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TaiwaneseAmerican.org

  • Home
    • About
      • Community Organizations
      • Donate
      • Submissions
  • Stories
    • Interviews
    • Perspectives
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Community Orgs
    • Food & Travel
    • Social Issues & Politics
  • Projects
  • Creative Writing Prizes
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Jireh Deng: “The Purpose of All Things” and Other Poems

Posted on Monday, February 20th, 2023 at 8:06 pm.

Written by Guest Contributor

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"Translation is an interpretive dance, speaking in "Translation is an interpretive dance, speaking in another person’s voice, moving through the world through their gestures. There is an intense becoming that happens, a settling into, a rooting down. And all of this action occurs in the liminal space between languages."⁠ ⁠ In "Translation is a gift," brenda Lin explores translation as a form of devotion — the thread that binds languages, generations, and the stories mothers tell their daughters.⁠ ⁠ Moving between myth, anthropology, and literary memory, Lin reflects on what it means to return to language as a home, a gift, and an inheritance.⁠ ⁠ brenda Lin is a Taipei-based writer, translator, and author of Wealth Ribbon: Taiwan Bound, America Bound. She is currently translating Indigenous Taiwanese author Apyang Imiq’s essay collection Growing Up in a Tree Hollow.⁠ ⁠ Read the full piece. linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/10/translation-is-a-gift-creative-nonfiction-by-brenda-lin/
Hi! Editor-in-chief Leona Chen here, reporting fro Hi! Editor-in-chief Leona Chen here, reporting from Taipei!⁠ In this Perspectives piece, I write about my experience visiting the Human Rights Museum in Taiwan (specifically the Jing Mei White Terror Memorial Park), and what it means to inherit a political legacy of/from dissidents and hold American citizenship. These stories and contradictions have called me to imagine justice, care, and dignity - not just in Taiwan/for the Taiwanese or in the United States/for Americans, but everywhere, for all people.⁠ ⁠ Originally written for my personal newsletter, I hope this reflection may resonate with anyone thinking about the ways our histories shape the present - and what it could mean to be a good steward of Taiwanese American heritage.⁠ ⁠ "As a Taiwanese American, I find it unconscionable to recognize the cruelty of solitary confinement on Green Island, yet look away from the cruelty of indefinite detention in ICE facilities, or the desolation of American jails filled with those too poor to afford bail. To grieve one without interrogating the other is to make a callous indictment for who deserves freedom and who does not, to become people willing to deny to others what we believe is sacred for ourselves.⁠ ⁠ My hope is twofold: I wish for my Taiwanese American elders to see their own struggles reflected in this generation of abolitionists and activists fighting for Black American reparations and against ICE detention, police brutality, environmental destruction, and the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians; who are not “soft” or “misguided” but instead kindred spirits who too have only ever wanted for ordinary people to have dignity and safety. I wish for my Taiwanese American peers to find ourselves doubly stirred towards solidarity with the most vulnerable."⁠ ⁠ Read the full essay on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/10/taiwanese-american-jing-mei-memorial-park/
From our friends @globaltaiwan and @gwuterp — Re From our friends @globaltaiwan and @gwuterp — Representing #Taiwan in #DC: How Taiwanese Americans Can Bridge #Culture and #Policy For Taiwan, cultural promotion and political recognition are deeply interconnected, yet rarely discussed together. This event will explore how Taiwanese American cultural organizations in Washington DC can also engage in policy spaces and strengthen #US-Taiwan ties. 🗣️ Speakers: Tim Chng (@fapa_md) Adam Pier (@tapdc) David Tang (Washington DC Taiwanese School) 💬 Discussant: Richard Haddock (@gwusigurcenter @gwuterp) 🎤 Moderator: Carissa Cheng (Global Taiwan Institute) 📍 Lindner Family Commons, room 602, Elliott School of International Affairs 1957 E Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20052 🗓️ October 6 | 5:30 PM 🧋 Free boba (first come, first serve!) RSVP via the link in our bio!
In "Drive to the Airport," Caroline Chieh-Mei Pai In "Drive to the Airport," Caroline Chieh-Mei Pai (2025 Honorable Mention) captures the tender ache of parting with her grandfather, whose fragile health and dialysis treatments keep him half a world away. This exquisite piece is a meditation on the silent ways grief is shared between a father and daughter.⁠ ⁠ Swipe through to read the full piece.⁠ ⁠ 🔗: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/09/creative-writing-by-caroline-chieh-mei-pai/⁠ ✍️: Caroline is currently a high school junior. She loves to read and is easily immersed into books of all genres, especially those with dystopian themes. In addition to reading, she plays soccer, engages with her school’s robotics team, and writes all sorts of literary genres for fun. This is her first time participating in a writing contest and is excited to submit more in the future. She hopes to feed her passion by continuing to study English in college.⁠
It’s Ghost Month in Taiwan—when spirits are sa It’s Ghost Month in Taiwan—when spirits are said to walk among us. From not hanging laundry at night to avoiding the sea, the taboos run deep. But what do they say about how Taiwanese culture uses fear to shape our daily lives?👻 ⁠ ⁠ But as Taiwanese Mandarin teacher Cecilia Chen asks, is fear really the best way to maintain order? Or can trust in our shared humanity be enough?⁠ ⁠ Read her piece, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/09/ghost-month-cecilia-chen/
“As a daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, I didn’t expect to find any literature that reflected my life—until I found Anna Zhang in Jane Kuo’s novels. Reading her work reminds me why I write: to connect, to share, and—hopefully—to be seen.” —Rebecca Yang 🌿⁠ ⁠ In this exchange, poet and guest contributor Rebecca Yang and verse novelist Jane Kuo reflect on memory, immigrant childhoods, and the power of writing as witness.⁠ ⁠ Read the full conversation—linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/09/jane-kuo-interview/
“How can I justify my strong sense of Taiwanese “How can I justify my strong sense of Taiwanese identity despite, at least at the beginning of college, never having been to Taiwan and not speaking any of its languages?” ⁠ ⁠ In a new perspectives piece, Sophia Chang (@sophiachang24) reflects on what it means to be third-generation Taiwanese American — navigating suburban U.S. childhood, finding connection through programs like TANG, TASA, and FAPA, and conducting research for her undergraduate thesis, titled "Will the Taiwanese American Vote Matter? Taiwanese American Political Attitudes and Identity in the 2024 U.S. Election."⁠ ⁠ Her story reminds us that identity is not just inherited — it’s built, nourished, and offered back to community. ⁠ ⁠ Read her full reflection here: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/09/third-generation-taiwanese-american-sophia-chang/
A snapshot of some writers to watch in the years a A snapshot of some writers to watch in the years ahead ✨ Today we hosted our annual “Meet the Judges” event for the Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes, where participants connected with Charles Yu, Grace Loh Prasad, and Alvina Ling to share their work, ask questions, and imagine the writing community we each crave—and strive to nurture. Supporting creative work is an act of dignity, both personal and collective. When we honor each other’s stories, we affirm our own worth and that of our communities. Thank you for being our people. We are so proud of all of you!
Founded in 2024, Keng-lâm Su-īⁿ @kenglamsuinn Founded in 2024, Keng-lâm Su-īⁿ @kenglamsuinn (The Mosei Academy of Taiwanese Language and Literacy) has quickly become a dynamic and influential forces in Tâi-gí (Taiwanese) language revival. The collective’s mission is simple yet profound: to make Tâi-gí a living, thriving language for everyday life, across generations and borders. From offering entry-level to advanced literacy classes, to hosting book clubs, creative writing workshops, and monthly community gatherings called Chhêng-á-kha, Keng-lâm Su-iⁿ creates spaces where speaking, reading, and dreaming in Tâi-gí feels both natural and necessary.⁠ ⁠ We were pleased to interview their leadership team, whose diverse life stories reflect the richness of Taiwan’s own history and diaspora. ⁠⁠ Together, they embody the many pathways that lead to Tâi-gí, and the conviction that language is inseparable from the struggle for identity, memory, and self-determination.⁠ ⁠ 🔗: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/08/taigi-activism-keng-lam-su-in/
In this stirring and timely perspectives piece, wr In this stirring and timely perspectives piece, writer and stand-up comedian Vickie Wang @vickiefromtaiwan writes about Taiwan's charming, "noisy democracy" and the dangerous limitations of identity politics in the recall campaigns' rhetoric. ⁠ "After living in China for nearly a decade," she writes, "where the apparatus for silencing is robust and ever-present, I revel in the cacophony of campaign trucks blaring pleads for votes and thousand-strong rallies with hawkers selling unlicensed campaign merch."⁠ ⁠ Despite being proud of the recall movement's energy and scrappy optimism, though, she notes: "The recall campaign language was fueled with anti-Chinese discrimination, which is not the same as vigilance in the face of constant threats from the CCP against Taiwan’s sovereignty. Slogans and discourse (online and off) have proclaimed that if you didn’t vote for the recall, you are either not Taiwanese, or you’re a Chinese Communist sympathizer. Seemingly innocuous online posts were boasting 'I’m Taiwanese! I add taro to my hot pot! I support the recall!' and 'I’m Taiwanese! I speak Tâi-gí (Taiwanese Hokkien)! I support the recall!'⁠ ⁠ It made me question whether I’m still Taiwanese enough. Am I somehow undeserving of this identity because I couldn’t afford to fly home and cast a vote for the recall? My Taiwanese Hokkien is limited and accented; I wish it was even half as good as my English. Does that make me less Tai? Does it matter if I tried to support the vote from afar and do my best to represent my country well while living abroad?"⁠ ⁠ Read Vickie's lucid, thoughtful piece - linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/08/who-gets-to-be-taiwanese-vickie-wang/⁠ 📸: @theresnoonelikejhou ✍🏼: @vickiefromtaiwan
"Alvin Lu is one of the finest American novelists "Alvin Lu is one of the finest American novelists working today."⁠ ⁠ We are so pleased to present this interview between two brilliant Taiwanese American authors, Shawna Yang Ryan ("Green Island") and Alvin Lu on Lu's sophomore novel, "Daydreamers." ⁠ ⁠ A fragmented manuscript left unfinished, a voice inherited by time, a ghost lingering in the margins—"Daydreamers" is what remains when fiction forgets its fiction and when the story you’re translating becomes your own.⁠ ⁠ To solve a love-triangle murder, a Taiwanese novelist takes a California road trip with her friend’s son into the heart of the émigré Chinese literary world, where rumors swirl, money talks, and memoirs, novels, and translations compose the source material for a twenty-first-century Rashomon. ⁠ ⁠ Cycling through nested literary forms and genres, and fiction and reality, Daydreamers unravels a mystery set against the greater mystery of American identity, by means of the stories immigrants make of their pasts, presents, and desired futures in a protean new world.⁠ ⁠ "Daydreamers" is available everywhere books are sold, including through our Bookshop - linked at the end of this Q&A. Swipe through for Lu's West Coast book tour dates - we hope to see you at one of his events!⁠ ⁠ 🔗: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/08/alvin-lu-daydreamers/
Internationally acclaimed novelist Winnie M Li wil Internationally acclaimed novelist Winnie M Li will be launching her third novel, WHAT WE LEFT UNSAID, on a California book tour in August. Join her for events in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug 17 (4pm, Bel Canto Books at KUBO LB), San Francisco on Thursday, Aug 21 (7pm, Bookshop West Portal, with fellow Taiwanese American author Grace Loh Prasad), Palo Alto on Saturday, Aug 23 (4pm at Books, Inc., with Rowena Chiu) or Pasadena on Monday, Aug 25 (7pm, Vroman’s Bookstore with Naomi Hirahara) for an intriguing conversation about her latest book, which has been described as ‘Heartbreaking, beautiful, and confronting’ (Sarah Winman, STILL LIFE). All events are free to attend, but book your tickets in advance! Links to her events and an exclusive excerpt from WHAT WE LEFT UNSAID, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/08/winnie-lis-what-we-left-unsaid-and-california-book-tour/
What artifacts represent the story of who you are What artifacts represent the story of who you are and how you’ve lived? Today at @tafagram, campers of all ages created pieces for our very own TAF Museum—drawing and describing the objects, memories, and people that shape their identities. Every artifact was treated as worthy of reflection, interrogation, and display. By reminding campers that they are the authors and curators of our shared history, we invite them to live with intention, courage, and care. 🖍️✨ What would you put in the museum? #TAF2025
Meet Anne (@thattaiwanesegal), a passionate advoca Meet Anne (@thattaiwanesegal), a passionate advocate for Taiwanese language and culture who’s using social media to make Taigi learning accessible—one reel, resource, and reflection at a time. From her childhood in a “mini Taiwan bubble” in NYC to working with PTS Taigi TV, Anne shares how language has shaped her identity, community, and mission.⁠ ⁠ “I don’t think you have to speak Taigi to be Taiwanese… but knowing it gives you that 親切感—a warmth—when you meet someone who does.”⁠ ⁠ Read the full interview-- linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/07/anne-that-taiwanese-gal/
In Part 1, we explored how first-generation Taiwan In Part 1, we explored how first-generation Taiwanese immigrants often understand citizenship as something earned through discipline and compliance— a framework shaped by colonial history, martial law, and immigration regimes. But these beliefs intersect with powerful narratives like the model minority myth, which casts Asian Americans as obedient, high-achieving, and apolitical—an image that many internalize, embrace, or resist in different ways.⁠ ⁠ In Part 2 of our conversation, Professor Hsin-I Cheng and I examine how that myth shapes Taiwanese American self-perception, obscures the legacies of Black-led liberation movements, and reinforces harmful hierarchies across communities of color. At a time when ICE detainments and state violence are escalating, these narratives don’t just define us—they determine who we believe we need to protect, and who we allow to be harmed through our neutrality. ⁠ ⁠ Linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2025/06/model-minority-myth-hsin-i-cheng/
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Founded in 2006, TaiwaneseAmerican.org is a web portal site highlighting many of the interesting people, events and organizations that make up Taiwanese America. It is both a volunteer-driven website and a non-profit organization that intends to connect and promote those who identify with the Taiwanese identity, heritage, or culture. By establishing our niche within the broader Asian Pacific American and mainstream communities, we hope to collectively contribute to the wonderful and diverse mosaic that America represents.

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