An Interview with Juliana and Wayne, Co-directors of the Piedmont Chamber Music Festival

Pianist Juliana Han and violinist Wayne Lee are the husband and wife co-directors of the Piedmont Chamber Music Festival in the Bay Area, California. Our editorial director Anna Wu caught up with them to chat about the festival, the Formosa Quartet, and their journeys as musicians. * * * Anna Wu: Hi Juliana and Wayne! Thanks for joining us today. Could you guys tell us a little bit about the Piedmont Chamber Music Festival? What inspired you to start it? Wayne Lee: The Piedmont Chamber…

Q&A with Dmae Roberts, Author of The Letting Go Trilogies

Dmae Roberts is the author of The Letting Go Trilogies: Stories of A Mixed-Race Family. TaiwaneseAmerican.org's editorial director Anna Wu chatted briefly with Dmae about the powerful, beautifully vulnerable memoirs. * * * Anna Wu: Hi Dmae. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. Could you tell us a little bit about the process of writing these memoirs? How did you come to structure the book as a series of trilogies? Dmae Roberts: Through the decades, I've written…

An Interview with Ed Lin, Author of Ghost Month

Ed Lin is the author of Ghost Month, a new mystery novel set in Taipei. He is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards. TaiwaneseAmerican.org's editorial director Anna Wu sat down with Ed while he was on a book tour in Berkeley, California, and they talked about his book, the politics of Taiwan, and how he became a novelist. * * * Anna Wu: Hi Ed. Could you tell us a bit about your novel, Ghost Month? Ed Lin: My latest novel Ghost Month was published by Soho Crime, actually…

An Interview with Jennifer J. Chow, Author of The 228 Legacy

Jennifer J. Chow's fiction writing has appeared in several literary magazines, but now she debuts her full-length novel, The 228 Legacy, which was inspired by stories about the 228 Incident recounted to her by her Taiwanese American husband and relatives. Three generations in an all-female Taiwanese family living near Los Angeles in 1980 are each guarding personal secrets. Grandmother Silk finds out that she has breast cancer, as daughter Lisa loses her job, while pre-teen granddaughter Abbey…

Film Review: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? is Taiwanese American writer-director Arvin Chen’s second feature film. His first feature, Au Revoir Taipei, was a whimsical romantic comedy packed with antics and an endearing spree around the city of Taipei. WYSLMT takes on a much heavier subject, with reflections on the dilemmas faced by gay communities in Asian culture. Revisit our 2010 interview with Arvin Chen The main character Weichung (Richie Jen) finds himself questioning his sexuality and his traditional…

Kathy Cheng and Thankful Registry: Giving with Heart

TaiwaneseAmerican.org's Managing Editor, Anna Wu, speaks with Thankful founder Kathy Cheng to find out more about her innovative start-up that is helping to personalize the gift-giving traditions around weddings, birthdays, and other events. Anna has also found success as a professional wedding photographer, so both she and Kathy have much in common when it comes to celebrating life's special moments. Read on to find out more behind the motivation and success of Thankful. Anna: Thank you for talking…

An Interview with Julie Wu, Author of The Third Son

Author Julie Wu has crafted a beautiful story in her debut novel The Third Son. It’s a compelling tale of a boy named Saburo set against the backdrop of occupied Taiwan and America at the dawn of the space age. TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s editorial director Anna Wu sat down with Julie to talk about the book, her inspirations, and her path to becoming an author. * * * Anna Wu: Julie, you have written an absolutely beautiful novel. For our readers who haven't read the book yet, could you give…

The Films of Ang Lee: A Month of Screenings in Washington DC

Dates: November 16 through December 19, 2012 First Location: Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art Address: 1050 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20560 Cost: Free, Open to Public Website: http://www.asia.si.edu/events/films.asp#/?i=2 Second Location: AFI Silver Theatre Address: 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910 Cost: Tickets Required Website: http://www.afi.com/silver/films/Calendar.aspx TECRO presents Ang Lee retrospective with Freer Gallery and AFI Nov. 16 to Dec.…

Gus on the Go: Taiwanese & Mandarin iOS Language Learning Apps

Gus on the Go is an adorable language learning app for iOS, and it is now available in both Taiwanese and Taiwanese Mandarin. It's especially rare to see anything designed for the Taiwanese language, so we loved checking it out and (re)learning the basics. The app is very simple and perfect for kids. It includes both vocabulary levels and cute quiz games to test your cumulative learning along the way. You can check out the apps on iTunes and read more about them below. We are also giving away free…

Happy Birthday Ho Chie! – Donate to TaiwaneseAmerican.org

Most of you probably know Ho Chie, since he's a regular superhero who seems to know everyone. Of course, Ho Chie Tsai is the founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, and he's contributed to the Taiwanese American community in endless ways over the years. Plus, he's still busy coming up with new ways to serve the community every day. Today, we wanted to turn this around and celebrate Ho Chie's -0th birthday! Ho Chie- we wanted to surprise you with a fundraising campaign for TaiwaneseAmerican.org, but…