This Year's Guests

Kevin Nguyen

Kevin Nguyen is a celebrated author and editor known for his incisive, witty, and deeply resonant writing. He held prominent editorial roles at well-known publications such as GQ, The Verge, and Google Play Books. His debut novel, New Waves (2020), garnered critical acclaim for its exploration of friendship, grief, technology, and race. Mỹ Documents, his second novel and the 2025 Read Up Richmond book, is informed by real-life events, from Japanese incarceration to the Vietnam War and modern-day immigrant detention. The highly readable and accessible novel presents a version of reality only a few degrees away from our own. Moving and finely attuned to both the brutalities and mundanities of racism, Mỹ Documents is a strangely funny and touching portrait of American ambition, fear, and family.

From the Publisher:

Informed by real-life events, from Japanese incarceration to the Vietnam War and modern-day immigrant detention, Mỹ Documents gives us a version of reality only a few degrees away from our own. Moving and finely attuned to both the brutalities and mundanities of racism, Mỹ Documents is a strangely funny and touching portrait of American ambition, fear, and family. The story of the Nguyens is one of resilience and how we return to one another, and to ourselves, after tragedy.

Emma Ito

Emma Ito is the Director of Education at Virginia Humanities, where she is responsible for the development, coordination, and implementation of educational resources for K-12 students, college students, teachers, and lifelong learners. Prior to working at Virginia Humanities, Emma worked as an education and program specialist at the Library of Virginia, where she led an initiative to research and share Asian American history. Emma has also been an adjunct professor in the Virginia Commonwealth University Global Education Department and the University Honors College. She received her B.A. and M.A. in History at Virginia Commonwealth University, where her master's thesis was on the experiences of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans in Virginia, with a focus on the time periods of Jim Crow and World War II. In her free time, Emma is an avid reader and bookstagrammer.

Read Up Richmond is an annual event that challenges people to read courageously, listen thoughtfully, and connect meaningfully. This program is made possible through the generous support of the Richmond Public Library Foundation and the Friends of the Richmond Public Library.

Tie-in Events

Zine Workshop & Swap

Date:	Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Time:	4:30pm - 6:00pm
Location:	Broad Rock Meeting Room

Hear how zines have served as a form of education and resistance throughout history, then learn how to create single-page zines and contribute to a collaborative zine with other participants.

VCU Family Cultural Exchange Program Information Session

Date:	Sunday, October 19, 2025
Time:	2:00pm - 3:30pm
Location:	Gellman Room - Main Library

An open information session for those interested in learning about VCU's Office of Global Education Family Cultural Exchange Program.

Ashley Brewer the Senior Web and UX Librarian for Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries

It's All the Dark Web: Data Privacy, Dark Patterns and the Myth of Connection

Date:	Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Time:	6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location:	Auditorium - Main Library

Tech companies use various tactics to manipulate users into subscribing to things or behaving in ways they otherwise wouldn't. This oresentation seeks to educate users to be savvier navigators of online spaces and to talk about the limits of online "community," while re-establishing the importance of "irl" community.

Book Discussion: Mỹ Documents by Kevin Nguyen

Join us at our Hull Street or East End locations to discuss the book Mỹ Documents by Kevin Nguyen before he comes to talk at our annual Read Up Richmond event!

International Day

Date:	Saturday, November 1, 2025
Time:	10:00am - 12:00pm
Location:	Gellman Room - Main Library

Join Richmond Public Library and VCU’s Global Education office for a special event featuring students from around the world.

The Japanese Experience in Virginia, 1900s-1950s: Jim Crow to Internment

Date:	Friday, November 7, 2025
Time:	6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location:	Richmond Room - Main Library

Emma Ito will share her groundbreaking research into the lives of Japanese and Japanese Americans in Virginia during Jim Crow and World War II, explaining how people in Virginia were affected by the 1924 Racial Integrity Act and internment during World War II.