One of Kaya's key roles in Asian American literature is to publish historical narratives that deepen our understanding of where we came from and how we got here.

Our latest example of this work: Primary Sources, the long-awaited memoir of one of the founding scholars of Asian American and ethnic studies in the United States, Elaine H. Kim. Kim writes with honesty and humor about single motherhood, activism and the radical act of building community across differences. For anyone who has ever felt out of place—and still dreamed of somewhere better—this book is both a reckoning and a gift. It is a deeply compassionate collective invitation—to rethink belonging, justice, and to imagine a future shaped by us all.

Other essential texts we’ve published through this initiative are:

• The pioneering works of H.T. Tsiang: The Hanging on Union Square and And China Has Hands.

• The essential account, Song of Arirang: The Story of A Korean Revolutionary in China, by Kim San and Nym Wales (Helen Foster Snow).

•  Q.M. Zhang's acclaimed hybrid memoir, Accomplice to Memory.

•  In Search of Hiroshi: A Japanese American Odyssey by Gene Oishi, which we successfully published just before the author passed away.

We stand firm in our commitment to ensuring the preservation and acknowledgment of community roots and history.

With your help, we can ensure that Elaine Kim's groundbreaking memoir is published with the care and attention it deserves. Your contribution will directly fund the final editing, production, and promotion of this critical text, allowing us to safeguard the story of a true giant in Asian American history.

Help us raise $15,000 for Primary Sources by December 31, 2025.

This fundraiser is part of Kaya Press's 2025 Make It Rain annual drive, and all donations are tax deductible. At Kaya Press, we believe that books and community help us all thrive. Your support as readers, writers, educators, and customers is the reason we have made it to 31 years as an independent publishing house dedicated to championing avant-garde, experimental, and expectation-busting literature from the Asian Pacific American and Asian diasporas.