SHAWNA YANG RYAN is a former Fulbright scholar and the author of the novel GREEN ISLAND, a stunning story of love, betrayal, and family, set against the backdrop of a changing Taiwan over the course of the twentieth century. She authored a previous novel, Water Ghosts, and teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Her short fiction has appeared in ZYZZYVA, The Asian American Literary Review, Kartika Review, and The Berkeley Fiction Review.
We’ve been a big fan of hers, not only because of excellent writing, but because she has an impressive nuanced understanding of Taiwan’s historical events and its peoples’ experiences. You’ll want to get your copy of the novel autographed!
She now lives in Honolulu, but she will be touring both the West and East Coasts from mid-February to early March. Be sure to catch her at one of her talks/panels:
Friday, February 17 @ 7:00pm
New Taiwanese American Lit: Lin, Ryan, & Sicardi
Location: Asian American Writers’ Workshop, 112 W 27th St, New York, NY
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/382818025410964/
Saturday, February 18 @ 7:00pm
Taiwan in the Trump Era: Ed Lin & Shawna Yang Ryan Reading
Location: grumpy bert, 82 Bond St, Brooklyn, NY
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/222431434886443/
Saturday, February 18 (registration now closed)
Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association East Coast Conference
Location: New York University (NYU), New York, NY
Website: https://www.eccintertrak.com/
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1556108117740808/
Saturday, March 4 @ 1:00pm
Commemorating 70th Anniversary of 228 Massacre
Location: Taiwan Center Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, 3001 Walnut Grove Ave, Rosemead, CA
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/158912074606880/
Sunday, March 5 @ 3:00pm
Commemorating 70th Anniversary of 228 Massacre
Location: Tustin Presbyterian Church, 225 W Main St, Tustin, CA
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/116699512178395/
About GREEN ISLAND
A stunning story of love, betrayal, and family, set against the backdrop of a changing Taiwan over the course of the twentieth century.
February 28, 1947. Trapped inside their home due to an uprising that has rocked Taipei, Dr. Tsai delivers his youngest daughter, the unnamed narrator of Green Island. A few days later, he is one of the many thousands of people dragged away from their families. Missing for a decade, he eventually returns a haunted man. Feeling a stranger in the midst of his family, who have carried on with their lives, he connects with his youngest daughter and unwittingly brings her into an uneasy political scene where neighbors are set against neighbors to survive. Eventually, she makes her way to Berkeley, California, a married woman and a student, but her past and history follow her. She is ultimately forced to decide between right and what might save her family… a choice she witnessed her father make many years before.
As the novel sweeps across six decades and two continents, the life of the narrator shadows the course of Taiwan’s history, from the end of the period Japanese colonial rule to its decades under martial law administered by the Chinese nationalists, and finally to its transformation into a democracy. But above all, Green Island is a lush and lyrical story of a family and a nation caught up in these events, all the while exploring the nuances of complicity and survival, and asking the question: How far would you be willing to go for the ones you love?
Watch TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s past interview with Shawna:
Leave a Reply