“Until The Sun Rises”: Q&A with Artist & Curator Vanessa Chen

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Vanessa Chen (陳詠昕) was born and raised in Taipei. Currently finishing up the last stretch of grad school (MFA Social Practice) in D.C., she is a curator/artist who uses art as a form of advocacy and to influence policy change. Outside of art school, she is a human rights advocate and a multilingual translator for refugees, asylum seekers, victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, and many more who are experiencing crises.  We're pleased to share this Q&A with Vanessa on her…

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This is why you must read “THIS IS NOT MY HOME”

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An Interview with Best Friends Eugenia Yoh and Vivienne Chang, and a Review of Their Debut Picture Book This is a totally unbiased review of the greatest debut picture book I’ve ever read. The first time I read This Is Not My Home was, indeed, not at my home—rather, it was at a publishing house. For context, this publishing house was supposed to be a new home for not only myself, but also Eugenia, for we were both newish hires at the time. At the time, the publishing house still felt…

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“How We Say I Love You”: Nicole Chen on her picture book & middle grade debuts

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Author Nicole Chen (photo credit to Sarah Deragon) "How We Say I Love You," with illustrations by Lenny Wen, features a Taiwanese American girl who shares how her family expresses their love for one another through actions rather than words. If "How We Say I Love You" is, as Nicole Chen writes, "the story of [her] heart," then Chen is an author and storyteller of our own Taiwanese American heart. Raised in the Bay Area, the author blends her experience of growing up Taiwanese American with…

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Political intrigue, romance, danger: Meet Judy I. Lin, fantasy author of A Magic Steeped in Poison & A Venom Dark and Sweet

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Welcome back to another interview in our “New Creatives” series at TaiwaneseAmerican.org! With August and the end of summer coming around, avid readers will know that this month brings a plethora of new book releases. One of our most highly-anticipated reads of the summer is A Venom Dark and Sweet, the second book in author Judy I. Lin’s Book of Tea duology and sequel to #1 New York Times bestseller A Magic Steeped in Poison. In the first installment in the series, the protagonist Ning…

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Rosalie Chiang on “Turning Red”: “My red panda is my acting career.”

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TaiwaneseAmerican.org is excited to present our latest “New Creatives” interview with Rosalie Chiang, voice actress for the protagonist Mei in Pixar’s blockbuster 2022 animated film, Turning Red. Chiang is a 16 year-old actress, model, and author of two children’s poetry books, including A is for Albatross: Birds A to Z, which received the Skipping Stones Honor Award. Her mother is Taiwanese while her father is Singaporean, born in Taiwan. Chiang hopes to pursue a full-time acting career…

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Alice Lin’s YA debut novel “Fireworks” navigates bisexuality, pop fandom, friendship

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  In this “New Creatives” interview with Alice Lin, an up-and-coming Taiwanese American author, we dig into the cultural roots and swoon-worthy characters of her recently released young adult (YA) romance novel, Fireworks. The story revolves around Lulu Li, a 17 year-old girl who is reunited with her childhood friend, Kite Xu, now a rising K-pop star in the boy group Karnival. Upon his return home, Lulu finds herself falling in love with her childhood friend. When fame turns out to…

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Architecture student, journalist, designer, musician: Eric Lin is all of these and more

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Welcome back to another interview in TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s “New Creatives” series! For this article, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric Lin, a 21 year-old rising senior at Princeton University studying architecture and journalism. He is originally from Phoenix, AZ and considers making music to be his passion.  As a child, Eric grew up learning classical piano; he also spent seven years touring with the Phoenix Boys Choir. It was in high school when he started writing his first…

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Oliver Lin’s short film “To Add Oil” interrogates identity and duty

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Feature images provided by Oliver Lin or from his website. Today, we’re incredibly excited to be launching TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s “New Creatives” initiative, a series that seeks to highlight up-and-coming Taiwanese/Taiwanese American artists in various fields of creative artistry. Our first guest is Oliver Lin, a Taiwanese filmmaker and senior at the Ringling College of Art and Design studying film. Oliver grew up in Taiwan and came across video editing and cinematography at a young…

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“Amah Faraway” celebrates the joys of bravery and gathering at last

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[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1920"] Author Margaret Chiu Greanias holding a copy of "Amah Faraway" with TaiwaneseAmerican.org founder Ho Chie Tsai[/caption] If you told Margaret Chiu Greanias two decades ago that she would become a published author one day, telling stories based on her own experiences and sometimes even about herself—she would’ve never believed it. Yet a good number of years into what she proudly dubs her “second career,” Greanias has been able to connect…

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Annie’s T Cakes: Vegan East Asian snacks from your childhood

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If you’ve been around town in the Bay Area, you may have noticed these cute packages of pineapple cakes (in compostable packaging!), that say Annie T’s Cakes. These vegan gluten-free spin offs of the traditional Taiwanese pineapple cake have been making a splash with nods from the SF Chronicle and other East Bay periodicals.   Longtime TaiwaneseAmerican.org fan, Tammy Chang, a holistic nutritionist based in Oakland, had the chance to sit down with founder/owner, Annie Wang, to discuss…

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