Shin Yu Pai

Shin Yu Pai is the writer, host, and producer of Ten Thousand Things – a chart-topping podcast on Asian American stories that she produced for three years with KUOW Public Radio, Seattle’s NPR affiliate station. During its run, the show won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, two Golden Crane Awards from the Asian American Podcasters Association and a silver from the Signal Awards. After three successful seasons with public radio, Shin Yu is now making her show independently with Wonder Media Network.

Shin Yu served as Civic Poet of Seattle (2023-2024) and is the recipient of the 2024 Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America for poetic genius. She the author of 13 books, including most recently No Neutral (Empty Bowl, 2023). She is the recipient of awards from the The Academy of American Poets, City of Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture, 4Culture, and The Awesome Foundation. She is a 2022 Artist Trust Fellow and was shortlisted in 2014 for a Stranger Genius Award in Literature. From 2015 to 2017, Shin Yu served as Poet Laureate for The City of Redmond. Her writing has appeared in Atlas Obscura, Tricycle Magazine, YES! Magazine, NYTimes, Zocalo Public Square, Seattle Met, ParentMap, Seattle’s Child, International Examiner, and South Seattle Emerald. Her work has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, the UK, and Canada.