A Conversation with Nidhi Chanani

10/23/23 • 35 min

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 41! Today we’re excited to share a conversation with Nidhi Chanani. She’s a freelance illustrator, cartoonist, and writer who was born in Calcutta, India and raised in Southern California. Her illustrations are beautiful and contain a certain level of whimsy that we love. In addition to working with various groups like Disney Parks, she has published several graphic novels and picture books. Her latest graphic novel, Super Boba Cafe, will be released on October 24, 2023.

We had a chance talk to her about how she honed her artistic style by drawing an illustration every day for three years on her site Everyday Love. We also discussed her other graphic novels Pashmina, Jukebox, and the Shark Princess series. It was a fun conversation that also included talking about the San Diego Comic Con, her published work, the importance of researching music and civil rights for Jukebox, some of the things she’s reading, and so much more.

Other than the graphic novels mentioned, we recommend seeking out her other work including the touching picture book she wrote and illustrated called What Will My Story Be? She has illustrated books for other writers including I Will Be Fierce (written by Bea Birdsong), Binny’s Diwali (written by Thrity Umrigar), Kong and Me (written by Kiki Thorpe), and Strong (written by Rob Kearney) which won the American Library Association Stonewall Honor. She has received several recognitions for her work including being selected as a Champion of Change by the Obama administration.

Check out her Instagram, go to her site, download some free creative activities, support her work, and buy Super Boba Cafe. Enjoy the conversation! For previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at [email protected].

Previous Episode

The History of Destroying Chinatowns

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 40! Chinatowns have been around in the U.S. since the middle 1800s, but not all of them survived the racism, xenophobia, and discrimination that was rampant throughout the 1800s and 1900s. In this episode, we discuss the environment that resulted in several Chinatowns being destroyed. We spend time sharing the events that happened in the Chinatowns in Antioch and Santa Ana, California as well as in Denver, Colorado. We take additional time to talk about the Chinatowns in San Jose, California... all five of them. Lives and livelihoods were lost with each violent act, and it’s the history that is being forgotten. There are some organizations trying to make sure that previously destroyed Chinatowns and the history of Chinese Americans are remembered:

The Market Street Chinatown Archaeological Project
Chinese Historical and Cultural Project
No Place Project
China Alley in Hanford, California

If you’re looking for background information, then we recommend listening to our following past episodes:

To close this episode, we bring back our recurring segment called Obscure Asian Comic Book Characters and feature the Karate Kid... it’s not who you’re probably thinking of. For additional previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at [email protected].

Segments

00:25 Intro and Talking Dodgers and Giants API Historic Moment
03:37 The History of Destroying Chinatowns
25:25 Obscure Asian Comic Book Characters, The Karate Kid

Next Episode

The History of the Tong Wars Part 7

Welcome to Season 3, Episode 42. Welcome to installation 7 of our series on the Tong Wars. In this episode, we talk about the end of the Fourth Tong War in New York and some of the lasting impact of the tongs to this day. How did the Fourth Tong War end? Do Tong’s still exist? These are questions we answer in this episode. If you’re interested in reading about the New York Tong Wars in detail, we recommend the book The Tong Wars by Scott Seligman. In our recurring segment, we bring back Organizations You Should Know and talk about the Chinese Historical Society of America which has a physical location as well as virtual and traveling exhibitions. They have plenty of great educational resources and collections to learn more about the experiences of Chinese Americans. You can visit, volunteer, or donate to help them. For previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at [email protected].

Segments