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Books by Hapa Papa Press

In this historic moment of transgender visibility in the U.S., writer, activist, and public health consultant Willy Wilkinson's Born on the Edge of Race and Gender: A Voice for Cultural Competency uses the power of storytelling to contextualize one of the most misunderstood social issues of our time. This poetic, journalistic memoir shines an intersectional beacon on the ambiguity and complexity of mixed heritage, transgender, and disability experience, and offers an intimate window into how current legislative and policy battles impact the lives of transgender people. Whether navigating the men's locker room like a "stealth trans Houdini," accessing lifesaving health care, or appreciating his son's recognition of him as a "transformer," Wilkinson compellingly illustrates the unique, difficult, and sometimes comical experiences of transgender life.

 

A seasoned public health consultant and cultural competency trainer, Wilkinson provides practical tools and resources to help community health organizations, educational institutions, and businesses create LGBTQ- and trans-affirming systems. Innovative, moving, and accessible, this multifaceted memoir explores the liberation of finding one's voice in a world that prescribes silence, and offers a fresh look at ways to systemically affirm diversity throughout society.

Gender Splendor: 50 Creative Sparks to Celebrate Yourself at All Ages and Stages is a creative workbook that offers metaphoric inspiration for trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people and their allies. Award-winning author, public health consultant, and trans elder Willy Chang Wilkinson invites the community to use the transformative power of self-expression to name their truths, take back their power, and remind themselves of their brilliance and resilience. People of all ages are invited to reimagine their birth announcement, envision their body as dream home, and embrace nature’s expansiveness and the splendor of their gender.

 

One can write in this book or the Gender Splendor Journal, record a video, or use another art form. This life-affirming resource provides liberatory prompts to nurture self-healing and identify many reasons to celebrate trans, nonbinary, and gender-expansive joy. 

 

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The Gender Splendor Journal has 100 blank pages, and is sprinkled with encouraging and affirming messages. It is the perfect companion to Gender Splendor: 50 Creative Sparks to Celebrate Yourself at All Ages and Stages. 

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Chinese Traditions: From Festivals to Funerals describes cultural practices, rituals, and legends shared through oral storytelling from generation to generation over centuries. A descendant of the “Too Chee” Changs, May-Blossom Chang Wilkinson describes the superstitions and tales that shaped her childhood, growing up in Hawaii during the Depression Era and World War II as the youngest child and only daughter of Chinese immigrants. Legends describe how the “Too Chee” (Belly Button) Chang family name came to be; why there are twelve animals in the Chinese Zodiac; and why, when one looks up at the moon during the annual Moon Festival, one might see a toad, a rabbit, and a cassia tree. Other highlights include: how chopsticks were invented, and how to ensure that the Kitchen God will report favorably on your family when sent up to the Heavens.

Sepia-Toned Archives is a beautifully articulated memoir that chronicles nearly one hundred years of life in the San Francisco Bay Area, from a bare-bones childhood in the Montclair hills of Oakland during the Great Depression, to masked senior living during the COVID pandemic. As a child, author Bob Wilkinson delighted in the excitement of the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939, which previewed television and celebrated the completion of the Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges. Drafted into the Army just after World War II, Wilkinson observed racial tensions and atrocities preceding the 1948 desegregation of the military. A Caucasian man who married a Chinese woman from Hawaii shortly after interracial marriage was legalized in California, Wilkinson recounts with amusement his initiation into multicultural family delicacies, his lifelong love of cooking, and his backpacking adventures with his kids. As a social worker, he bore the responsibility of placing a ten-year-old orphan of the Jonestown Massacre in 1978. Later in life, Wilkinson prioritized anti-war activism, travel adventures, and life as a wood sculptor. Punctuated with poetry and humorous musings on aging, Sepia-Toned Archives is sure to both entertain and enlighten.

Martha’s Adventures chronicles the life of a nature lover who enjoyed connecting with loved ones and strangers. Author Martha Crowe spent much of her childhood in Oakland, California during the Great Depression, and later raised five children in Berkeley as a single mother. Adventurous in spirit, she was one of a handful of girls who took woodshop instead of cooking class in junior high school, and later built herself a cabin in the woods. Martha explored Bay Area trails, grew colorful flowers in her garden, and learned to kayak in her seventies. She expressed her vitality through various art forms; some of her beautiful artwork graces the cover of this memoir.

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