Register 286 Seats Remaining

Moonlight Tales: Asian American Stories

NEA Big Read 2025: "To Live" by Yu Hua

Join two storytellers, one musical group, and a wonderful emcee for an storytelling experience under the stars, for adults.

With stories and music, the following performers will illustrate what it is to be Asian American in North America...

Brenda Wong Aoki (storyteller)

Brenda Wong-Aoki was the first nationally recognized Asian-Pacific storyteller in the United States.

Aoki is an American playwright, actor and storyteller. She creates monodramas rooted in traditional storytelling, dance movement, and music. Aoki's work combines Eastern and Western narratives and theatrical traditions such as noh, kyogen, commedia dell'arte, modern dance, Japanese drumming, and American jazz.

Her work is part of the American Folk Life Collection at the Library of Congress. A curriculum developer and educator, Aoki is a founding faculty member of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University and has been an artist in residence at such institutions as the Smithsonian, Duke University, Kenyon College, and Wesleyan, among others. Aoki and her husband Mark Izu, an Emmy-winning jazz music composer, are the founders of First Voice, a San Francisco-based nonprofit arts organization.

Dr. Joel Ying (storyteller)

Dr. Joel Ying is a Physician-Educator-Storyteller. With eclectic folk tales and unique personal stories, his storytelling range, like his practice of medicine, bridges the traditional and the modern. Storytelling is not just a performance art, but a healing art. He performs regularly, teaches workshops, produces events, and loves listening to a good story.

Fushu Daiko (musical group)

Founded in 1990, Fushu Daiko is a South Florida based, taiko drumming ensemble, delighting and energizing the South Florida community through dynamic performances, concerts and workshops. And continually enriching our community by teaching the art of taiko.

We have traveled to and performed in Germany, Brazil, New York City, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, San Francisco, Seattle, and during the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C.

Monica Shang, Director of the Chinese Performing Arts Group (emcee)

Ms. Monica Shang/孟锦红 was a former TV hostess of the local Chinese language teaching program for Channel 19 of T.E.N. (The Education Network, 2004-2008). She was also the Founding President for CLTA-FL (Chinese Language Teachers’ Association-FL) and a former president for CASEC (Chinese Association of Science, Education and Culture of S. FL). She has been on Board of several Chinese and American organizations for a couple of decades. She currently serves as vice president of Women's Charity Fundation of Florida and is founder of the Chinese Performing Arts Group. 

This event is in conjunction to NEA Big Read 2025. In January and February, Broward County Libraries is hosting a series of programs around the title "To Live" by Yu Hua. 

Moonlight Tales is made possible by Friends of the Fort Lauderdale Libraries. 

Upcoming Events