 Hyphen's award-winning cover for Issue 7 | |
| Editor-in-Chief | Karissa Chen |
|---|---|
| Editor-in-Chief | Dorothy Santos |
| Categories | Asian American |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Founder | Melissa Hung |
| Founded | 2002 |
| First issue | June 2003; 21 years ago (2003-06) |
| Final issue | Fall 2015 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | San Francisco, California |
| Language | English |
| Website | hyphenmagazine |
Hyphen is an American print and online magazine, founded in 2002 by a group ofSan Francisco Bay Area journalists, activists, and artists including Melissa Hung, a former reporter for theHouston Press andEast Bay Express; Claire Light, former executive director atKearny Street Workshop; Yuki Tessitore, ofMother Jones;Mia Nakano, photojournalist; filmmaker Jennifer Huang; Stefanie Liang, a graphic designer fromRed Herring magazine; journalistBernice Yeung; and Christopher Fan, now a professor of English and Asian American Studies. Its advisory board included notable Asian American journalists such asHelen Zia and Nguyen Qui Duc, the host ofPacific Time. The first issue was released in June 2003.[1][2][3]Hyphen was one of several Asian American media ventures created in the wake ofA Magazine's demise.[4]
Shortly after its release, the publication was sharply criticized byAsianWeek columnistEmil Guillermo who theorized thatHyphen's young editors were arrogant, ashamed of their Asian heritage, and disrespectful of existing ethnic media in his weekly column.[5] He later said that he had not actually read the magazine.[6]
The magazine's first issue contained a story package on the history of Asian American community activism. Its content is decidedly to the left,feminist, and non-mainstream. Its coverage includes politics, arts, andpop culture.
In 2004, the magazine was nominated for anUtne Independent Press Award for Best New Title.[7] In January 2006,Hyphen's Body Issue won the Independent Press Association's Best Cover award for an image of an Asian American man, Yusuke Miyashita, partially submerged in a bathtub full ofedamame.[8]Mr. Hyphen, a pageant created by the magazine to showcase more positive images of Asian American men, debuted in May 2006.[9] In the fall of 2007, the magazine received its second nomination for an Utne Independent Press Award, this time for Best Design.[10]
Started in 2007,Hyphen partnered with theAsian American Writers' Workshop to start ashort story contest called the Hyphen Asian American Short Story Contest, the only national, pan-Asian American writing competition of its kind.[11] Previous winners includePreeta Samarasan,Sunil Yapa, Shivani Manghnani, andTimothy Tau. Previous judges includePorochista Khakpour,Yiyun Li,Alexander Chee, Jaed Coffin, Brian Leung,Monique Truong andMonica Ferrell.
On May 5, 2010,Hyphen and theAsian American Action Fund announced a cross-posting partnership.[12] In 2014,Hyphen collaborated withLatino USA on content celebrating the intersections of Asian American and Latino American histories and cultures.[13] In 2018, it partnered with the Asian Prisoner Support Committee to produce an anthology featuring the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.[14]
The magazine ceased publication of print issues in 2015 but continues to publish online.[why?].[15]