Kaya Press

Kaya books are distributed by DAP/ Distributed Art Publishers
155 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor

New York, NY 10013
(800) 338-BOOK
www.artbook.com
Kaya books are also available through Small Press Distribution.

Kaya Press is an independent not-for-profit publisher of Asian and Pacific Islander diasporic literature. We are dedicated to the publication of new and innovative fiction, poetry, critical essays, art, and culture, and the recovery of important and overlooked work from the Pacific Rim and the API diaspora.
We aim to expand the range of outstanding API literature available to the public by publishing works of excellent literary merit, including works in translation. We are proud to present books that feature unique voices; new and alternative perspectives; accomplished experimental writing; and beautiful, thoughtful book design.

STAFF

Sunyoung Lee, Publisher/Editor
Chez Bryan Ong, Designer
Patricia Wakida, Publicity and Marketing
Claire Light, Publicity and Marketing
Jacqueline de Dios, Development
Kai-Ming Cha, Editorial
Jane Kim, Editorial

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Sachin Adarkar
Yoonmee Chang, Deputy Director
Ken Chen
Huy Hong
Adria Imada, Secretary
Kirby Kim
Juliana S. Koo, President
Sunyoung Lee, Treasurer
Chez Bryan Ong
Mayumi Takada

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Lisa Chen
Sesshu Foster
Joseph Jeon
Sunyoung Lee
Claire Light
Warren Liu
Patricia Wakida

KAYA HISTORY

Founded in 1994, Kaya Press has been publishing cutting-edge Asian diasporic writers for more than 15 years. Kaya and its authors have won numerous awards, including the Gregory Kolovakas Prize for Outstanding New Literary Press, the American Book Award, the Association for Asian American Studies Book Award, the PEN Beyond Margins Open Book Prize, the Asian American Writers' Workshop Award, and the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Prize.

WHAT DOES "KAYA" MEAN?

Kaya was the name of a tribal confederation of six Korean city-states that existed from the middle of the first until the sixth century CE. Although the Kaya kingdom was an iron-age culture, it is remembered as a utopia of learning, music, and the arts due to its trade and communication with China, Japan, and India.

The word "Kaya" has meaning in many major languages. In Japanese it is "summer night" or a type of yew tree that withstands harsh environmental conditions. In Malay, "kaya" means "rich," in Indonesian, "prosperous," and in Tagalog "to be ables." In Sanskrit, "kaya" means "body," and in Turkish it means "rock." In Zulu, "kaya" means "home."

ABOUT OUR LOGO

"When tigers used to smoke..." is an old Korean phrase used at the beginning of folk tales, similar to "Once upon a time." Korean folk paintings often feature images of tigers smoking long, Asian-style pipes, sometimes with rabbits helping them out. The Kaya logo replaces the Asian-style pipe with a stogie or cigar to show the meeting of traditional and contemporary sensibilities.

Kaya is generously funded by:

New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA)
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Japan Foundation
UC Berkeley, Department of East Asian Languages & Culture
Australian Arts Council
University of Adelaide