Tag Archives: writing

By Vanessa Wang Yiyun Li grew up in Beijing and came to America in 1996 to pursue a PhD in immunology. But instead of completing the PhD program, she discovered her love for writing and joined the prestigious Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop. “English is not my first language, but it is my first writing language,” Li tells us. “It was partly …

Alice Guo, Making an Impact with Speaking Academy By Jennie L. Ilustre Everyone has a turning point in life. Something, an event or perhaps a decision, dramatically changes things. For Alice Guo, Founder and CEO of Impact Speaking Academy, her turning point came “when my aunt in China nudged me to leave my comfort zone and come to America with …

By Jenny Chen Andrew Lam, editor-in-chief of New America Media, a nonprofit organization that advocates 3,000 ethnic news organizations in the United States, was awarded the PEN/Oakland Award for his fictional collection of short stories Birds of Paradise Lost. The book is based on the Vietnamese refugee experience. Maxine Hong Kingston wrote about Lam: “…bask in his love of language, …

By Amanda Andrei In case you haven’t noticed, it’s been David Henry Hwang season in the D.C. metro area. Pinky Swear just pulled off a successful run of Bondage this November, Theater J is staging the regional premiere of Yellow Face this January and February, and the legendary playwright himself delivered an insightful and thought-provoking lecture at the Reston’s CenterStage …

By Tamara Treichel   Think Frank Abagnale’s life in Catch Me If You Can is exciting, full of shape-shifting, danger, suspense and a sprinkling of romance? Then compare Wong Chin Foo’s life. Wong Chin Foo (1847-1898) was a real man with the flair of a Chinese American trickster hero, and he is brought back to life in Scott D. Seligman’s …