About APIHMinis

APIHMinis is a space dedicated to celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander voices -- constructors and solvers, those who solve crosswords daily and those who are solving a crossword for the very first time.

We want to recognize the role that crosswords have in determining the parts of the world that are considered "general knowledge" or are deemed "mainstream enough" to be published -- and to create a space where people who aren't often represented can feel seen.

We want to create a space for some of the many people who find that crosswords are "too hard" or "not for them" because their lives don't necessarily match the established Western cultural canon (or because of the convoluted ways crossword clues are sometimes written - see our separate post about that).

We want to celebrate cultures and people that are often forgotten, minimized, or stereotyped due to painful histories of colonialism and imperialism that result in systemic racism and oppression that still permeate so many spaces today. Asia and the Pacific Islands’ many regions -- West, Central, East, South, Southeast Asian regions; Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia -- cover an incredible diversity of human experience. We are honored to represent a small slice of these cultures here and to share them with you.

Many people in the API diaspora live between cultures. It takes real work to maintain community and connection to our heritage, and the pressure to assimilate is very real. For many, crosswords represent only a partial view into who we are. This is a place to share the rest.