In the Mood For Love: an anthology of love stories from Chinatown

In the Mood for Love is a collection of art and writing about love by elders and teens in Chinatown, edited and designed by art and publishing collective, Active Chapter. Through weekly workshops led by members of Active Chapter, elders and teens shared their feelings about friendship, romance, and family through collage, drawing, writing, and oral stories. The collection celebrates the myriad ways love blooms around Chinatown — from a woman holding friends’ skeins of yarn while they knit, to a husband watching his wife play mahjong, to women exchanging Cantonese and Spanish words to overcome language barriers. In centering these stories, the collection hopes to help us honor the many shapes of love in all our lives.

This project was made possible with the support of All Asian Arts Alliance’s “What Can We Do?” Grant 2025, and the collaboration of University Settlement Society and Pace High School.