Russell Charles Leong (born 1950) is an academic editor, professor, writer, and long-time
Chen-style tai chi student. The long-time editor of
Amerasia Journal (1977–2010), Leong was an adjunct professor of English and Asian-American Studies at
University of California, Los Angeles and currently serves as senior editor for international projects. He is the founding editor of the
CUNY FORUM: Asian American / Asian Studies, published by the
Asian American / Asian Research Institute - CUNY, and served as a Dr. Thomas Tam Visiting Professor at Hunter College/CUNY. He is the author of
Phoenix Eyes and Other Stories (University of Washington Press, 2000) which received the American Book Award. His most recent publication,
MothSutra, a graphic poem about New York City restaurant bicycle deliverymen, was released in 2015.
Early life
Leong was born
Chinatown, San Francisco. Leong attended local Chinese and American schools where his English teachers and family encouraged him to write.
Leong is also the editor and project coordinator for the
U.S.-China media brief, published by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.[3]
In 2015, Leong published "Mothsutra: For Those Who Delivery Food on Bicycles / New York City," a visual graphic portfolio of his poetry and drawings. "MothSutra" was performed at the
Bowery Poetry Club NYC and at the City University of New York's
Asian American / Asian Research Institute. It will be published as an e-book by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center.
Personal life
Leong has a "life is war" ideology representing his dislike towards the academic community. He would like to see himself more as an
activist than an
academic. Leong's religious views relate most strongly to
Buddhist philosophy.
Buddhism applies to many aspects of his life including relationships and writing. He agrees with the accepting nature of Buddhism and finds it a strong, but not oppressive set of values to incorporate in daily life.[4]
Full Oeuvre
Selected works
Mothsutra: For Those Who Deliver Food on Bicycles / New York City
Phoenix Eyes and Other Stories
The Country of Dreams and Dust
My Chinatown A to Z
Fiction, Memoir and Poetry
"No Bruce Lee"
"Looking after Hands"
"Enter the Year of the Dragon"
"Haishan"
"The Story of Haishan"
"Memories of Stone Places"
"Fish don't wear no hats"
"A Yin and Her Man"
"Litany"
"Geography One"
"The Painted Branch"
"Aloes"
"Clay"
"Granite"
"Sail"
"Unfolding Flowers, Matchless Flames"
"In the Country of Dreams and Dust"
"Beware of the M Word"
"Aerogrammes"
Video Documentaries on Writers
NVM Gonzalez: A Story Yet to be Told, 1998, 30 minute video documentary on national writer of the
Philippines, premier, David Henry Hwang Theatre, L.A. December 9, 1998
Why is Preparing Fish a Political Act? Poetry of
Janice Mirikitani, 1990, director and editor. Selected for the National Asian Pacific American Asian Cine Vision Video Festival, New York City aired on Manhattan Cable, 1991.
Morning Begins Here, video documentary on San Francisco Chinatown, screened at the 1985 RIFE International Film and Video Festival,
Czechoslovakia. Aired on Channel 18 on Chinese television, Los Angeles, 1986.
"Writing the Chinese and Southeast Asian Diasporas in Russell Leong's Phoenix Eyes," by Walter S.H. Lim, in Asian Diaspora: Cultures, Identities, Representations, edited by Robbie Goh and
Shawn Wong (
Hong Kong University Press, 2004)
"Art, Spirituality, and the Ethic of Care: Alternative Masculinities in Chinese American Literature," by King-kok Cheung, in Masculinity Studies, Feminist Theory, New Directions, edited by Judith Kegan Gardiner (
Columbia University Press, New York, 2002)
"Acts of Reclamation" by Sue Russell in the
Kenyon Review (Winter 1995, volume XVII, no. 1)