Tonight in our galeria author Nancy Wang will read from her latest novel, Red Altar. Red Altar is a historical fiction novel that follows three generations of the same Chinese family that started the fishing industry in the Monterey Bay area in 1850. Based on Wang’s own family history, Red Altar is a story of courage and resilience as the characters, all real, face the challenges of racism, also real, by reinventing themselves over and over again in order to exist. With the realities of racial injustice continuing to impact BIPOC communities today, Red Altar weaves awareness and harvests wisdom from freedom struggles past and present. Wang will read excerpts from the book, followed by a Q&A. Books will be available for sale.

Nancy Wang started her artistic career as a modern dancer and Asian American storyteller, and co-founded The Asian American Dance Company as well as Kalilang Kulintang, the first Filipino kulintang school and performance company of Northern California, featuring the traditional bronze gong ensemble music and dance of the southern island of Mindanao. In 1985, they together founded Eth-Noh-Tec, a kinetic storytelling theater non-profit. With her husband musician, performer and writer Robert Kikuchi-Yngojo, besides working their non-profit mission, they work to accomplish Eth-Noh-Tec’s goal to heal the divides within us and between us. This is accomplished through the performances of pan-Asian folktales and myths and Asian American inspiring stories such as Red Altar. As award winning storytelling performers, they continue to create and perform as well as train the next generation of Asian American storytellers in their award-winning kinetic style of performance. Red Altar started as a multi-media, interdisciplinary performance story drama and continues to be performed around the United States to standing ovations.