highlighting taiwanese america

  • Home
    • About
    • Community Organizations
  • Submissions
  • Stories
    • Interviews
    • Perspectives
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Community Orgs
    • Food & Travel
    • Social Issues & Politics
  • Projects
  • 2026 Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club
    • Book Club Discussion Guides
  • Creative Writing Prizes
  • Gift Guides
  • Bookshop
  • Parenting Resources
  • Contact
  • Donate

TaiwaneseAmerican.org

  • Home
    • About
    • Community Organizations
  • Submissions
  • Stories
    • Interviews
    • Perspectives
    • Arts & Entertainment
    • Community Orgs
    • Food & Travel
    • Social Issues & Politics
  • Projects
  • 2026 Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club
    • Book Club Discussion Guides
  • Creative Writing Prizes
  • Gift Guides
  • Bookshop
  • Parenting Resources
  • Contact
  • Donate
They’ve Always Come to Us, and We’ve Always Stayed: Fiction by Eddie Lo They’ve Always Come to Us, and We’ve Always Stayed: Fiction by Eddie Lo
To My Date at Wonder Bar: Creative Nonfiction by Christine Huang To My Date at Wonder Bar: Creative Nonfiction by Christine Huang
Inner Voices of the Fog: A Reflection on A Foggy Tale Inner Voices of the Fog: A Reflection on A Foggy Tale
Charles Yu, Grace Loh Prasad, Alvina Ling, Shawna Yang Ryan, Averylin Cummins select 2026 Creative Writing Prize Winners Charles Yu, Grace Loh Prasad, Alvina Ling, Shawna Yang Ryan, Averylin Cummins select 2026 Creative Writing Prize Winners
Leaving the United States Made Me Feel More Taiwanese American Leaving the United States Made Me Feel More Taiwanese American

Featured Stories

Arts & CultureFood & TravelInterviews

A Little Bit Sweet: A Taiwanese American Documentary About Grief, Family, and Hot Sauce

When Sophia Chang visited the BB Hot Sauce factory in Tainan, a family business she only learned about during a family trip to Taiwan in 2015, she was surprised to walk into a large facility, having pictured at some point a mom and pop operation out of a family residence. Then: there it was, the…

Read More »

CommunitySocial/Politics

A Reflection on 228, from Taiwanese America in 2026

Dear community, Some of my earliest work for TaiwaneseAmerican.org (indeed, ten years ago to this date!) was published in commemoration of the 228 Incident and the period of White Terror that followed. In 2016, I wrote: I urge us to reaffirm our own agencies in the patchwork of the Taiwanese…

Read More »

FeaturedInterviews

Crying in the Taipei 101 Food Court: Two Transpacific Adoptees Talk (Re-)Learning Mandarin in Taiwan

We hadn’t meant to cry in the food court below Taipei — and during a Saturday lunch rush hour at that.  Author Stefany Valentine and I connected online in 2024 before she published her debut novel, First Love Language. As Asian American adoptees — her being Taiwanese American and me being…

Read More »

Facebook
Instagram
“I want to be an architect after I graduate.” “I want to be an architect after I graduate.” That’s what Ruo remembered saying before the beatings came. ⁠ ⁠ His father was furious. “Have the Japanese bastards gotten into your head!” The next morning, his father took him on a six-hour trek to the port of Kīrun. They walked from the city all the way to the water, even passing a man without a uniform riding a bicycle. “He bought that with blood money,” his father muttered and said nothing more. When they arrived at the plaza, his father blurted out, “Now tell me what you see!” as if he had been suppressing the words the entire walk. ⁠ ⁠ The port held rows of bulky steel ships. Sailors in white hustled up and down their ramps. “Ferry boats, gunboats, patrol boats…” ⁠ Ruo stared at the flags mounted on each ship’s stern—a red sun with rays bursting outward against a white field. Every morning at school, the class would salute a flag similar to the one, but without the rays. ⁠ ⁠ “That’s not the point! What about that? Do you see?” His father pointed to a row of cargo ships, each loaded with layers upon layers of timber. ⁠ ⁠ “Those are thousand-year-old trees from our sacred mountains. And they’re going to ship them all to Japan to build some stupid shrines,” he said. “They take and take and take. They level our forests, and they’ll eventually leave Taiwan with nothing!” ⁠ ⁠ Read the full piece, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/07/theyve-always-come-to-us-fiction-eddie-lo/
The July pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Bo The July pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Marijane Huang's "Beyond Two Worlds: A Taiwanese American Adoptee's Memoir & Search for Identity" ⁠and we're thrilled to be joined by Marijane for a live Q&A!⁠ ⁠ SYNOPSIS: "Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Marijane was adopted by an American military family at four months old. She grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in the deep South where hers was the only Asian face among a majority of white. Raised to believe she was Vietnamese and Japanese, she never doubted her ethnicity, until one day, she found her lost adoption papers. This discovery unloosed secrets that had been buried for decades, causing her to question her identity. With brave determination, Marijane set out on a quest to reconstruct her past and resurrect a birth heritage that had long been forsaken. Her journey took her halfway across the world to reunite with her birth family and a culture she realized she had longed for her entire life. Beyond Two Worlds is a poignant telling of one woman's search for identity and belonging despite insurmountable odds, and is an inspiring true story for those seeking to connect to their original families."⁠ ⁠ 🖥️ Join us on Sunday, July 19 6PM PT for a guided discussion (Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.⁠
"It’s 8:30 pm, and I’m half an hour late to me "It’s 8:30 pm, and I’m half an hour late to meet you. I spot you smoking out on the curb in front of Wonder Bar, a queer bar I’d Googled dozens of times over the past decade, always too nervous to set foot in it. You’re rocking a low fade, oversized button-up, and cuffed jeans. We’d matched on Bumble a week or so before, and I knew from a short video call that I liked the sandpaper sound of your voice. Out of habit, I give you the same warm hug I give everyone in Taiwan, the kind that’s meant for family, and you return it with a stiffer, one-armed embrace.⁠ ⁠ Inside the sleek, blue-lit bar, the AC is ferocious. I can’t blame them; I’ve spent nearly every summer break of my life in Taiwan, but the temperatures this year are the highest I can remember. We complain about heat exhaustion to break the ice. Across the room hangs a neon pink sign that reads, I love pussy."⁠ ⁠ Read the full piece, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/07/to-my-date-at-wonder-bar/⁠ ⁠ Christine Huang 黃凱琳 is a queer writer and facilitator and the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. Her work, which often explores insurgency, language, rage, and desire, has appeared in The Offing, ANMLY, Pinch, many wor(l)ds, and Foglifter. She is a 2026 Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee, and her collaborative project with poet Adam Ahmed won Black Warrior Review’s 2026 Experimental Forms Contest judged by George Abraham.
The June pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Bo The June pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Hua Hsu's @huahsu"STAY TRUE." ⁠ ⁠ SYNOPSIS: "In the eyes of eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu, the problem with Ken—with his passion for Dave Matthews, Abercrombie & Fitch, and his fraternity—is that he is exactly like everyone else. Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who makes ’zines and haunts Bay Area record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to. The only thing Hua and Ken have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn’t seem to have a place for either of them.⁠ ⁠ But despite his first impressions, Hua and Ken become friends, a friendship built on late-night conversations over cigarettes, long drives along the California coast, and the successes and humiliations of everyday college life. And then violently, senselessly, Ken is gone, killed in a carjacking, not even three years after the day they first meet.⁠ ⁠ Determined to hold on to all that was left of one of his closest friends—his memories—Hua turned to writing. Stay True is the book he’s been working on ever since. A coming-of-age story that details both the ordinary and extraordinary, Stay True is a bracing memoir about growing up, and about moving through the world in search of meaning and belonging."⁠ ⁠ 🖥️ Join us on Sunday, June 21 6PM PT for a guided discussion (Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.⁠ 📚We're pleased to partner with AAPI-led, mission-driven @yellowperilbooks to offer 10% off our memoir selections with code TABOOKCLUB10 and 5% off books by Taiwanese Americans with code TWNAMERICANS. 5% of proceeds from these texts will be donated to @taiwaneseam_org.⁠ ⁠ Tag us on your reading journey at @taiwaneseam_org #TABookClub!⁠
New from guest contributor John Lee: a soulful and New from guest contributor John Lee: a soulful and deeply moving reflection on watching “A Foggy Tale” at a Taiwanese American community screening in Boston.⁠ ⁠ “There is something that art can do that memory cannot: it can give shape to what was too large or too dangerous or too painful to be spoken aloud. It can say, to the people who lived through something and to the descendants who only half-understand it: this happened, and it was real, and it mattered, and you are not alone in it.”⁠ ⁠ Read John’s full reflection at the link in our bio or here:⁠ https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/05/inner-voices-of-the-fog-a-reflection-on-a-foggy-tale/⁠ ⁠ “A Foggy Tale” begins streaming globally on Netflix on May 27!
Such a treat to bring our Taiwanese American Book Such a treat to bring our Taiwanese American Book Fair to the @stanfordtcs annual Night Market and share some of our favorite reads (and to gush about Taiwan Travelogue!!) We’ve been so inspired by the warm reception to the magic of reading, storytelling, and Taiwanese American literature. We love when all kinds of people can find pieces of themselves in these stories ❤️
New on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: a travelogue by Cind New on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: a travelogue by Cindy Cheng.⁠ "It's an absolutely ridiculous way to travel. We don’t even send you a real itinerary, just an outline with hardly any information. You show so much trust in us by just showing up."⁠ ⁠ Cindy Cheng is a Taiwanese American writer with training as a political economist. Originally from the Bay Area, she has spent the last decade living in Munich, Germany but has also previously made homes in Grenoble, France, Washington, DC, Durham, North Carolina, and Kunming, China.⁠ ⁠ Read the full piece: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/05/a-pilgrimage-creative-nonfiction-by-cindy-cheng/
After a reading and deliberation period, our judge After a reading and deliberation period, our judges (Charles Yu, Grace Loh Prasad, Alvina Ling, Shawna Yang Ryan, and guest Poetry reader Averylin Cummins) have made their selections for the 2026 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prize. ⁠ Since its inception, the prize has received hundreds of exquisitely creative and incisive entries. While we’re grateful to honor exceptional work, we’re even more proud to encourage the development of Taiwanese American writers across all ages and stages. ⁠ Through complementary programs for the prize such as “Office Hours” and “Meet the Judges,” we hope to foster a writing community grounded not only in achievement, but also in connection, personal fulfillment, and joy.⁠ Our sincerest thanks to all who participated (and endured some errors in the email announcements!), and our heartiest congratulations to those who placed this year.⁠ Read the grand prize winning entries NOW on TaiwaneseAmerican.org (“Creative Writing Prize” section).⁠ Link to full announcement: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/05/2026-creative-writing-prize-winners/
While the May pick of our Taiwanese American Memoi While the May pick of our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is not exactlyyyy a memoir, Tiffany Yu’s "The Anti-Ableist Manifesto" is nonetheless a critical part of our community canon, and an important addition to our reading group series.⁠ Through this month’s selection, we hope to expand our understanding of what belongs within Taiwanese American storytelling and community memory; and to consider disability justice as essential to conversations about identity, belonging, access, and collective liberation. Join us THIS Sunday, with a special live Q&A with author @imtiffanyyu <3 ⁠ ⁠ 🖥️ Join us on Sunday, May 17 6PM PT for a guided discussion (Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.⁠ 📚We're pleased to partner with AAPI-led, mission-driven @yellowperilbooks to offer 10% off our memoir selections with code TABOOKCLUB10 and 5% off books by Taiwanese Americans with code TWNAMERICANS. 5% of proceeds from these texts will be donated to @taiwaneseam_org.⁠ ⁠ Tag us on your reading journey at @taiwaneseam_org #TABookClub!⁠
Another sunny Taiwanese American Book Fair full of Another sunny Taiwanese American Book Fair full of friends who write, tell, and uplift our stories ❤️ Our hearts are so full! @onwaverly @tafestival
New on @taiwaneseam_org from @realyoumandarin foun New on @taiwaneseam_org from @realyoumandarin founder Angela Lin: how "where are you really from?" can't be neatly answered with an origin story and the ongoing journey to find "her people" (and herself in the process) from Southern California to Taiwan to Japan as a Taiwanese American.⁠ ⁠ Read here (and linked in bio): https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/05/leaving-the-united-states-made-me-feel-more-taiwanese-american/⁠ ⁠ Her latest module on @realyoumandarin empowers heritage Mandarin learners to navigate some of life’s toughest challenges: expressing your emotions, interpersonal relationships & dynamics, fertility & parenting, caring for aging parents, and self-growth. If you’re interested in joining the course, they're offering TaiwaneseAmerican.org readers $25 off with code taiwaneseam25 (all lowercase) at checkout through the end of AAPI Heritage Month (May 31, 2026).⁠
The most wonderful time of the year is coming up!⁠ Join us at our Taiwanese American Book Fair at the @tafestival in San Francisco’s Union Square next Saturday, May 9!⁠ ⁠ We’re bringing back our beloved SHOPPABLE (ft. @onwaverly) exhibit of books by Taiwanese American authors/illustrators, with a special meet & greet with local writers and a joyful community hangout.⁠ ⁠ We're grateful to once again partner with @onwaverly, an AAPI-centered shop + creative space in Chinatown, who will be donating 10% of book sale proceeds to us, TaiwaneseAmerican.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit amplifying Taiwanese American voices. ⁠ ⁠ Can’t make it in person? Visit On Waverly year-round at 162 Waverly Place or shop online anytime at bookshop.org/shop/taiwaneseam_org to support indie bookstores.⁠ ⁠ Let’s celebrate the flourishing canon of Taiwanese American literature, connect through stories, and build community together. Come say hi; we can’t wait to meet you!⁠!!! 🥰❤️⁠ ⁠ ⁠
‘Invisible’ no more: with community support, V ‘Invisible’ no more: with community support, Vanessa Hope’s documentary “INVISIBLE NATION” will soon reach more than 77% of U.S. television households through its nationwide rollout on Public Broadcasting Service.⁠ ⁠ Thorough, incisive and bristling with tension, INVISIBLE NATION is a living account of Tsai’s tightrope walk as she balances the hopes and dreams of her nation between the colossal geopolitical forces of the U.S. and China. Hope’s restrained observational style captures Tsai at work in her country’s vibrant democracy at home, while seeking full international recognition of Taiwan’s right to exist. At a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated the ever-present threat of authoritarian aggression, INVISIBLE NATION brings punctual focus to the struggle of Taiwan as it fights for autonomy and freedom from fear.⁠ ⁠ Viewers who prefer streaming can also watch the film online for free starting May 1 via PBS.org or through the PBS Passport app: https://www.pbs.org/show/invisible-nation/
Taiwanese American Sophia Chang’s family has pro Taiwanese American Sophia Chang’s family has produced BB Hot Sauce for over seventy years, starting with her great-grandfather. ⁠ After the passing of her grandmother and other family members, Chang became motivated to capture the stories of her family and the history of the family business. ⁠ She, with the help of a small team, shot her documentary, “A Little Bit Sweet” in 2023, and they’re currently undergoing a secondary round of fundraising to complete the film. ⁠ In this Q&A with Food Editor Tiffany Ran, Chang discusses how she brought a small team to Tainan, Taiwan to capture the stories behind the beloved, storied old sauce company, and the complicated family narratives excavated along the way.⁠ ⁠ Sophia and the rest of the team behind “A Little Bit Sweet” are undergoing their post-production fundraising via Seed & Spark through the end of the month.⁠ TaiwaneseAmerican.org is one of this project’s earliest financial supporters and we have signed up in this secondary round to help spread the word and get them to the finish line.⁠ For every share of this Q&A on Instagram and Facebook through April 29, we’ll donate $1, up to $1,000.⁠ ⁠ Read the full interview, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/04/a-little-bit-sweet-doc/
This weekend in New York! Justice Across Borders i This weekend in New York! Justice Across Borders is a groundbreaking international film festival bringing together powerful cinematic stories from Taiwan and the United States to confront the global crisis of wrongful convictions. In a unique collaboration between the Justice Initiative Center@ St. John’s University, the Taiwan Innocence Project, and TheJeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice, this one-day event features a series of award-winning documentaries that delve into the lives of those who were failed by the justice system, and those fighting to restore truth, dignity, and freedom. Each screening will be followed by a live Q&A with advocates, filmmakers, exonerees, and justice professionals, creating space for dialogue, learning, and connection across continents. Learn more: https://www.stjohns.edu/academics/schools/college-professional-studies/conferences-and-exhibitions/justice-across-borders WALK-INS WELCOME, tickets not required!
About

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.

© 2026 TaiwaneseAmerican.org