http://turtleroad.org/2019/10/03/sherry-quan-lee-daring-to-nurture-untold-stories/
click on link for complete interview
“Essential Mentors, Organizations and Grassroots publications
There were so few mentors for writers of color in the Twin Cities back then. I was fortunate to meet Carolyn Holbrook andDavid Mura.
Carolyn had created SASE the Write Place to address the fact that The Loft— where she was the Director for five years– was not diverse at that time. People of color needed a place to write, read, and publish their work. SASE had readings almost every night at places all over the Twin Cities. I curated events at Black Bear Crossing and Patrick’s Cabaret. The curators would choose people in the neighborhood to read. They would get paid $25 a night, which was unheard of–for writers to get paid to read their work. In 2006, SASE merged with Intermedia Arts, which worked for a time, until they decided to drop it. Now Intermedia Arts is gone too.
Carolyn was deeply committed to mentoring, and her influence was far reaching. I thanked her recently for including my work when she edited the Drum Voices Review in 2000. She reminded me that I nominated her for the Kay Sexton Award, and she became the first person of color to win that award. Mentorship moves back and forth.
David Mura introduced me to the Asian American Renaissance, a grassroots pan-Asian Arts movement in the mid 1990s. AAR was an umbrella for Asian artists and arts organizations. It was a revelation for me, to connect with the vast world of Asian diaspora and dancers, performers, painters, as well as writers.”
