The Life Story: An Interview with Author Julia Lin

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We recently came across Taiwanese Canadian author Julia Lin’s recently published book, Shadows of the Crimson Sun: One Man’s Life in Manchuria, Taiwan, and North America. This biography of Dr. Charles Yang, a community leader and activist living in Vancouver, Canada, caught our attention because of the unique formative experiences that shaped his perspectives and life of activism. At the same time, his story echoed many of the experiences of the first generation Taiwanese who immigrated throughout…

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Keep Taiwan Free Rally in NYC

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The first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. A thriving youth civil society. An evolving post-colonial national identity. Taiwan has much to celebrate. But as we cheer the achievements of Taiwan's democratic government and civil society, our celebration is bittersweet. We are appalled by the PRC government's increasingly aggressive initiatives to discredit Taiwan's achievements and legitimacy in the global arena. We mourn the loss of diplomatic relations with two more nations…

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A Rose By Any Other

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My Chinese name is 陳克聞. Seven strokes for the first character of my given name, fourteen for the second, because the fortuneteller told my grandmother that this mathematics of words was auspicious. I write my name with one stroke fewer than the prescribed number, so perhaps all my misfortunes are a result of bad penmanship. No one uses 陳克聞. At home, I am 哥哥, “older brother,” except when my mother, in exasperation, calls out all three syllables of my name for dramatic effect.…

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Beyond the Amy Tan Questions: Why a Millennial TA Anthology

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I call them the “Amy Tan Questions.” Questions like “how do families relate in context of war, distance, and famine?” or “how does a child reconcile the old world of their parents with the new world America in which they live?”. These questions are important, for they are our foundation as a community and give us vignettes of Asian and Asian American history that American public schools neglected. But they are dated, and they are not our stories. I wanted to see writing that moved…

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