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TaiwaneseAmerican.org

  • Home
    • About
    • Community Organizations
  • Submissions
  • Stories
    • Interviews
    • Perspectives
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Community Orgs
    • Food & Travel
    • Social Issues & Politics
  • Projects
  • 2026 Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club
    • Book Club Discussion Guides
  • Creative Writing Prizes
  • Gift Guides
  • Bookshop
  • Parenting Resources
  • Contact
  • Donate
Publishing a Taiwanese Children’s Literature Legend in English: A Reflection on "Our Starry Starry Night" by Jimmy Liao Publishing a Taiwanese Children’s Literature Legend in English: A Reflection on "Our Starry Starry Night" by Jimmy Liao
“Now I just get to suffer on TV”: Hudson Yang on Cooking His Way Back to Taiwan “Now I just get to suffer on TV”: Hudson Yang on Cooking His Way Back to Taiwan
The Third Time Hiro Ran Away: Fiction by J.C. Hsyu The Third Time Hiro Ran Away: Fiction by J.C. Hsyu
Isolation Tank: Fiction by Sharon S.Y. Lee Isolation Tank: Fiction by Sharon S.Y. Lee
Our Yin and Yang Family: Creative Nonfiction by Emma Tzeng Our Yin and Yang Family: Creative Nonfiction by Emma Tzeng

Featured Stories

Creative Writing Prizes

Driving Lessons: Fiction by Lena Chen

Adult Category, Finalist Halfway through our last summer, Miranda decided I needed to learn how to drive. I was curled up on our blue couch from Goodwill, tilting the library copy of Persuasion toward the hazy light from the windows. “Why?”  “Why not?” She lifted a shoulder uncovered…

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Arts & CultureInterviews

Quitting Your Job for the Plot: In Conversation with Vincent Chu (“Nice Places”)

In Vincent Chu’s debut, Nice Places, the well-worn pilgrimage novel is reincarnated as satire for those of us who earnestly and anxiously poll our friends every Monday: “chat, should I quit my job?” The book follows an everyman– bored and unfulfilled at his corporate job in account management…

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FeaturedFood & Travel

From Tea to Millet: Writer Jess Eng’s book “Taitung Eats” uncovers a fast growing slow food movement in Southeastern Taiwan

When chef and writer Jess Eng tried pitching her first story about Taitung, Taiwan, no one wanted it.  This was around 2022 and the story was about the Luye Red Oolong, a bug bitten tea with a honey-sweet flavor. Its naturally occurring honey-like sweetness comes from a biological defense from the…

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We love this earnest, impassioned Perspectives pie We love this earnest, impassioned Perspectives piece from 2022 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes Grand Prize Winner Ian Tseng on his experience acquiring, translating, and editing a book from Taiwan for an American audience.⁠ ⁠ "Jimmy Liao’s 'Our Starry Starry Night' was originally published in Traditional Chinese in 2009 under the title Xīngkōng by Locus Publishing Company in Taipei, Taiwan. Although I grew up visiting Taipei almost every summer (and would stay at my grandparents’ house in the very same district as Locus Publishing Company!), I’d never heard of Jimmy Liao until 2023, when I stumbled upon his books on the Books From Taiwan website. I soon learned that he’s truly a literary legend of Taiwan and one of the most renowned children’s book creators internationally."⁠ ⁠ Thus began Tseng’s journey to bring Liao’s beautiful story to readers in the United States: navigating the commercial, linguistic, and artistic work of making a beloved Taiwanese book accessible to a new audience.⁠ ⁠ Read the full piece, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/11/our-starry-starry-night-chronicle-books/⁠ ⁠ Please also consider picking up a copy of "Our Starry Starry Night," available wherever books are sold and perhaps at your local library.
Hudson Yang grew up on television. He was nine yea Hudson Yang grew up on television. He was nine years old when he was cast as a young Eddie Huang on ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, the first network sitcom centered on an Asian American family in two decades. Now 23, a Harvard graduate, and still a self described “little chubby Asian kid” at heart, Yang is turning his lifelong love of food into a second act. His cooking and travel series “Order Up!” follows him through a crash-course chef apprenticeship in restaurant kitchens around the world. The first season, which aired in the U.S. on National Geographic as “Crash Course Cuisine with Hudson Yang,” took him from Los Angeles, Houston, and New Orleans to Singapore. ⁠ ⁠ The second season brings him to Taiwan, where his family is from, and to Vancouver. In Taiwan, Yang wades neck-deep into a water lily farm and saws down giant bamboo alongside members of the Indigenous Amis community in Hualien. This season will begin streaming online on TaiwanPlus @taiwanplus, Taiwan’s English-language international media platform, beginning early November. ⁠ ⁠ Read Hudson's interview with Food Editor Tiffany Ran on TaiwaneseAmerican.org.⁠ ⁠ https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/11/hudson-yang-order-up/
We're excited to bring back our "Made by Taiwanese We're excited to bring back our "Made by Taiwanese American" Small Business Holiday Gift Guide! If you're an artisan, small retailer, or creator offering heritage-inspired products, we’d love to feature your products.⁠ To nominate a TA-owned small business you love, tag them in the comments or send them this post!⁠ ⁠ ✨ Creators/Businesses - please fill out the form, linked here and in our bio: https://forms.gle/WT4q7EcMx4XXR8Uo9⁠ ⁠ If you've previously been featured in our gift guides, please feel free to participate again! We're so grateful to support you in any way we can. Please note that not all submissions are guaranteed coverage and are subject to editors' curation.⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Pictured (L to R):⁠ @heydoh.co "Classic Soy Sauce" | Taiwanese-founded, crafted from single-origin whole-black soybeans grown in Taiwan⁠ @theacspace "Island of Taiwan Brushed Cotton Twill Dad Cap" | A premium menswear brand rooted in Taiwanese American heritage⁠ @ilhacandles "Autumn Pear Hand-Poured Candle" | Taiwanese American, female-founded company creating fragrant soy candles and home fragrance products⁠ @yahubeauty "Gentle Glow Mist" | Taiwanese American-founded skincare brand rooted in Taiwanese ingredients⁠ @yunhaishop "Taiwanese Irwin Mango Jam" | Taiwanese American-founded, sourced directly from artisans, farms, and soy sauce breweries in Taiwan⁠ @mumubathshop "Butterfly Gua Sha" | Taiwanese-founded, bath and body products that capture the essence of their Taiwanese heritage⁠ ⁠
The November pick for our Taiwanese American Memoi The November pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Peng Ming-Min's "A TASTE OF FREEDOM: MEMOIRS OF A TAIWANESE INDEPENDENCE LEADER." ⁠ ⁠ Originally published in 1972, Peng's autobiography is a moving testament that travels through the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, advanced studies abroad, house arrest, and exile. It offers a unique and captivating English-language perspective on Taiwan’s tumultuous mid-twentieth century history.⁠ ⁠ To accompany our discussion, we've also been ruminating on this 2025 op-ed by Taiwanese American Eleanor Lin for "The Michigan Daily," in which she reflects on the unsettling dissonance of the precarious situation faced by international students and scholars today. Notably, Peng had immigrated to the United States on a visa when he both drafted "A TASTE OF FREEDOM" and continued his work as an overseas activist. ⁠ ⁠ Reading his memoir together can help us process difficult questions about the relationship between immigration, political expression, and the fragile conditions under which people are able to speak, organize, and advocate for freedom. ⁠ ⁠ Join us on Sunday, November 15 @ 6PM PT for a cozy virtual discussion (Google Meets). All are welcome!⁠ RSVP at the link in bio.
The October pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir The October pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Jami Nakamura Lin's @jami_lin "The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir." ⁠ Featuring stunning illustrations by her sister, Cori Nakamura Lin, and divided into the four acts of a traditional Japanese narrative structure, The Night Parade is a genre-bending and deeply emotional memoir that mirrors the sensation of being caught between realms. Braiding her experience of mental illness, the death of her father, the grieving process, and other haunted topics with storytelling tradition, Jami Nakamura Lin shines a light into dark corners, driven by a question: How do we learn to live with the things that haunt us?⁠ ⁠ Join us on Sunday, October 18 @ 6PM PT for a cozy virtual discussion (Google Meets). All are welcome!⁠ RSVP at the link in bio.
In "Nice Places," when Georgie quits his account m In "Nice Places," when Georgie quits his account management job at Oats Technologies to travel the world for one year, he hopes to escape the daily existential discomfort of corporate life. But after a meditation guru robs him on his way to the airport, he awakens in a guest house in the rundown yet vibrant Panhandle neighborhood of his own city.⁠ ⁠ Alone with his phone and a desperate urge to assure his friends and family all is well, Georgie shares a photo of “authentic” boat noodles. To his surprise, everyone loves the post and believes he is overseas. Ant, a mixed media artist from Berlin, proposes a collaboration. With her vision and the help of a charming cast of guests and locals, Georgie’s unlikely adventures unravel in ways he never imagined.⁠ ⁠ We're delighted to present this Q&A with "Nice Places" author Vincent Chu @vincentkchu -- read it at TaiwaneseAmerican.org. ⁠ ⁠ "Nice Places" is available at our Bookshop, wherever books are sold, and perhaps at your local library!
New on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: Our Food Editor Tiff New on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: Our Food Editor Tiffany Ran @bb6.taiwan interviews Jess Eng @goudatalks about TAITUNG EATS 臺東食, a beautifully designed, self-published compendium of essays and original photography about the foods and lives of Taitung farmers, educators, and indigenous groups. ⁠ ⁠ The book is dedicated to the Center of Austronesian Culture of National Taitung University, and available for purchase at jesseng.com.
We’ve been struck by Taiwanese American filmmake We’ve been struck by Taiwanese American filmmaker Iyin Landre’s Vultures, a short-form medical conspiracy thriller created entirely for Instagram. Season 2 takes the story to Taiwan, with bilingual captions and new episodes dropping weekly.⁠ ⁠ Read the full Q&A between Director of Photography Michael Li @no_limits_li and Writer/Filmmaker Iyin Landre @iyin212 at TaiwaneseAmerican.org.⁠ ⁠ Watch the series, as well as looks behind the scenes, at @vultures_series
Eric Sze @esze.e is well known for his “authenti Eric Sze @esze.e is well known for his “authentically unauthentic” dishes. Born and raised in Taipei before heading to the United States for college, he [interrogates] what is considered “Taiwanese” food through his experimental cooking. ⁠ He first learned to cook the Taiwanese dishes he missed while in New York; now he plays with the cooking techniques he knows and the ingredients he understands. Sze flips them on their head, making something new that maybe could’ve only been created between Taipei and New York City. (See: BDSM chicken, otherwise known as as “debrined, deboned, soy milk chicken.”)⁠ ⁠ But this cooking journey of “intentional fusion” didn’t come without its stumbles, as Sze recounts in his first — and most likely last — cookbook, Taiwanese?, which publishes in October and is now available for preorders.⁠ The cookbook features 75 recipes, personalized travel itineraries, and rambling reflections on things like the rocky opening of the now-shuttered 886 (RIP). “[I’m] proud of all the stumbles we’ve taken because we’re always picking ourselves back up,” Sze tells guest contributor Sara Conway.⁠ ⁠ Read the full conversation, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/09/eric-sze-taiwanese-cookbook/⁠ ⁠ Photos by Alex Lau.
It's so heartwarming to see a new and growing coll It's so heartwarming to see a new and growing collection of heritage-inspired picture books for the next generation of Taiwanese Americans and beyond. ⁠ Find the Mid-Autumn Festival collection at our Bookshop (linked in bio) or your local public library!⁠ (in order of slide appearance) - ⁠ 01 - Beneath the Same Round Moon - written by @jasmineifang / ill. by @vuon.illustration⁠ 02 - Miya's Mooncakes - written by @crystal.z.lee / ill. by @allie_su588⁠ 03 - Mixed-Up Mooncakes - written by @christinamatula & @ricalyonswrites / ill. by @tracysubisak⁠ 04 - Thanking the Moon - written & ill. by @pacylin⁠ 05 - A Big Mooncake for Little Star - written & ill. by @pacylin⁠ 06 - The Shadow in the Moon - written by @christinamatula / ill. by @pearlperoni⁠
The September pick for our Taiwanese American Memo The September pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Kim Liao’s “Where Every Ghost Has a Name：A Memoir of Taiwanese Independence” SYNOPSIS：In her debut memoir, “Where Every Ghost Has a Name,” Kim Liao @the_kimlet travels to Taiwan in 2010, more than 60 years after her grandfather, Thomas Liao 廖文毅, the leader of the Taiwanese independence movement, was arrested by authorities there. Not long after Thomas Liao’s arrest, other members of the Liao family were arrested and had their land seized; but several family members, including the author’s grandmother, were forced into exile. ”Where Every Ghost Has a Name“ spans the year that Liao spent in Taiwan wading her way through her family’s history, which, she quickly learns, has been largely erased or hidden away by the KMT government. This historical and cultural silence around post-WWII Taiwan served as an uncanny mirror for the silence that surrounded the author’s own family after they arrived in the United States, lasting all the way into Liao’s adult life. Join us and author Kim Liao on Sunday, September 20 @ 6PM PT for a guided discussion（Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.
We were so grateful to speak with Jasmine Fang abo We were so grateful to speak with Jasmine Fang about her debut picture book, Beneath the Same Round Moon: A Mooncake Festival Story. The story, richly illustrated by Rong Pham and Vinh Nguyen, offers a fresh and topical take on a familiar tradition while thoughtfully expanding its resonance to include families who may have never celebrated or even known of the Mid-Autumn Festival. With tenderness and compassion, Jasmine enriches our understanding of what it means to draw close and forge connection even amidst change.⁠ ⁠ Read the full Q&A here: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/08/beneath-the-same-round-moon-jasmine-fang/⁠ ⁠ Words by @jasmineifang | Illustrations by @vuon.illustration | Publisher @beamingbooksmn⁠ ⁠ Beneath the Same Round Moon launches on September 1 - pre-order now!⁠ And for those in the Bay Area, Jasmine will have the following book events next month:⁠ Sep 12 10:30am launch⁠ On Waverly SF @onwaverly⁠ ⁠ Sep 13 10:30am⁠ Linden Tree Books, Los Altos @lindentreereads⁠ ⁠ Sep 19 1:30pm⁠ Fairyland Children’s Festival, Oakland
A Story That Lives Within US: Ada — Volume II is A Story That Lives Within US: Ada — Volume II is a historical and cultural preservation exhibition curated by Tzu-Ying (Naomi) Chan. Featuring 17 artists from Japan, Spain, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ecuador, and the United States, the exhibition explores Taiwanese immigrant experiences in New York during the 1980s and 1990s through contemporary art, oral histories, and written narratives. ⁠ ⁠ It will be on view at Crossing Art @crossingart in Chelsea from August 13–26, 2026, with artist talks, workshops, and guided tours. See @storyofus.ada for more information on upcoming events!
From longtime contributor, educator-activist, and From longtime contributor, educator-activist, and former TaiwanPlus producer Eric Tsai:⁠ For many people around the world, their first introduction to Taiwan comes through headlines about military tensions, semiconductors, or elections. Those stories matter, but they are only pieces of a much larger story. Taiwan is also its history, its people, its culture, its contradictions, and the everyday experiences that shape a vibrant society.⁠ TaiwanPlus @taiwanplus was created to help tell Taiwan’s story to global audiences, not just in response to flashpoints of crisis, but with the depth and context that Taiwan deserves. For many in the diaspora, it has become a resource to better understand our heritage, explain Taiwan to friends and colleagues, and participate in conversations that extend far beyond geopolitics.⁠ ⁠ As proposals move forward in the Legislative Yuan that threaten TaiwanPlus’s funding, I hope we take a moment to reflect on what this work has made possible.⁠ ⁠ Has TaiwanPlus ever helped you understand Taiwan a little better? Helped you explain Taiwan to someone else? Helped you connect with a part of your own identity? If so, I hope you will share it in the comments below. These stories are some of the clearest evidence that this work matters.
The August pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir The August pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Jessica J. Lee's "Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past."⁠ ⁠ SYNOPSIS: A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she seeks his story while growing closer to the land he knew.⁠ Lee hikes mountains home to Formosan flamecrests, birds found nowhere else on earth, and swims in a lake of drowned cedars. She bikes flatlands where spoonbills alight by fish farms, and learns about a tree whose fruit can float in the ocean for years, awaiting landfall. Throughout, Lee unearths surprising parallels between the natural and human stories that have shaped her family and their beloved island. Joyously attentive to the natural world, Lee also turns a critical gaze upon colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, relying on and often effacing the labor and knowledge of local communities.⁠ ⁠ Two Trees Make a Forest is a genre-shattering book encompassing history, travel, nature, and memoir, an extraordinary narrative showing how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories.⁠ ⁠ 🖥️ Join us on Sunday, August 16 6PM PT for a guided discussion (Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.⁠
About

Founded in 2006, TaiwaneseAmerican.org is a web portal site highlighting many of the interesting people, events and organizations that make up Taiwanese America. It is both a volunteer-driven website and a non-profit organization that intends to connect and promote those who identify with the Taiwanese identity, heritage, or culture. By establishing our niche within the broader Asian Pacific American and mainstream communities, we hope to collectively contribute to the wonderful and diverse mosaic that America represents.

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