Literary author Francie Lin talks about a different kind of Foreigner

Francie Lin may have never visited the Taiwanese criminal underworld or sang in a seedy karaoke bar, but she has written an acclaimed debut novel, The Foreigner, set in the hidden alleys of Taipei. Emerson Chang is a 40-year-old Taiwanese American virgin who has met his mother for dinner every Friday night for fifteen years. But after her unexpected death, long-buried secrets and family loyalty will take him on an unpredictable journey back to Taiwan—and to the rebellious younger brother lost to him for almost a decade. A June 2008 Book Sense pick, The Foreigner received praise from notable booksellers and publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the Boston Globe, all highlighting her strong writing and vivid portrayal of a dark and complicated world. A former editor at The Threepenny Review in Berkeley, Lin graduated from Harvard and received a Fulbright Fellowship to Taiwan in 2001. She currently lives with her family in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The Foreigner is her first novel. Francie Lin will appear at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in NYC, along with author Don Lee, on Thursday, July 24, 2008, at 7:00 pm. You can also hear Francie talk about The Foreigner on "The Leonard Lopate Show" on Wednesday, July 30th, at 1:00 pm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “[A] stunning debut…. Taut, smart and often funny.” —Publishers Weekly *starred review* “Emerson is a fascinating character …[Lin] is capable of writing both marvelous humor and scenes of utter darkness in her tale of a naive man at a complete loss for dealing with the world.” —San Francisco Chronicle "You won't find any of the cardboard characters, clunky writing or clichéd conventions that too often mar suspense fiction. Lin is equally attentive to description and plot.” —Los Angeles Times “The Foreigner announces the arrival of the very talented Francie Lin. Brilliantly observed and written with a scalpel, this violent plunge into the abyss of identity runs on the hot rails of the ambitious thriller. A flat-out page-turner.” —Colin Harrison, author of The Havana Room and The Finder “This is a daring original novel, permeated with cynical characters and skillfully mixing genres and subjects into a fast-paced journey of self-discovery. How a Taiwanese-American can uphold tradition and ancestral respect against his own cultural and personal dualities, and especially against his own criminal brother, this is what Francie Lin proceeds to keenly accomplish in this sinister yet uplifting story." —Marie du Vaure, Vroman’s Bookstore ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Conversation with Francie Lin: Q: Congratulations on your debut novel and the great reviews! What was the inspiration behind The Foreigner? It was kind of a combination of things. I had Emerson's voice in my head for quite a while, this very timid yet determined male voice, and I wanted to give him a whole book. His dilemma—being somewhat squashed under the thumb of his mother, and feeling frustrated by this—is unfortunately one that I saw a lot of among my Asian guy friends, so I suppose that was something of an inspiration as well. Probably the other major inspiration was Taipei itself. I had such an emotional time of it during the year I spent living there that I wanted to capture some of my initial impressions of the city before they faded away. But at the same time, I didn't want to write the stock memoir piece about going back and finding your roots. A novel seemed like a good way to cram in lots of details about the streets and shops, etc. without having to say anything too personal about them. Q: It’s interesting that you found fiction the best form to communicate your experiences. I think The Foreigner might be one of the first American novels set in Taiwan. One sees a lot of non-fiction about Taiwan, but not so much fiction. How long did it take you to write The Foreigner? And what were your writing experiences before it? Hmm, that depends on when you start counting. I started trying to write a novel when I was in Taiwan (2001), but nothing much came of that. A couple of years later when I was back living in Berkeley, things finally clicked, and I spent a couple of years writing a first draft, and then there were about 2 years of revisions after I'd sold the book. So I'd say 4 years altogether. Before writing The Foreigner, I worked for a literary magazine in Berkeley called The Threepenny Review and wrote short pieces and sometimes longer essays and reviews for it. I also reviewed books for the SF Chronicle and the LA Times. So I was more of a nonfiction writer. Actually, with the exception of a couple of short stories, I hadn't written any fiction since college until I attempted The Foreigner. Q: How was your time as a Fulbright Fellow in Taiwan in 2001-2002? Was it your first time in Taiwan (at least, in awhile), and was it what you expected? And I hope you did not have to explore too much the alleyways of the Taipei underworld to research the novel ... Oh, I had a great time that year! It was indeed my first time in Taipei/Taiwan except for a week or so in 2000 to visit a friend, and it was absolutely not what I was expecting. My parents didn't really go back to Taiwan much when we were growing up, so their memories of Taipei are a little outdated, and I was struck by how futuristic the Taipei I lived in seemed. Something about the crowdedness and the heat and the architecture and department stores mixed with the little alleys and nightmarkets made it seem very exciting. And then my first month there we were hit with a major typhoon. After that I was robbed, and then, back in the States, 9/11 happened. So all that might have contributed to my impression of Taipei as being a rather dark place. (And no, I didn't have to go to a lot of seedy karaoke bars for research, though I would have liked to!) It wasn't an impression that lasted all year, though; once I'd made some friends and become more familiar with the city, it became just a nice, convenient place to live. Q: You were robbed!! What happened? I was living temporarily with a friend of my aunt's, an older retired teacher, near Da An Senlin Park. One night I came back from dinner and then went out again to get a cup of coffee, and when I came back the front door was open. I went inside, and the whole apartment had just been ransacked: all the drawers were torn out of the dresser, and everyone's clothes were all over the floor. You know how everyone keeps cash rather than putting the money in the bank? My poor landlady lost an astronomical amount of money; I lost some cash, but not too much. I freaked out anyway, though, because I thought I remembered locking the door when I left. In the end, it turned out that I HAD locked the door; whoever it was had gotten in by climbing up the balcony and cutting through the iron bars. Thank god. I think my aunt would have disowned me if I'd been responsible. Of course I'm still very sorry for my landlady. Q: OK—favorite nightmarket food? Do I have to pick just one? I guess I'd have to say naiyou bing--I used to eat those constantly, but only the ones that look like hockey pucks, not the other kind. I was also a big fan of guabao, though those were kind of hard to get--had to go all the way to the Tonghua nightmarket, which wasn't too near where I was living. Q: Poor Emerson, the main character in "The Foreigner," doesn't do so well with his Mandarin. How is yours? ;) Ugh, that's a sore point! My Mandarin was decent by the time I left Taiwan, but now, of course, it's awful again. My husband teaches Chinese history, and spent several years in China and a year at ICLP during grad school, but his Chinese is now fading too, and we keep trying to figure out how to get a language partner! Anyone out there in the Boston area willing to do a language exchange? Q: The Foreigner has a refreshingly diverse cast of Asian or Asian-related characters with strong needs: Angel Guo with her army fatigues and distaste of men seeking meek Oriental women; A, the troubled white American, and Grace, his sweet Taiwanese girlfriend who may or may not love him; and Atticus, the well-educated and complex former engineer involved in the politics of Taiwan. Are some of these perspectives ones that interest you as an Asian or Taiwanese American? Or are these characters representative of some of the people you have encountered in the Asian or Taiwanese American communities? Well, Atticus's politics are pretty much my father's views, though I don't think he'd go so far as to attempt assassination. I'm on and off interested in the issue of Taiwan independence. Before I went to Taiwan I was pretty pro-independence; now I think that, ideologically, independence would be noble, but practically speaking unfeasible, and probably unlikely. But who knows? A interests me as a character that probably every expat in Asia has encountered: the aging Caucasian guy who doesn't speak any of the language but continues to live in Asia because it's convenient for escaping personal problems at home, and because he commands more attention there than in the States or in England or wherever. Grace, too, is modeled on a few Taiwanese women I met, who were going out with these really terrible foreigner guys, out of boredom, maybe, or a sense of adventure. (I never asked.) Angel is pure fiction, though her indignation about the power imbalance between Taiwanese women and men is something I share. Q: Emerson Chang has a strong relationship with his mother—to say the least. Was there a reason you chose to portray this kind of parent-child relationship? I suppose family relationships play an important role for all 2nd generation Asian Americans ... I guess some of the reason is autobiographical, though of course I'm not a 40-year-old man. I do think that a lot of 2nd generation Asian Americans have to struggle a lot if they want some independence from their parents—it's just not in the Asian family model to let your kids go off and "have a life of their own." Emerson is just my exploration of the consequences—for one particular personality—of being a good Chinese son in action but feeling emotionally torn between your own individuality and the demands of family loyalty. Q: Again, congratulations on a finely written novel. How does it feel to finish your first book and finally see it in print? I hope you're enjoying the good feedback! Thank you! It's wonderful to see the book finally out, and I hope people are enjoying it. The good reviews make me very happy, but then they also make me nervous, as I'm working on my second book right now, and some writing days are better than others. We'll see! For more information on The Foreigner or to purchase a copy of the book, visit http://us.macmillan.com/theforeigner. TaiwaneseAmerican.org would like to offer a copy of The Foreigner to readers of this website. To be entered in the raffle, send an email to admin@taiwaneseamerican.org with the subject line “The Foreigner" and on July 30th, the winner will be chosen at random. *EDIT* Congratulations to Michael L. of Chicago, IL for winning the raffle! D. Lin works in the publishing industry in NYC.

An Interview with Abe Young, Author of Humanity at Stake

A few months ago, I accidentally came across a brief work-in-progress by Abe Young, a 2nd generation Taiwanese American who was inspired to write about the generally touchy subject of Taiwan-China-US relations. What captured my attention most was his wonderful ability to explore the depth and breadth of the issues, yet frame it through a captivating conversation that he had one day with his two fellow volunteers at the Housing Works Used Books & Cafe. I was so impressed by his writing that I emailed him immediately to express my support. Over the past few months, I have been able to watch his work evolve from simple manuscript to now fully published book entitled Humanity at Stake: On why the world should now end China's military & political aggression, understand Taiwan's democracy, and defend 23 million citizens' human right to self-determination. (Phew! That's a mouthful, isn't it?) I feel privileged to have been an official advance reviewer of Abe's book and to also have my quote printed on the back cover, sandwiched between Dr. June Dreyer, a previous commissioner of the United States Economic and Security Review Commission, and Shawna Yang Ryan, an award-winning fiction author who was previously featured on TaiwaneseAmerican.org. Despite my lack of literary or political expertise, what I can assure you is that this book is an interesting and quick read, but more importantly, will bring you up to speed on some of the most current and pressing issues facing Taiwan in the world arena today. And, you won't feel like you're learning it from a textbook... I recently caught up again with Abe to ask him a few questions. H: Hi Abe! Thanks for sharing some of your time with me and the readers of TaiwaneseAmerican.org. A: Hello Ho Chie. Thanks for inviting me to this interview. Hello, fellow readers of TaiwaneseAmerican.org! H: Abe, you've written this wonderful book based on a conversation revolving around Taiwan-China-US politics that many of us have had, and yet others try to avoid. What do you personally hope will come of this "discussion?" A: I'm glad you and others have taken so positively to Humanity at Stake's narrative. Even more, I'm glad you view the book as a tangible object in the real world that can really instigate and facilitate discussion on this difficult subject. As for what will come out of this discussion, or anyone's discussion really, is anyone's guess, but one simple hope is that readers who are new or familiar to the Taiwan-China-world issue will be that much more likely to engage with friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues, strangers, and their political representatives. In other words, I would not presume to guess the effects and outcomes of any group of people's discussion, but I do know that no positive change comes out of the absence of this type of engagement. H: I'm quite fascinated by the fact that you've captured the essence of the political issues through the eyes of two other individuals: Chris, who was an American military pilot during the first Gulf war, and Wang, who is an ethnically Chinese immigrant college student. Have you had a chance to talk to them since the book was published, and what have they had to say? A: In the week after I wrote down our conversation and finished the first draft of the entire document--I thought of it as a document, back then--I got in touch with Chris and Wang and told them about my writing. Chris is an American Airlines pilot and was out-of-state at the time, so we conversed over the phone and he immediately remembered that discussion the three of us had at Housing Works. He later emailed and told me that he had a "very enjoyable time in the basement that February morning. The conversation was so interesting and from points of view/experience so different to mine." Around the same time I got to meet up with Wang one day, since he's a student in Manhattan, at a coffee shop not far from Housing Works. Wang is a journalism student and at the time he was working on a student-run newspaper. So when I showed him the manuscript we enthusiastically chatted about our writings, and he was excited to see our dialogue written down in this unique format. And actually, just last week I spoke to Wang again when a reporter from Sing Tao Daily was asking me some details about the three of us for his newspaper article. Fortunately, Wang and Chris are very kind, thoughtful, and open-minded people--or else our initial conversation wouldn't have had the stamina or engagement that it did! H: Yes, that's so true. Plus, the way in which you step into their shoes throughout the narrative and conversation really helps to bring the issues to life. There's a certain sense of vibrancy and youthful exploration in this approach of yours. Speaking of youthfulness, it might be said that you are a very young author and new on the scene. Did you face any challenges through this writing or publishing process? A: Young? That's great to hear because I just turned 26 today and I've been feeling old--over a quarter-century old! As for whether I faced challenges through this writing or publishing process: yes and yes. Both, very much so. The bulk of my time, energy, and focus was spent after I had written down the conversation in its entirety. Finding the heart and character of the book, and adding the appropriate layers and improving and improving was difficult, and felt unending at some points. But it was always exciting because I felt this work was on to something. As for the publishing process, that has been an entirely new set of challenges, on a daily basis--but I wouldn't want to bore you or TaiwaneseAmerican.org readers with those mundane details. One interesting thing I've often thought of, though, is back when I worked in book publishing I always thought critically of the elaborate marketing and publicity operations that seemed to distract from the integrity of the writing itself--but now being on the writer's side trying constantly to get the word out on this book to as wide an audience as possible, often I've wished I had a marketing department, or experienced publicist to help expand these efforts, and to take the work of "selling" off of my hands. It has been tough to keep up with everything since the book's publication. To be honest, I wish I could go back to spending my time writing and reading instead of this--but I guess for now, it is hard to avoid the necessary time commitment to try to get this book to mainstream America. H: It definitely sounds like a lot of hard work! But, I have no doubt that the book will make its way out there. Out of curiosity, where did you grow up? And what were your significant experiences that influenced you to discover your identity as a Taiwanese American? A: Growing up I was in a few locations like kindergarten in Iowa and three years of grade school in Taiwan, but most of my formative years I grew up in Miami, where I was born. The so-called "discovery of my identity" as a Taiwanese American was not unlike many other Taiwanese Americans who attended college on the East Coast or California. Our campus TA organization at Brown my freshman year was a bunch of friendly, cool, quirky kids and I got conned into joining the fun at some free food events--then my sophomore year I attended BITSA and ITASA and met cool friendly Taiwanese American kids from all over the country, and back on campus I once got interested in helping research Taiwan's history for 10/10 holiday to make flyers to hand out on campus, and from there, I fell in love with learning all about Taiwan--a subject I hadn't known much of anything about but a subject that had been personal for my family members growing up. And once I learned more, I felt confident about "my identity" more, and I began to love sharing Taiwan with anyone and everyone, etc. And I have to say, there is no better setting to learn-&-share--to engage--than on a college campus. H: Have you written other books or essays previously? When did you discover your love for writing? A: Yes. In 5th grade I wrote a book with color markers called "The First Coconut". It entailed two cavemen, one named Nut and the other Cocoa, and when Cocoa (the dumber caveman) was walking and counting his fingers one day, he ran into a tree knocking down a hard round fruit. Then Nut (the smarter of the two) found Cocoa lying on the floor, found the fruit, sliced it open with a sharp rock, and together they drank the sweet juice--since they both helped discover it, from then on it was named "Coconut." It had cool illustrations. After that, I generally took a long sabbatical from writing, and only discovered my love for language in college, where I fell in love with writing intricate essays analyzing Faulkner novels for class, then also writing short stories about my fat cat, a drunken Texan-Mexican who looking for a urinal stumbled into church, and a homeless wanderer on the side of a highway. In the past 5 years, though, my love for literature and writing has mostly taken me into American poetry, and--aside from a few op-eds I wrote during college--Humanity at Stake has been my first venture into nonfiction of this sort. H: Coconut. I like that one! You've come a long way! Anyways, a good portion of the proceeds from your book sales will go towards supporting the non-for-profit organization Human Rights Watch. That is quite admirable of you. Give us some insight into your personal thoughts on human rights beyond Taiwan and on the global level. A: The bold and essential work that Human Rights Watch does in the world is what's admirable. In the past year when I've often read about the tragic assaults on individual rights told through a news article, email, or website, it is always HRW, Amnesty, or the proactive people at mission-driven organizations like these, who have chosen to dedicate their jobs, skills, and lives to standing up for what they see is right, giving voice to those who deservingly, and urgently, need it. Also, those proactive people do the sometimes controversial but always important work of bringing unwanted attention to the aggressors and violators. For instance, in a blog and emails I've written to friends trying to help give voice to Chinese human rights activists like Hu Jia currently being silenced by the Communist Party and thrown in jail, I've often put to use the great resources at hrw.org like their publication of Hu Jia and Teng Biao's open letter to the Chinese government, "The Real China and the Olympics". Pressure on dictators and violators will only come with disseminating information, and truthful information under a dictator will only come with people who are vocal, passionate, and driven. Also, the other side of what is needed is an audience of many people who are willing to listen, to lend their ears and minds, and in turn to engage by pressuring the violators--thereby completing the transformative loop. In fact, all these components I just mentioned were present and critical during the Taiwanese struggle for individual rights in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, which enabled Taiwan to finally transform into the full human-rights respecting democracy that it is today. I'm not sure if all this is along the lines of an answer you were looking for, Ho Chie, but anyways these are just some thoughts that come to mind about human rights in the world. But what do I know--I'm just a young twenty-six year old thinking about the big world! H: As am I... And a big world it is. So, what's next for you? A: Meet people, think about the things in the world, and hopefully do the things that I love to do. H: That's what I love to hear. Keep up the good work, and thanks so much for your time today! It was a pleasure discovering your initial writing, which lead to this final composition. I have no doubt that many people will learn much about the current issues facing Taiwan and the world through your book. I look forward to catching you on tour sometime! Check out the book website at: humanityatstake.com Order your own copy at: amazon.com Portions of book proceeds will benefit: Human Rights Watch TaiwaneseAmerican.org is proud to offer autographed copies of Humanity at Stake to three readers of this website! To be entered in the raffle, send an email to admin@taiwaneseamerican.org with the subject line "Humanity" and on June 22nd the winners will be chosen at random. *EDIT* Congratulations to Daphne L. of Fremont, CA, John T. of New York, NY, and Deborah C. of Owings Mills, MD on winning the books!

Where Jazz, Taiwan, and the Vocal Stylings of Jen Shyu Fuse.

"It doesn't matter if you don't know the music well, I just want you to sing it loud and proud," Jen Shyu declares, as she teaches a traditional Taiwanese folk song to a group of her peers at the North American Taiwanese Womens Association's 2nd Generation program in Los Angeles. This is, after all, a conference where the focus is on connecting the community, bridging this generation with the ones before, and taking pride in their collective sisterhood. During this session, Jen easily captures the group's attention both with her glowing, forceful stage presence as well as her beautiful and captivating voice. Officially, I am here on behalf of TaiwaneseAmerican.org to support NATWA II and to raise funds for their excellent array of year-round programs and scholarships. But secretly, I feel privileged to be surrounded by a group of talented and amazing women representing various professions, from community organizers to industry executives, from physicians to filmmakers. Artists certainly abound in this unique group of 2nd generation Taiwanese American women. Vocalist and composer Jen Shyu is certainly no exception, as her name is familiar among the modern jazz circles around the world. She is here at this conference to perform at the closing night dinner and to share her stories with at least three generations of women of Taiwanese heritage. I'm fortunate enough to chat with her briefly to find out more about her dynamic career. H: How do you describe your music? Does “jazz fusion” correctly capture the essence of your style? J: Well, I would say my music is a combination of who I am starting with the classical training I received, similar to many Asian Americans who are the children of immigrant parents. In this generation, there are many like me who pursued piano and violin, but in high school and college, I also studied opera. Then, I went through a rebellion period after college graduation. H: Rebellion? J: Yes, I had met a group of Asian American jazz musicians, and that was my entrance into jazz and “creative music.” They inspired me to draw from my ancestry as an influence on my music. Moving to New York was my full entrance into the tradition of jazz and also the rupture of my illusion of what I thought was “jazz,” which is what they say critics called it back in the day before musicians started calling it that. I began to learn the real meaning and spirit of jazz. What it means to me now is a gestalt and complete unity of influences, from the music of Taiwan that I began to research, from classical to straight-ahead jazz, and from traditions around the world such as in Brazil and Cuba. From this process of self-discovery comes my music. H: I must admit that I am quite impressed by your music and all the great musicians you've worked with, including Francis Wong and Jon Jang who are certainly well-recognized as musicians and activists! J: Yes. I think what they taught me as well as other creative artists in the Asian improv circles in the San Francisco Bay Area was to widen our range. The artists in the Asian Improv community weren’t just Asian - they were any creative artist searching for their roots, whether they were Native American, Egyptian, Puerto Rican - we were all in touch with this part of expressing ourselves. As Francis advised, “you should find out what your job is in this world, this universe.” Both Jon and Francis were mentors that offered such sacred wisdom. Even as I moved from San Francisco to New York, their influence was and still is strong. They were my “creative parents” since my real parents weren’t musicians or artists and couldn’t give that specific advice to me. Jon and Francis were so politically active, and they inspired me to be as well. H: Talking about people, places, and time… you're so well-traveled! You've been to Holland, France, Italy, England, and Germany. You tour regularly through other parts of Europe. And currently, you’re in New York singing with Steve Coleman and Five Elements, right? J: Exactly. That was another big change for me. I had lived in San Francisco for three years prior to meeting Steve Coleman. I was introduced to Steve by a Cuban drummer friend when I was visiting New York. At that time, I was just considering moving to New York, but I was still a little scared. When I met Steve and gave him my jazz CD, he said to me later, “well you have a nice voice, but what do you want to do with it? Do you want to just sing jazz standards or do you want to put yourself into the music?” What he was saying to me was that I should work harder to create and compose music that included my background. He thought that I had more potential than singing other people’s jazz songs. He pushed me to go further. He also pushed me to go back to Taiwan – the last time I had been there was when I was 7 yrs old. H: Tell me more about that, the desire to find Taiwanese influences. J: Working with Asian Improv gave me the initial desire to investigate Taiwanese folk songs. Before I went off to college, my dad had stuffed a collection of folk songs into my luggage. But because I was into musical theater, opera, Western classical music, and other music,I never looked at it. Francis and Jon inspired me to check out that Taiwanese music and see if I could do something with it, which they often did in their music. So that was when I realized I need to go back to Taiwan in order to see the land, be among the people, and speak the language to really understand where this music was coming from. But I was floating, riding on the standards CD I had just produced, waiting for a grant which I didn’t get... and I knew that I eventually wanted to move to New York and also go to Taiwan, but I had this apartment lease, this teaching gig, a car, all these other excuses. So during this in-limbo period, I took some lessons with Steve, who was conceiving an album with voices and he was interested in my voice. When I told him of my desire of going to Taiwan as I knew it was the only way for me to get inside of those folk songs, he simply said, “Why don’t you just go? You could get hit by a bus tomorrow, and then what? You have to go now!” I took him seriously. During those lessons, he introduced me to the music of Charlie Parker, Art Tatum, Von Freeman, in that he had me listen to their improvisations by ear and sing it back by memory. It was difficult at first, like learning a new language. This is where it really begins - listening and getting inside of the music, the era, and the mentality - this is how you begin studying improvisation. And one of the most sophisticated traditions of improvisation is this jazz tradition which was developed by African Americans, which inspired me to find myself. After those lessons, I broke my apartment lease, quit my teaching gig, and went straight to Taiwan. H: That is amazing! Share some of your experiences in Taiwan. J: I went for two months on a low budget. I visited my father’s relatives who gave me some leads to finding some folk music singers like Tsai Chen Nan and aboriginal scholars and singers, like this urban Amis tribe choir managed by a government councilman and activist named Song Jing Tsai. These were great leads since I basically started from zero, just hanging out, learning Mandarin by immersion. I took some conversation lessons and tried to get a feel for things culturally. It was amazing. I came back, sang on a recording with Steve. And after that, I went off to Cuba to research the Chinese community and the history of Chinese laborers in Cuba, which was another desire lying dormant. I planned this trip when I planned the Taiwan trip, following Steve’s advice - his advice was basically the catalyst for me to do all the things I wanted to do. He always said that “Success is doing what you want to do. It doesn’t have to be fame or money like how most people see it.” I remember him also telling me that “money is an illusion” in that you don’t need a lot of money to do what you want to do. I really found that to be true on my trip to Taiwan, and those words have since been liberating. After that, he asked me to sing on some gigs in Europe, so then I moved to New York and have been in his band ever since. H: What's it like being a Taiwanese American woman in the world of jazz? I know I certainly can't name any other person doing what you are doing right now. J: Well I think it is powerful thing for me. My father is Taiwanese, my mother is from East Timor. I’ve related in the sense that I believe in freedom and human rights. Liberty - it seems Taiwan has been robbed of that time after time with a history of being colonized. It’s something that speaks to me very strongly. So I try to create my own sound, my own path. I don’t want to just go straight classical, straight jazz or pop. Or just to make money. It’s an underground venture, not just about money or popularity. It’s the whole Taiwanese fight as the underdog. I feel a certain resonance with that. Even what I’m doing is a political statement in itself. I’m not following what most parents are expecting, pursuing that safe job, doing something more mainstream. In going against that, it is a political statement. It is a natural part of who I am. A lot of it stems from racism, growing up in the Midwest, and my desire for justice and to break stereotypes. Going through all of this, I realize that I am proud, and that I really want to share this pride with and influence other Taiwanese Americans. H: It’s your first time at this NATWA conference. Are you enjoying yourself? J: I love it. It is amazing to meet such amazing women with whom I instantly feel such symbiosis. It’s such a revelation that we’ve been through the same thing. It’s so great! It’s also great that the older generation is here at same time. It’s very inspiring. It’s a great reminder to me as well. As an artist, even though I love people, it’s easy to become engulfed by your art, and since I compose best in solitude without distractions, the act of creating can be a lonely activity. So it’s good to be in touch with fellow Taiwanese Americans. H: You’ve got your CD entitled For Now out. What's next for you? J: I have another album that I want to put out; it’s my own original music, not jazz standards. It was cultivated over the past three years with my band called Jade Tongue in New York. The album includes some of these Taiwanese arrangements that I’m performing here at NATWA, and it’s my desire to share Taiwanese culture to mainstream America through these songs because the music and culture are embedded in each other. You can’t separate them. With my dad and cousin’s help, I translated the songs into English or Spanish, and I perform them in a modern and improvisational context. It’s still an ongoing project, and I hope to involve other languages to expose even more people to Taiwanese culture and music. I also have a community project I want to start. I want to gather children of immigrants who just moved to the Bronx, which is where I live in New York. I plan to hold workshops where these children of immigrants will have to learn folk songs from their parents first and then teach and learn songs from each other. Imagine that - Generations communicating culture through music, teaching each other, finding commonalities through music, learning from differences, promoting peace and understanding. It’s such a beautiful thing. H: One last question: Stinky tofu or bubble tea? J: Definitely bubble tea. H: Sweet! J: Oh, one more thing I wanted to share; it is advice that I live by, or at least try my best. In the words of filmmaker John Cassavetes to Martin Scorcese: “Film what you want to film, what you need to film, not what you CAN film.” As with music, if you have the skills, it’s very easy just to execute the styles that have been well established, but it’s much harder work to do or create something that is really you. As I sit here and listen to her share her journey through the fusion of life and music, it’s clear to me that life and music are one and the same for her. She knows that challenges lie ahead of her in this very unique and stylized path through the world of jazz. I can see in her eyes that she realizes it is not going to be immediately rewarding materially or by mainstream standards, but I can already tell that she has succeeded in discovering what is most important - living life with passion. Visit Jen Shyu's website at: JenShyu.com Listen to some of her work at: www.MySpace/JenShyu Purchase Jen's latest solo CD: JenShyu.com/order.html For the Taiwanese American 2nd generation women out there, check out NATWA II at: natwa2.com/natwa2 *Congrats to Christina C. of Urbana, IL for winning an autographed copy of Jen Shyu's CD from a raffle only available to the members of TaiwaneseAmerican.org's email listserve!* Ho Chie Tsai is the creator and manager of this web portal site, something that represents and serves the community he cares about. The organizers of NATWA II say he is an honorary member of their organization. As a guy, he definitely feels honored to be part of the sisterhood. It inspires him to continue doing the work he does. Girl power! Go!