Book of Curses

Art by Matt Huynh

What is a curse in a broken world? A kind of intervention, a magic other language that intervenes where existing language is not enough—or part of the problem. Continuing the work of the AALR Asian American Tarot from Open in Emergency, the Book of Curses is a hybrid, formally dynamic piece of magic and literature, one that opens up how we understand justice, injustice, and who gets to decide what counts as each—especially in the era of 45.

The curse, reimagined in this fashion, is justice inside the empire.

Co-curated by AALR editor-in-chief Lawrence-Minh Bùi Davis and managing editor Mimi Khúc, the Book of Curses includes an "advent calendar," to count down to Lunar New Year 2019 together, each box with curse, illustrated glyph, and instructions inside. In the accompanying spellbook is literary elaborations on each of the curses—essays, poems, fiction, graphic narrative—along with tissue paper to tear out, trace the glyph onto, and burn to release the curse into the world.

Curses by Li-Young Lee, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Kazim Ali, Monique Truong, Rajiv Mohabir, Brandon Shimoda, Sally Wen Mao, Ed Lin, Mimi Thi Nguyen, Swati Khurana, Kai Cheng Thom, Hiromi Itō + Jeffrey Angles, Shailja Patel, Ronak Kapadia, Hieu Minh Nguyen, Regie Cabico, Jennifer Kwon Dobbs, Shawna Yang Ryan, Kazumi Chin, Brandon Som, Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay, Jane Wong, Khaty Xiong, JoAnn Balingit, and Nayomi Munaweera, with illustration by Matt Huynh.

See the successful Kickstarter campaign that funded this project. Available for purchase through AALR.