Featured Stories

Anne Hu’s Short Film “Lunchbox” Unpacks a Complicated Mother-Daughter Relationship

Independent filmmaker Anne Hu is cooking up a new project rooted in her own experience growing up Taiwanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland. Titled Lunchbox, this short drama will feature modern-day scenes of a woman cooking the foods from her mother’s cookbook, interspersed with childhood memories of her attempts to fit in with her classmates--and the effects this had on her relationship with her mother.  Writer Grace Hwang Lynch chatted with Anne to find out more…

Lithification, and Other Processes, by Dri Chiu Tattersfield

GRAND PRIZE WINNING ENTRY, COLLEGE CATEGORY “In this subtle and imaginative story, Dri Chiu Tattersfield explores questions of identity, family, foreignness and the body. The writing is nuanced and careful and emotionally grounded, evoking a sense of place and depth of feeling. This is an accomplished work by a promising voice.” -Shawna Yang Ryan and Charles Yu, co-judges of the 2021 Betty L. Yu & Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. The day my body started disappearing began with…

Judges Charles Yu and Shawna Yang Ryan select award recipients

We are pleased to announce the inaugural cohort of honorable mentions, finalists, and grand prize winners of the Betty L. Yu & Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes, established in partnership with TaiwaneseAmerican.org in honor of Yu's parents, who are longstanding Taiwanese American community leaders. Their work will be published on TaiwaneseAmerican.org throughout the year.  We received a remarkable number of thoughtful, passionate entries, each of which was carefully reviewed and deliberated…

Taiwan’s Got It! A Talent Competition for All

Taiwanese identity is contested, challenged, and complicated for a variety of reasons. Its ongoing interrogation, though, presents a ripe opportunity to further challenge our own assumptions about belonging and personal choice. The people of Taiwan are not simply the indigenous, benshengren, or waishengren.  They include expats, more recent migrants, foreign exchange students, and more. And, interestingly, the concept of Taiwanese identity has become less tethered to race and ethnicity, and more…

Jude Chao: ‘Skin Care for your soul’ and sexy radishes

“Internet big sister” Jude Chao on how a passion for skincare led her to share more about mental health, wellness, and the art of real living with her debut book and sheet mask line ‘Skin Care for your soul’ and sexy radishes “Internet big sister” Jude Chao on how a passion for skincare led her to share more about mental health, wellness, and the art of real living with her debut book and sheet mask line Chao is a longtime friend of TaiwaneseAmerican.org. In 2019, she shared…

Response to Pew Research Reports Hiding Taiwanese Identity: “We made it count. Now tell our stories.”

Taiwanese American Community Response to Pew Research Reports on Asian American Communities IMAGE SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER Recently published reports by the Pew Research Center analyzing Asian American communities have included footnotes that data for “‘Chinese’ includes those identifying as ‘Taiwanese.’” As of today (May 1 - the start of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month), the methodology for Pew Research Center’s Asian American fact sheets makes no reference to why…

From CAAMFest 2021 and Taiwan Academy: “Direct to Taiwan”

TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to support the premier Asian American Film Festival in the San Francisco/Bay Area. CAAM Fest, the Center for Asian American Media’s annual festival features amazing works in film, TV, and digital media. This year, their events and screenings are scheduled May 13-23 and available to most audiences in a virtual format to honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. With new support from Taiwan Academy, CAAMFest 2021 is proud to showcase "Direct to Taiwan,"…

Taiwanese Americans: Help Report Anti-AAPI Discrimination

  Originally published March 2, 2020   I will clarify again that legitimate calls for CCP accountability are NOT at odds with real solutions addressing anti-Asian violence. As a #TaiwaneseAmerican passionate about the nuances of #AsianAmerica, I believe in discourse that is thoughtful enough to be specific. (LC 1/2) — Taiwanese American (@TaiwaneseAm_org) March 18, 2021 Taiwanese Americans, our responsibility here is two-fold: (1) You or someone you know may have been…

National Book Award Winner Charles Yu establishes prize for young Taiwanese American creative writers

TAIWANESEAMERICAN.ORG THE BETTY L. YU AND JIN C. YU CREATIVE WRITING PRIZES TaiwaneseAmerican.org is pleased to announce the inaugural Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes. Created in collaboration with Taiwanese American author Charles Yu, the Prizes are intended to encourage and recognize creative literary work by Taiwanese American high school and college students, and to foster discussion and community around such work. Submissions may be in any literary genre including…

On Clubhouse, ‘臺kanda’: Taiwan’s Wakanda Fantasies

Are semiconductors Taiwan's vibranium? "Actually," offers one speaker, "it's the Taiwanese people's ethics and heart." Aw. There's a scene in the Marvel franchise where T'challa disrupts the meta-fiction of Wakanda's unremarkable, third-world pretense, grandly revealing their true nature in a gesture of humanitarian aid. That both Wakanda and Taiwan can be categorized as global fictions is sad. But, crucially, there is a difference between hiding and being ignored. [caption id="" align="alignnone"…