A Girl Worth Rooting For: Meet Holly-Mei Jones

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Synopsis: Packed with humor and heart, this debut middle grade series follows a girl finding her place in a brand-new world of private school and frenemies when her family moves to Hong Kong. Taiwanese Canadian Holly-Mei Jones couldn’t be more excited about moving to Hong Kong for her mother’s job. Her new school is right on the beach and her family’s apartment is beyond beautiful. Everything is going to be perfect . . . right? Maybe not. It feels like everywhere she turns, there…

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Podcasts & Poetry: Cynthia Lin (TW Diaspora) Interviews Shin Yu Pai

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  I’m thrilled Leona connected me with Shin Yu Pai for this written Q&A piece for TaiwaneseAmerican.org centered on her work as an artist, writer, and podcast host. As two podcasters, Shin Yu and I naturally gravitated to talking live after the initial Q&A. I found our conversation to be soul-enriching for those consciously on a healing journey. To listen to the audio interview, check out the podcast episode on TaiwaneseDiaspora.com (available on all major podcast apps). Shin…

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“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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