The Filipino poet Jose Garcia Villa was known as the Pope of Greenwich Village. As the only Asian poet in the circle of such giants as WH Auden, EE cummings, Tennesse Williams and Elizabeth Bishop, Villa held a special place in the poetic movements of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Born in Manila in 1908, Villa carried with him the influence of his native Philippines while making his home for most of his adult life in New York City. Yet, despite his significant contributions to poetry in the US, Villa has been largely overlooked.

A new collection of his poetry aims to change this. APF's Dorian Merina sat down with the poet and writer Luis Francia to discuss Villa's work.

Nine years ago—thanks to the work of an investigative team at the Associated Press--the world learned of a hidden chapter of the Korean War: the killing of hundreds of refugees by American soldiers at a place called No Gun Ri. Now the South Korean Truth and Reconciliation Commission is bringing to light similar incidents, as it investigates more than 200 alleged cases. And the two-and-a-half year old commission has also unearthed confirmation that South Korea summarily executed at least 100,000 suspected leftists and hapless peasants, with U.S. military officers sometimes present. We’ll be joined by A.P.’s CHARLES J. HANLEY, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his work on the No Gun Ri investigation and has continued to investigate this hidden history.

In the spirit of Toni Morrison’s famous quip of ten years ago--that “notwithstanding his white skin color,” Bill Clinton was “our first black president”--author and writer JEFF YANG’s recent SFGate.com column asks the question, “Could Obama be the first Asian American president?” We’ll talk to Yang about how the tropes that surround and define Obama suggest Asian America as much as African America.