| | | Do you love the surrealism of Haruki Murakami and his cats? Or the caustic wit of White Tiger author Aravind Adiga? Exciting Asian writers are everywhere, both in Asia proper and throughout the communities of the world. With a cultural heritage as diverse as the sprawling continent itself, this eclectic group of wordsmiths is worthy of a few trips to the bookstore. Let’s crack the books on these fine authors. Featuring reporting by Kate Bartlett | | |
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| From Text to Screen | | | 1 - Sanjena Sathian A former OZY editor, Sathian once rented an entourage to stalk her like a Hollywood star for a story. While we may be biased, Sathian no longer needs to fake it. Her debut novel, Gold Diggers, was released to critical acclaim. The coming-of-age tale peppered with mystical mayhem has been picked up for a potential TV show by comedian Mindy Kaling. Opening in Sathian’s hometown of Atlanta, the novel is founded on the Indian American writer’s own idea of belonging — a theme Sathian has been grappling with more after the shooting of six Asian American women in Atlanta last year. |
| 2 - Michelle Zauner Probably most recognized for her work in shoegaze pop band, Japanese Breakfast, Zauner has recently released a memoir titled Crying in H Mart, about her life, family, and growing up as a Korean-American. The genesis of the book revolves around the death of her mother. While her song lyrics include many of her life experiences, the book digs deeper and brings her life experiences to the front. The memoir started as an essay in The New Yorker, which later became the first chapter of the book. An adaptation of the book into a film is currently in the works, with Zauner helping to adapt the story, and providing music. |
| 3 - Cho Nam-Joo Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is this Seoul-based writer’s debut novel. While it’s centered around an “extremely ordinary” housewife living a life of drudgery, its reception was anything but dull: It caused such a sensation upon its release in South Korea that it was adapted into a film released in late 2019. Published domestically in 2016, the English-translated version launched in 2020 and has been the most talked about South Korean novel since Han Kang’s haunting feminist treatise The Vegetarian. |
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| | | Asian Women in Writing | | | 1 - Mieko Kawakami If you’ve seen the stories of sexism surrounding the Tokyo Olympics, you’ll be unsurprised to learn of Japan’s thriving patriarchy. That could explain why Breasts and Eggs, a story about a woman who loathes sex but wants to have a child “without a man,” shocked the nation upon its 2019 debut (with the English translation published in 2020). Shintaro Ishihara, a former Tokyo governor, called it “unpleasant and intolerable,” but the data suggests otherwise: The novel became a runaway bestseller. It even won praise from Murakami, despite Kawakami’s earlier criticism of the septuagenarian’s books for their sexist undertones. |
| 2 - Lauren Ho This Malaysian-born, Singapore-based writer traded a successful career in law for to reemerge as a writer. Her 2020 debut novel, Last Tang Standing, bore thematic resemblance to the hit book and movie Crazy Rich Asians. This chick-lit gem centers around a Bridget Jones-esque character named Andrea Tang, a 33-and-fabulous singleton, who, to her family’s chagrin, doesn’t need a man to feel complete. |
| 3 - Yoon Choi After graduating with a degree in fiction writing, Choi struggled with what to write. After numerous career jumps, getting married, and having four kids, the inspiration to write returned. She decided to write a collection of stories about things she wished she could read growing up. Choi’s Skinship is a collection of stories about Korean families after their immigration to America. Choi's grasp on knowledge and subversive storytelling has allowed for a complex narrative and interesting story path. Despite what you might think, you never quite know where any of Choi’s stories are heading. |
| 4 - Pik-Shuen Fung Her debut novel, Ghost Forest, is a story about retelling a family’s history in the wake of a tragedy. Told through the voice of an unknown narrator, Pik-Shuen takes the reader through the life of a woman and her family, specifically her mostly absent, recently deceased father. The book goes between narration and first-person dialog, and is blended in such a way that it flows nicely. Pik-Shuen draws upon a lot of influences from her personal life, including the concept of an “astronaut family.” |
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| Art Imitates Life | | | 1 - Nguyen Phan Que Mai Her first novel published in English, The Mountains Sing, is a generational epic recounting the effects of war through the lens of a single family. Unlike many recent novels about Vietnam, the author centers on the nationalists who built a communist state after fighting off the French, Japanese and American forces. Nguyen was born in North Vietnam, studied in Australia and currently lives in Munich. |
| 2 - Megha Majumdar The New Yorker compared this young Indian author to William Faulkner. In her debut fictional novel A Burning, the New York-based Harvard graduate tells the story of a Muslim woman imprisoned for terrorism after posting a Facebook comment following of a Kolkata bombing. “It’s a book that encourages a reader to think about injustice,” she explained to the Guardian, adding that the work developed from her shock at the state of politics in India and fears about the erosion of secular values. |
| 3 - Eric Nguyen Water and country are the main themes present in his debut novel, Things We Lost to the Water. Nguyen weaves a story spanning 27 years through multiple perspectives, focussing on a family escaping from Saigon to New Orleans. The descriptions of New Orleans through the lens of refugees is what makes the novel unique. The New York Times describes Nguyen’s narrative style as striking a balance between it being “vast in scale and ambition, while luscious and inviting.” |
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| | | COMMUNITY CORNER Who is your favorite Asian author? Share your thoughts at [email protected]. |
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