Our Laundry, Our Town with Alvin Eng

In celebration of the recent Broadway revival of Our Town and the Lunar New Year, The Drama Book Shop presents, in association with Jay Michaels Global Communications, “Our Laundry, Our Town ” - A talkback, signing, and live podcast recording. Author/playwright Alvin Eng will be joined in conversation by Shoshana Greenberg from The Thornton Wilder Society.

About the Book

Our Laundry, Our Town is a memoir that decodes and processes the fractured urban oracle bones of Alvin Eng’s upbringing in Flushing, Queens, in the 1970s. Back then, his family was one of the few immigrant Chinese families in a far-flung neighborhood in New York City. His parents had an arranged marriage and ran a Chinese hand laundry. From behind the counter of his parents’ laundry and within the confines of a household that was rooted in a different century and culture, he sought to reconcile this insular home life with the turbulent yet inspiring street life that was all around them––from the faux martial arts of TV’s Kung Fu to the burgeoning underworld of the punk rock scene.

In the 1970s, NYC, like most of the world, was in the throes of regenerating itself in the wake of major social and cultural changes resulting from the counterculture and civil rights movements. And by the 1980s, Flushing had become NYC’s second Chinatown. But Eng remained one of the neighborhood’s few Chinese citizens who did not speak fluent Chinese. Finding his way in the downtown theater and performance world of Manhattan, he discovered the under-chronicled Chinese influence on Thornton Wilder’s foundational Americana drama, Our Town. This discovery became the unlikely catalyst for a psyche-healing pilgrimage to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China—his ancestral home in southern China—that led to writing and performing his successful autobiographical monologue, The Last Emperor of Flushing. Learning to tell his own story on stages around the world was what proudly made him whole.

About the Author

ALVIN ENG a native NYC author/playwright, educator and acoustic punk raconteur and was recently named a New York Public Library 2024-25 Long-Term Fellow. During his NYPL Long-Term Fellowship he will research The Opium Wars/opium’s impact on the Chinese diaspora and NYC’s 1970s punk/counterculture for his second memoir/nonfiction book, Urban Oracle Bones. This research will be undertaken through the dual prisms of author William S. Burroughs’ character, “Johnny Yen”––immortalized in Iggy Pop’s song, “Lust For Life”––and Eng’s grandfather’s opium overdose in NYC’s Chinatown. The book will be an expansion of his monologue/song stage work, HERE COMES JOHNNY YEN AGAIN and companion piece to his memoir, OUR LAUNDRY, OUR TOWN. Other books: THREE TREES (Alberto Giacometti historical drama published by No Passport Press); Tokens? The NYC Asian American Experience on Stage (oral history/performance text anthology). Plays and performances seen Off-Broadway, Paris, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China. Honors include Fulbright Specialist Residency, City University of Hong Kong; Visiting Professor MFA Creative Writing Program, Queens College/CUNY; NYSCA/NYFA Fellowships. www.alvineng.com / @alvin.eng8

About the Moderator

SHOSHANA GREENBERG is a lyricist, librettist, and theater journalist. She serves on the board of The Thornton Wilder Society and is also their newsletter editor and social media manager. Musicals: Lyrics for Days of Rage with Hyeyoung Kim and Lightning Man with Jeffrey Dennis Smith. Operas: Librettos for “The Community” with Kevin Cummines (named Best of 2019 by WQXR) and “Margaret” with Paulo Tirol, both as part of the Opera Lab with NYU and American Opera Projects. Her songs have been heard at various venues from Lincoln Center to Joe's Pub to the Duplex, where she performed her one-woman show Not Coming Back. She was a Sokoloff Arts Fellow with Town Stages and Sokoloff Arts in 2018 and has written for American Theatre magazine, The Interval, and Women and Hollywood and served as a contributing editor for the musical theater publication, Musical Theater Today. She also created and hosts the musical theater podcast Scene to Song and has an M.F.A. from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU and a B.A. from Barnard College.­

THE THORNTON WILDER SOCIETY has the twofold purpose of supporting efforts which expand the literary legacy of Thornton Wilder and of encouraging projects which emphasize the timeless importance of literature and drama to world culture. The Thornton Wilder Society appeals to anyone who has an interest in the life and works of Thornton Wilder. The Society is international in its scope, attracting Wilder fans, scholars, critics, educators and theatrical professionals and amateurs from all over the world. The Society, in short, is of interest to all who love Wilder, his work, and his belief in the importance of art as a sustaining influence in the world. Penn State University Press publishes biannually the Thornton Wilder Journal containing scholarly articles, reviews of significant productions, pieces about Wilder’s life, and other content of interest to Wilder scholars, theatre artists, educators, and fans. We also keep members up to date on performances, publications, and Wilder-related events around the country via The Thornton Wilder Society Monthly Email. The Society has held three international conferences, and sponsored panels at the annual American Literature Association conference. Our website makes available a wide range of resources for scholars, teachers, and theatre artists, while our Facebook page keeps fans abreast of news and asks Wilder-related fun questions. Finally, the Society periodically presents the Thornton Wilder Prize; past recipients include Russell Banks (2008), Robert MacNeil (2010), Rocco Landesman (2013), Paula Vogel (2015), and Donald Margulies (2018).

We kindly ask that you review the following information before reserving your spot:

This Eventbrite ticket is your reservation for the event.

Please note that the purchase of “Our Laundry, Our Town ” ($18.95) or Alvin Eng's play"Three Trees" (11.95) is required for entry.

Upon arrival, our team will direct you to the register to obtain your copy and complete your admission.

The store will begin welcoming guests at 7:15 pm.

Event Venue

The Drama Book Shop, 266 West 39th Street, New York, United States