Our Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi American (APIDA) Heritage Month is a celebration of many cultures, dozens of nationalities and hundreds of languages, whose traditions are lighting the way forward to a better world. We strive to celebrate the rich heritage of our campus each day. Multiple cultures, one community.

University Libraries resources

Asian & Asian American History in the Borderlands Collection | Special Collections: The materials in this collection are all located at University Libraries Special Collections in Tucson, Arizona. You can find congressional records, university materials, photographs, newspaper and journal articles, and scrapbooks that document Asian and Asian American life in the U.S./Mexico borderlands. 

Asian American / Asian is one of the categories in our Books That Matter collection. Chosen by staff and students, the collection is located on bookshelves on the second floor in Main Library. Books are rotated and cover many different identities, histories, and genres ranging from autobiographies to comic books. Stop by to browse and borrow.

Archive Tucson oral history spotlight: Proud to be Chinese, Proud to be Mexican

What was it like to grow up in an interracial, Chinese-Mexican family during the 1950s and 1960s? Lucy Estella Lim talks about identity, culture, growing up in a family-owned market, and...fisticuffs. Listen to audio short. (3:29)

Archive Tucson is a living and growing collection of audio interviews about life and change in Tucson and Southern Arizona. University Libraries oral historian and videographer, Aengus Anderson, has spent more than six years interviewing 100+ people and recording their stories about our city.

Wildcat Reads book recommendation

The Poppy War by Rebecca F. Kuang

"Poppy" is the first book by Chinese American author Kuang. The fictional story's protagonist, "Rin," aces the test (keju) to find the most talented students in the Nikara Empire. "That Rin got into Sinegard, the most elite military school in Nikan, was surprising. But surprises aren't always good. Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Fighting the prejudice of rival classmates, Rin discovers that she possesses a lethal, unearthly power – an aptitude for the nearly mythical art of shamanism."

Wildcat Reads is a collection of recreational titles on a wide range of genres, located on the 3rd floor of the Main Library, and available for checkout.

The University of Arizona Press book recommendations

Being Chinese by Wei Djao

Chinese have traveled the globe for centuries, and today, live all over the world. They are the Huayi or "Chinese overseas" and can be found in the thriving Chinese communities of the United States, Canada, Southeast, and as far-reaching as Cuba, Zimbabwe, and Peru. Twenty-two Chinese living and working outside of China—ordinary people from all walks of life—share their lives and what it means to be Chinese in non-Chinese societies.

Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter by Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner

This is first published book of poetry written by a Mashallese author. Jetn̄il-Kijiner's writing highlights the traumas of colonialism, racism, forced migration, the legacy of American nuclear testing, and the impending threats of climate change in the Marshall Islands. Pulitzer Prize winning writer, poet and social activist Alice Walker described this poetry as "a book to be read slowly. Savored. Admired for its precision of language and emotion."

Coconut Milk by Dan Taulapapa McMullin

Also rooted in the South Pacific, Samoan writer and painter McMullin explores what it’s like to be a queer Samoan in the United States. McMullin's poems come from specific encounters, childhood memories, family history, and profound reflections. 

Navigating CHamoru Poetry by Craig Santos Perez

Perez examines contemporary native CHamoru literature from the Pacific Island of Guåhan (Guam). This book shows that CHamoru poetry has been an inspiring and empowering act of protest, resistance, and testimony in the decolonization, demilitarization, and environmental justice movements of Guåhan.

‘Āina Hānau / Birth Land by Brandy Nālani McDougall

Poet laureate of Hawai‘i McDougall explores family, community and connection to place. The experiences of birth, motherhood, miscarriage, and the power of Native Hawai'ian traditions and self-advocacy in an often dismissive medical system is powerfully narrated by the speaker of the titular poem, written for McDougall’s daughters.

The Politics of Fieldwork: Research in an American Concentration Camp by Lane Ryo Hirabayashi 

If you’re a researcher, do you consider how your politics influence your work? How are the politics of your principal investigator? Hirabayashi investigates this issue about the work and struggle of Dr. Taimie Tshuchiyama, who was hired in 1942 to conduct ethnographic fieldwork for the University of California at Berkeley's Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study.

About The University of Arizona Press

The University of Arizona Press (UA Press) is the premier publisher of academic, regional, and literary works in the state of Arizona. UA Press disseminates ideas and knowledge of lasting value that enrich understanding, inspire curiosity, and enlighten readers; and advances the University of Arizona’s mission by connecting scholarship and creative expression to readers worldwide.