian American Writers' Workshop (often abbreviated AAWW) is a nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1991 to support Asian American writers, literature and community. Cofounders Curtis Chin, Christina Chiu, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, and B ...

to start a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

contest called the Hyphen Asian American Short Story Contest, the only national, pan-Asian American writing competition of its kind. Previous winners include

Preeta Samarasan Preeta Samarasan is a Malaysian author writing in English whose first novel, ''Evening Is the Whole Day'', won the Hopwood Novel Award (while she was doing her MFA at the University of Michigan), was a finalist for the Commonwealth Writers Prize 2 ...

, Sunil Yapa, Shivani Manghnani, and

Timothy Tau Timothy Tau (born Timothy Tau Hsieh ( ); Chinese: 謝韜; pinyin: Xiè Tāo) is a Taiwanese-American writer, engineer, attorney, law professor and filmmaker. Tau won the 2011 ''Hyphen magazine, Hyphen'' Asian American Writers' Workshop Short St ...

. Previous judges include

Porochista Khakpour Porochista Khakpour (Farsi: پوروچیستا خاکپور, born January 17, 1978) is an Iranian American novelist, essayist, and journalist. A refugee from Iran whose family fled the Iran-Iraq War and the Islamic Revolution, Khakpour grew up ...

Yiyun Li Yiyun Li (born November 4, 1972) is a Chinese-born writer and professor in the United States. Her short stories and novels have won several awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award and Guardian First Book Award for ''A Thousand Years of Good Pra ...

Alexander Chee Alexander Chee (born August 21, 1967) is an American fiction writer, poet, journalist and reviewer. Born in Rhode Island, he spent his childhood in South Korea, Kauai, Chuuk Lagoon, Truk, Guam and Maine. He attended Wesleyan University and the I ...

, Jaed Coffin, Brian Leung, Monique Truong and

Monica Ferrell Shana Monica Ferrell (born November 8, 1975) is an American poet and fiction writer. In 2007, she was awarded the Kathryn A. Morton Prize for her debut book of poems, ''Beasts for the Chase''. Her novel, ''The Answer Is Always Yes,'' was published ...

. On May 5, 2010, ''Hyphen'' and the

Asian American Action Fund The Asian American Action Fund (AAAFund) is an American Democratic political action committee founded in 1999. AAAFund's goal is to increase the voice of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in every level of local, state and federal g ...

announced a cross-posting partnership. In 2014, ''Hyphen'' collaborated with

Latino USA ''Latino USA'' is a nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast produced by The Futuro Media Group and distributed nationwide by the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), after 27 years of being distributed by NPR. The program is anchored by M ...

on content celebrating the intersections of Asian American and Latino American histories and cultures. In 2018, it partnered with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee to produce an anthology featuring the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated. The magazine ceased publication of print issues in 2015 but continues to publish online..

References

{{Reflist

External links

''Hyphen''
2002 establishments in California 2015 disestablishments in California Quarterly magazines published in the United States Asian-American magazines Asian-American issues Asian-American culture in California Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2002 Magazines disestablished in 2015 Magazines published in San Francisco