As a parent, I’m perpetually on the lookout for children’s books about Taiwan or meaningful reads written by fellow Taiwanese American authors. Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl, is a soon-to-be released picture book that has been on my radar ever since I first heard of this award-winning story about an aboriginal Amis girl in Taiwan. My daughters and I were thrilled to receive an advanced copy of the book from its author, Erica Lee Schlaikjer, especially since we would be spending the summer in Taiwan.
This year some of my children’s favorite places to visit were the Taiwan Indigenous Culture Park in Pingtung and Maolin National Park in Kaohsiung. Both have stunning natural vistas and, depending on the season, visitors can spot a variety of flora and fauna, including rare butterflies. Both sites are also valuable resources for learning about Taiwanese indigenous and aboriginal cultures. My kids have been obsessed with Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl; they made the keen observation that just like in the story, we also ran into a typhoon. Upon arrival in Taiwan, we learned that typhoon Gaemi would soon storm the island. And similar to the aboriginal girl character in the book, my daughter has an affinity for cooking and planting. “Makapahai” means “beautiful” in the Amis language and is my daughter’s favorite vocabulary learned from this book!
There are so many elements my children and I appreciated about the exquisitely illustrated Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl: the own-voices aspect, the maternal wisdom gleaned, the spirit of finding beauty in the overlooked things in life, even if those elements are not traditionally celebrated.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Crystal: I often think about those formative years and how the storytelling in my childhood affects the way I write as an adult. What is your earliest memory of creating stories?
Erica: I still have my writing notebooks from 1st Grade. I wrote stories about hidden treasures, friendly ghosts, and magic shoes. As a kid, I also kept a journal, sporadically, to process my innermost thoughts. Most of my entries started with “Dear Diary…”.% or “Dear DiDi…” like I was writing a letter to a close friend.
C: Journal-writing was also very much a way for me to sort out complicated thoughts when I was younger, such as struggles with feeling like I was caught in between Taiwanese and American cultures. How do your aboriginal Taiwanese and Taiwanese American identities inform your writing?
E: My aboriginal Taiwanese heritage directly informed my first picture book. But it’s funny—I don’t typically describe myself as “Taiwanese American.” In my experience, that label is often associated with people of Han Chinese descent who are first- or second-generation immigrants to the U.S. from Taiwan. My nationality is American, and my ethnicity is Western European & Scandinavian on my father’s side, and Amis on my mother’s side. I am proudly Amis, but I also feel some imposter syndrome, because I haven’t spent much time in Taiwan, I don’t speak my tribal language, and I never learned how to make our traditional food or crafts. I have to remind myself that this feeling, too, is a valid and common experience of indigenous identity, especially in a modern, globalized, urban world. All this to say, I guess I am hyper-sensitive and appreciative of people’s personal histories and backgrounds, and perhaps that’s why I like writing about people.
Regardless, labels are limiting and identity is complicated! I feel most comfortable telling people I’m mixed. I also identify as a Third Culture Kid because I was born in the United States but grew up in cultures outside of the U.S. and Taiwan, including China, Hong Kong, and Switzerland, thanks to my father’s career as a Foreign Service Officer. I’m also used to being The New Kid: highly adaptable and outgoing but also perpetually feeling left out and unrelatable. My identity, therefore, probably informs my writing insofar as I like exploring themes related to belonging. I think part of me is always trying to heal from grief through my writing, too. Grief of being disconnected from my ancestors and far-flung relatives. Grief of not being fluent in my mother tongue. Grief of saying goodbye to people and places I’ve loved. Grief of being too hard on myself as a child and wanting to reclaim some of my whimsy and wonder. Writing helps fill those holes in my heart.
C: I also personally feel that writing through grief is cathartic and necessary, whether that grief is experienced first-hand or passed down through generations or through family. Historically, what are some of the challenges your family has faced in Taiwan as aboriginal Amis?
E: The challenges are similar to those that indigenous people have endured worldwide because of the destructive forces of colonization, political marginalization, and economic exploitation. The big ones: Land dispossession. Forced assimilation. Loss of language, customs, and traditional knowledge. Violence and discrimination. Stereotyping and microaggressions. (I have some uncomfortable memories of Chinese and Taiwanese people finding out that my mother is Amis, and then saying something foul, like, “Oh! So you must be really good at drinking and dancing!” So offensive, so reductive, so flattening. The nerve they had, to say that to her face!)
Despite challenges, my family survived, like our indigenous brothers and sisters around the planet. I have a few lines in my book to honor this resilience: “Like roots, we are strong. Like leaves, we are full of life. Like seeds, we can grow anywhere. No matter how far we go, we always belong to this place.” These words have become positive affirmations, which give me a sense of pride.
C: Those affirmations are so uplifting and can be universally applied and appreciated. We often hear about the strong oral traditions of aboriginal Taiwanese tribes, such as songs and storytelling. What was your experience like in this aspect? What sort of oral traditions did you grow up with?
E: Some of my core memories are visiting my relatives in Taiwan and sitting around the living room of someone’s house, singing songs and telling stories for hours. Lots of joking and teasing. Lots of laughter. Lots of snacks! The energy was always boisterous and loving, even if we hadn’t seen each other in years. There was always music. I don’t know too many American lullabies off the top of my head, but I can sing two Amis folk songs by heart. When I have kids one day, I’ll pass those melodies down to them. “Oral traditions” sounds like it should come with some formal learning protocol. But in my own lived experience, it has simply meant being in your body, using your authentic voice, connecting with people face-to-face, heart-to-heart, not relying on the written word to communicate, but rather, sensing and feeling each other’s presence.
In her broken English, my mother recently tried to explain to me the beauty of coming from a culture with an oral history: “We’re good because we just flow,” she said. It was crystal clear to me what she meant.
It’s ironic that I’m attempting to preserve my Amis culture through the written word, in a printed picture book format. My dream would be to have a podcast, or a series of storytelling workshops, where I could bring people together to share indigenous Taiwanese songs, stories, and wisdom—really listen to each other, not just read words on a page.
C: I hope you do pursue that dream and enrich the landscape of indigenous Taiwanese in the media! Are there other aboriginal Taiwanese writers or indigenous artists who have influenced you?
E: Sadly, I don’t know too many. I’m thankful that my picture book writing journey has actually opened a portal for me to explore that community online. There are so many young Taiwanese folks who are revitalizing their aboriginal culture through the arts. The Amis contemporary artist Yosifu has been on my radar for a few years; I love his use of vibrant colors to represent joy and strength. Recently, I stumbled upon a group called Formosan Futures, which just hosted an emerging indigenous artist exhibition in Taipei. I also connected via Instagram with someone who feels like a long-lost, soul sister: a mixed-race, British-Amis designer and artist, Jade Johnson, who makes beautiful illustrations exploring themes of traditional craft, indigenous culture, community, and climate resilience.
Ultimately, the indigenous Taiwanese artistry that feels most inspiring to me is my grandmother’s hand-stitched embroidery; my mother’s cooking and painting; my aunties’ handicrafts and dancing; my uncles’ singing. Artistry runs in our family. It transcends time and place and language.
C: My daughters and I really appreciated that Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl is a mother-daughter story. Traditionally, the Amis in Taiwan are known to be a matrilineal society. How have the strong female role models in your family influenced or steered your stories?
E: My mother is strong-willed, opinionated, passionate, savvy, and multi-talented, and I think she passed those traits down to me and my two siblings. She didn’t have a professional career of her own, but she absolutely managed every aspect of the home and child-rearing, while still maintaining a vibrant personality and nurturing her own interests and creativity. I have learned so much from her. I write that Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl is “dedicated to my mother, Imoi, and her mother, Hong’ai, and all the mothers who came before her, descending from the original people of Taiwan.” It was important for me to honor my mother’s lineage, because she is my strongest connection to my indigenous culture, which requires care and attention to stay alive. I never met my grandfather—he died the year before I was born—and I only have a few faint memories of my grandmother, who passed away when I was 11 years old. When I thought about writing my first picture book, I knew it had to be a story that would make my ancestors, as well as my future children, proud. I’m not surprised my first book centers around motherhood and nature—that’s the source of all creation.
C: What led you to create Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl?
E: Honestly, I rearranged the furniture in my office on the eve of a Full Moon, and boom!—inspiration struck me like lightning the next day. I decided I was going to write children’s books, a lifelong dream. I don’t know if it was the feng shui and the astrology of it all, or just the fact that I finally had the mental and emotional space to create after years of feeling stressed and over-stretched. People always say to write what you know, so I asked myself what was the most true and unique thing about me? The answer always came back to my indigeneity, my mixed identity, and my global worldview. I thought about what book I would want to write, if it was the only thing I ever published. Preserving my mother’s Amis culture and language felt important, especially as she’s getting older. I started thinking about the traditional folk songs she taught me: one about a young girl picking a wild vegetable called dadugum. That was the seed of the story.
C: I love that plants play a prominent role in Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl. How does your Amis heritage affect your relationship with nature? What are some of your favorite plants?
E: Indigenous wisdom tells us that all humans have a relationship to nature. We are nature; there is no separation. Displacing indigenous people from their land, stealing their land, controlling their land, is one of the worst forms of violence, because it severs people from their identity and culture. One of the few Amis words I’ve learned is dadugum, which is the plant featured in the book. My mother always gets so excited when she sees it growing anywhere, because it reminds her of home. Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl is my little fantasy of what it would be like to return to Taiwan, to be a responsible steward of land, to tend to a wild garden, and to nourish myself with nature’s bounty.
I’ve always felt most at peace in nature, even though I’ve always lived in big cities. Some of my favorite plants now are bougainvillea flowers and wild succulents, which I’ve become obsessed with ever since moving to Southern California. I also love lotus flowers because they grow out of the mud. There’s a metaphor in there about thriving through adversity, which I find inspiring.
C: Preserving heritage, resisting colonization and fighting for fair treatment are themes that appear in much aboriginal Taiwanese literature and Indigenous writing around the world. Did you grow up hearing such discourse at home? Do you have an interest in such themes as a writer?
E: My family has always been open about talking about politics, history, and racism. When I was a kid, my mother tried to explain to me what it felt like growing up in Taiwan as a “Shan Di Ren 山地人” (an outdated, derogatory term that translates to mountain person, or basically, a barbarian.) “We were treated worse than Black people were treated in the United States,” my mother told me. Whether or not her comparison was fair or accurate, it was a helpful analogy for me as a child whose only frame of reference for racism was American history. Her comparison made me aware that racial injustices exist everywhere, and it underscored the need for empathy and solidarity in the struggle for equality and liberation internationally. It highlighted the feeling of invisibility that many indigenous people have, since their history of suffering is too often ignored or denied.
I will always strive to write through the lens of an anti-racist framework. I will always advocate for more diversity, equity, and inclusion in media and literature. I will always interrogate the stories we tell, and who tells them, for what audience. Stories are how we understand the world and our place in it. Stories are how we also imagine a better future.
C: I often find writing inspiration from my travels and from the various cities I’ve called home, such as Taipei. What are some of your favorite places in Taiwan?
E: Regretfully, I haven’t spent that much time in Taiwan. I lived there for only about a year as a young child, and studied and worked there for several months as a magazine writer after graduating from college. I haven’t been back to visit since 2012, when I won a grant for a multimedia project documenting Taiwan’s graffiti and street art culture. I am woefully overdue for a trip! My favorite places from memory are Taitung, my mother’s hometown; the train ride along the coast to Hualien; the alleyways and teahouses of Jiufen; Rainbow Village in Taichung (I’ve heard it has been destroyed); Dragonfly Beads Art Studio in Sandimen, which provides jobs to local aboriginal women; the karaoke bars of Taipei. I also love Eslite bookstores. Oh, and every 7-Eleven on any corner, of course. (If you know, you know.)
C: Yes! Many are often surprised when they hear my daughter goes to 7-Eleven every single day when she visits Taiwan, but Taiwanese people get it!
I know your cousin in Taiwan worked on the translation for Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl. What was it like to collaborate with your family on this book? Will you work together on future books in a similar format?
E: My cousin Bannai made perfect sense. She was born and raised in Taiwan, she understands the nuances of being part of a multilingual and multicultural family, and she teaches English for a living. If we get the chance to work together again, I’d love that! She’s very creative, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she wrote or illustrated her own book one day.
C: How was the collaboration process with the illustrator?
E: Sleeping Bear Press managed the relationship with our illustrator, Cinyee Chiu. Her artwork and ethos is perfectly aligned with the book. I wanted to collaborate with someone from Taiwan, someone who cares deeply about nature, and someone who creates artworks that appeal to both children and adults. Her use of color and texture is lovely. Every page feels so lush and layered. Early in the development process, Cinyee sent some initial character sketches. I gave some feedback to ensure that the mother and daughter authentically represented Amis people. At first, their noses felt too pointy and Disney-Princess-like. Their skin tone was too fair. Their eyes were too narrow. I shared some reference photos of my relatives, to show how our people tend to have broader, rounder noses, fuller lips, deeper set eyes, and tan skin. Cinyee was receptive to the feedback, and I’m happy where we landed. The rest of the interior pages unfolded very naturally. I barely had any notes on the illustrations. If anything, I really pushed for Cinyee to take liberties with a couple of spreads to be more surreal and abstract, with more layering and collage, which is what I love to see in her illustrations on Instagram.
C: My children enjoyed learning some Amis vocabulary from Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl. How did you decide which Amis words to include in this story?
E: I started with the only words I knew, which is not a lot! Ina means mother; wawa means child. It felt important to include those, to establish intimacy between the two characters. I knew I had to include my favorite word: makapahai, which means beautiful. It’s a word that I often heard as a compliment from relatives when I was little, and it always made me feel special and adored. I also knew I had to include the basics: counting to 10. One of my favorite words is mutzmutz, which apparently isn’t even a real word, as I discovered in the process of writing the manuscript. My mother explained that it’s a made-up word that my uncle gave to a food called hakhak, a sticky rice ball. Additional food vocabulary followed, since food is such an intrinsic part of culture. We also threw in some vocabulary of flora and fauna, to complement the real star of the book: dadugum, the wild green. I had to ask my mother how to say a few things. She’s the only one in my immediate family who is fluent in Amis, an endangered language.
C: What led to the decision to publish Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl in a bilingual Mandarin-English format?
E: The original manuscript that I submitted to the Own Voices, Own Stories competition was in English only. Once I found out that I was a Grand Prize Winner and started negotiating the contract with the publisher, I knew this book had potential to reach a wider audience if we made it bilingual in English and Mandarin, with pinyin, and a few words in Amis. It works for native English speakers, native Chinese speakers, people who are learning either English or Chinese, and people who may speak Mandarin but don’t know how to read it (many American-born Taiwanese folks can relate to this, I’m sure.) Huge kudos to the Sleeping Bear Press sales and editorial teams for taking on the creative challenge. It created more work (for translation, for proofreading, for design and layout), but I think the final result is well worth it! I can proudly share this book with my entire extended family—in America and Taiwan.
C: There’s the perception that aboriginal Taiwanese literature and indigenous authors in general are having their moment, that the interest in aboriginal literature in Taiwan and around the world in recent years indicate that indigenous writers have moved from niche to the mainstream. Is this your perception as well?
E: I am not that knowledgeable about Taiwan’s literary landscape, but I’m encouraged to hear that indigenous Yuan Zhu Min 原住民 authors are becoming more popular. It’s about time! There are so many stories to tell.
C: What is the primary message you’d like to convey to readers in Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl?
E: I want readers to appreciate the beauty and abundance of nature. I want them to honor indigenous culture and language, wherever they are. And I want them to remember to get off their screens and go outside to spend quality time with people they love.
Erica Lee Schlaikjer is the author of Wild Greens, Beautiful Girl (illustrated by Taiwanese artist Cinyee Chiu), published on August 15, 2024 by Sleeping Bear Press. Her debut picture book explores the bounty of nature and the beauty of identity through a mother-daughter story inspired by her indigenous Taiwanese (Amis) heritage.
Crystal Z. Lee is the author of Kai the Dancing Butterfly, a picture book about the purple crow butterfly migration in Taiwan. She is also the author of Mei’s Mermaid Mission, A Unicorn Named Rin, and a novel, Love and Other Moods.
Leave a Reply