Sweet Success: Q&A with Stephanie Chen of “The Great American Baking Show”

Written by

Stephanie Chen brought black sesame macarons, curry puffs and a pineapple bread Santa to the third iteration of “The Great American Baking Show” this year – dazzling celebrity pastry chef Johnny Iuzzini and British cookbook author Mary Berry with her bold flavors and knack for decoration. Even though the freelance advertising executive only started seriously baking about five years ago, Chen made it all the way to the finale and nearly took home the title. She shared her experiences on the…

Read More »

Your New Classic Slow Jam: Music by Jerry Jean

Written by

Jerry Jean is an NYC-based Taiwanese American songwriter, producer, and musician who has been creating some beautiful compositions and music videos on YouTube for several years. I was drawn to his most recent video for his soul-inspiring original song, Do We Reach Home, featuring a captivating dance performance by Chloe Noelle Crade. Directed by José Andrés Cardona, the video showcases Jerry's solid vocal talent, authenticity, and aspirational spirit. In all of his works, his emotion-driven…

Read More »

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

Written by

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…

Read More »

Through the Glass Ceiling: A Contemporary Ballet Collaboration

Written by

As the founder of TaiwaneseAmerican.org, I often meet really talented people in our community doing awesome work in their respective fields and industries. When my friend, ballerina and choreographer Ivy Chow, contacted me one day asking if I knew any composers of Taiwanese heritage that might collaborate with her on a new performance project about "breaking glass ceilings," I immediately thought of another friend, composer George Shaw, known for his many compositions and scores for popular YouTube…

Read More »

The Hsu-Nami Storm Back Again with New Album

Written by

The Hsu-Nami, a progressive rock band that features an electric erhu as its melodic focus, was founded by Taiwanese American Jack Hsu. Based in NYC, this band combines the sounds of traditional Chinese folk music with a strong rock component of heavy guitar riffs, melodic bass guitar lines and punctuating drum beats. TaiwaneseAmerican.org has featured Hsu-Nami previously, and since then, they've done some very interesting things including having one of their songs featured in the 2008 Beijing Summer…

Read More »

Intersection of Poetry and Movements: An Interview with Author Kenji Liu

Written by

As we celebrate Taiwanese American Heritage Week and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to feature accomplished individuals of Taiwanese descent who have used their voices and talents to highlight the histories and legacies of our community. Kenji C. Liu is author of Map of an Onion, national winner of the 2015 Hillary Gravendyk Poetry Prize. His poetry is in, among other places, American Poetry Review, Action Yes!, Split This Rock’s poem of the week series,…

Read More »

A Moment With Mree

Written by

TaiwaneseAmerican.org’s Kristina Lin and Ho Chie Tsai ventured to Portland, Oregon to meet with musical artist Marie Hsiao, simply known as Mree. With over 80 thousand subscribers on her YouTube channel, she has carved a niche for herself showcasing her unique and ambient "folktronica" sound. Even if you haven't heard her name before, there's a good chance you have heard her voice. In recent years, her original song "Santa Catcher" was featured in a Target commercial, and her cover of the 80's…

Read More »

Meet Jack of All Trades: Actor, Writer, Producer Kelvin Yu

Written by

We've been a friend and big fan of Kelvin Yu since his earliest acting roles such as Freddy Gong in the 1999-2001 WB series Popular. He's come a long way since then, accumulating more TV credits with guest spots on Frasier, ER, Las Vegas, Without a Trace, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, CSI: Miami, and Bones. On the big screen, Kelvin can be seen in the 2006 comedy Grandma's Boy and in the 2008 Academy Award-winning biographical political drama Milk. Now, he's gained a larger following than ever…

Read More »

Over Beef Noodle Soup with Sportscaster Howard Chen

Written by

TaiwaneseAmerican.org's special correspondent, Esther, recently met up with Sports Host/Anchor of FOX Sports Southwest in Houston's Chinatown to talk about his career path, family, and passions. As one of the very few Asian Americans in the sports broadcasting industry, he is driven to make change in his hometown and through national broadcasts. It all starts with good bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup. We are one of the first customers at Star Snow Ice; it opened just minutes ago at 11:00…

Read More »

Hanging with Albert Tsai and the Cast of Dr. Ken!

Written by

TaiwaneseAmerican.org has always been proud to support and represent not only the Taiwanese community, but also the greater Asian American community. With the groundbreaking success of last season’s Fresh Off the Boat, we’re particularly excited for Dr. Ken, a new family sitcom based on the real life of physician-turned-actor Ken Jeong. Recently, I had the privilege of being invited along with fellow bloggers and writers to meet with the cast of Dr. Ken during rehearsals at Sony Pictures…

Read More »