.png)
- Serica Initiative
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Some stories demand to be told out loud. Others survive quietly — in families, in memory, in poetry.
This winter, The Serica Initiative’s Serica Storytellers series invites audiences into two powerful conversations that explore how Asian American stories are carried across generations — through film, lived experience, and poetry.
Together, these events form our Serica Storytellers Winter Series, a pair of free, online programs that examine what happens when silence breaks, when memory resurfaces, and when storytelling becomes a bridge between past and present.
January 7, 2025
ROSEMEAD and the Realities of AAPI Mental Health
Mental health remains one of the most stigmatized and under-discussed topics in many AAPI communities — especially when it comes to caregiving, grief, and family responsibility.
Inspired by the Locarno-winning film ROSEMEAD, this one-hour conversation brings together three distinct but deeply connected perspectives:
A filmmaker’s lens — how producer Mynette Louie approached telling a mental health story with care, nuance, and responsibility
A family’s lived experience — Lisa Oberholzer-Gee’s reflections on caregiving, loss, and resilience inside a Chinese American household
Clinical insight — therapist and global speaker Jeanie Y. Chang on cultural stigma, support systems, and what culturally competent care truly looks like
The program includes a short clip from ROSEMEAD, followed by an honest, moderated discussion and live audience Q&A.
Join us online on January 7 7pm - 8pm ET!
February 11, 2026
Serica Storytellers: Japanese Tanka Poets
Decades before mental health entered public discourse, Japanese American poets were writing quietly — in five-line tanka poems — about displacement, longing, and survival.
This literary program centers on By the Shore of Lake Michigan, a translated collection of tanka poetry written by former WWII prisoners of war and resettled Japanese Americans. Through poetry, history, and conversation, the event explores how language becomes a vessel for memory when other forms of expression are denied.
Featuring Mariko Aratani, Eri F. Yasuhara, Nancy Matsumoto, and Kyoko Miyabe, the discussion examines:
Poetry as a response to incarceration and displacement
How memory is preserved across generations
The role of translation in carrying history forward
The discussion is followed by audience Q&A. Join us online on February 11 7pm - 8pm ET!
At first glance, a contemporary film about mental health and a poetry discussion rooted in WWII history may seem worlds apart.
But they share a common truth:
Asian American stories are often carried in silence — until someone creates space for them to be heard.
The Serica Storytellers Winter Series is about:
Breaking silence
Honoring memory
Using storytelling to connect generations
Whether through film or poetry, lived experience or historical record, these programs invite us to listen more closely to the stories that shape who we are.
Join us and share with your friends!
