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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
The Third Time Hiro Ran Away: Fiction by J.C. Hsyu The Third Time Hiro Ran Away: Fiction by J.C. Hsyu
Isolation Tank: Fiction by Sharon S.Y. Lee Isolation Tank: Fiction by Sharon S.Y. Lee
Our Yin and Yang Family: Creative Nonfiction by Emma Tzeng Our Yin and Yang Family: Creative Nonfiction by Emma Tzeng
Driving Lessons: Fiction by Lena Chen Driving Lessons: Fiction by Lena Chen
Quitting Your Job for the Plot: In Conversation with Vincent Chu ("Nice Places") Quitting Your Job for the Plot: In Conversation with Vincent Chu ("Nice Places")

Featured Stories

FeaturedFood & Travel

From Tea to Millet: Writer Jess Eng’s book “Taitung Eats” uncovers a fast growing slow food movement in Southeastern Taiwan

When chef and writer Jess Eng tried pitching her first story about Taitung, Taiwan, no one wanted it.  This was around 2022 and the story was about the Luye Red Oolong, a bug bitten tea with a honey-sweet flavor. Its naturally occurring honey-like sweetness comes from a biological defense from the…

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Arts & CultureInterviews

Now Streaming on Instagram: “Vultures,” a Medical Conspiracy Thriller

Taiwanese American filmmaker Iyin Landre’s new series, Vultures, is a short-form medical conspiracy thriller about what happens when an already staggering medical bill must be navigated within a healthcare system designed to make this care inaccessible, if not a further source of debilitation.…

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FeaturedInterviews

Taiwanese Chef Eric Sze Brings Honesty & “Intentional Fusion” to His First Cookbook

In order for fusion dishes to work, Taiwanese chef Eric Sze uses one thing to guide his "eccentric" cooking: The sum needs to be greater than the parts. Or as he explained to me when we met at his Greenpoint restaurant Wenwen, "one plus one needs to be greater than two." Sze is well known for…

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The October pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir The October pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Jami Nakamura Lin's @jami_lin "The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir." ⁠ Featuring stunning illustrations by her sister, Cori Nakamura Lin, and divided into the four acts of a traditional Japanese narrative structure, The Night Parade is a genre-bending and deeply emotional memoir that mirrors the sensation of being caught between realms. Braiding her experience of mental illness, the death of her father, the grieving process, and other haunted topics with storytelling tradition, Jami Nakamura Lin shines a light into dark corners, driven by a question: How do we learn to live with the things that haunt us?⁠ ⁠ Join us on Sunday, October 18 @ 6PM PT for a cozy virtual discussion (Google Meets). All are welcome!⁠ RSVP at the link in bio.
In "Nice Places," when Georgie quits his account m In "Nice Places," when Georgie quits his account management job at Oats Technologies to travel the world for one year, he hopes to escape the daily existential discomfort of corporate life. But after a meditation guru robs him on his way to the airport, he awakens in a guest house in the rundown yet vibrant Panhandle neighborhood of his own city.⁠ ⁠ Alone with his phone and a desperate urge to assure his friends and family all is well, Georgie shares a photo of “authentic” boat noodles. To his surprise, everyone loves the post and believes he is overseas. Ant, a mixed media artist from Berlin, proposes a collaboration. With her vision and the help of a charming cast of guests and locals, Georgie’s unlikely adventures unravel in ways he never imagined.⁠ ⁠ We're delighted to present this Q&A with "Nice Places" author Vincent Chu @vincentkchu -- read it at TaiwaneseAmerican.org. ⁠ ⁠ "Nice Places" is available at our Bookshop, wherever books are sold, and perhaps at your local library!
New on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: Our Food Editor Tiff New on TaiwaneseAmerican.org: Our Food Editor Tiffany Ran @bb6.taiwan interviews Jess Eng @goudatalks about TAITUNG EATS 臺東食, a beautifully designed, self-published compendium of essays and original photography about the foods and lives of Taitung farmers, educators, and indigenous groups. ⁠ ⁠ The book is dedicated to the Center of Austronesian Culture of National Taitung University, and available for purchase at jesseng.com.
We’ve been struck by Taiwanese American filmmake We’ve been struck by Taiwanese American filmmaker Iyin Landre’s Vultures, a short-form medical conspiracy thriller created entirely for Instagram. Season 2 takes the story to Taiwan, with bilingual captions and new episodes dropping weekly.⁠ ⁠ Read the full Q&A between Director of Photography Michael Li @no_limits_li and Writer/Filmmaker Iyin Landre @iyin212 at TaiwaneseAmerican.org.⁠ ⁠ Watch the series, as well as looks behind the scenes, at @vultures_series
Eric Sze @esze.e is well known for his “authenti Eric Sze @esze.e is well known for his “authentically unauthentic” dishes. Born and raised in Taipei before heading to the United States for college, he [interrogates] what is considered “Taiwanese” food through his experimental cooking. ⁠ He first learned to cook the Taiwanese dishes he missed while in New York; now he plays with the cooking techniques he knows and the ingredients he understands. Sze flips them on their head, making something new that maybe could’ve only been created between Taipei and New York City. (See: BDSM chicken, otherwise known as as “debrined, deboned, soy milk chicken.”)⁠ ⁠ But this cooking journey of “intentional fusion” didn’t come without its stumbles, as Sze recounts in his first — and most likely last — cookbook, Taiwanese?, which publishes in October and is now available for preorders.⁠ The cookbook features 75 recipes, personalized travel itineraries, and rambling reflections on things like the rocky opening of the now-shuttered 886 (RIP). “[I’m] proud of all the stumbles we’ve taken because we’re always picking ourselves back up,” Sze tells guest contributor Sara Conway.⁠ ⁠ Read the full conversation, linked here and in bio: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/09/eric-sze-taiwanese-cookbook/⁠ ⁠ Photos by Alex Lau.
It's so heartwarming to see a new and growing coll It's so heartwarming to see a new and growing collection of heritage-inspired picture books for the next generation of Taiwanese Americans and beyond. ⁠ Find the Mid-Autumn Festival collection at our Bookshop (linked in bio) or your local public library!⁠ (in order of slide appearance) - ⁠ 01 - Beneath the Same Round Moon - written by @jasmineifang / ill. by @vuon.illustration⁠ 02 - Miya's Mooncakes - written by @crystal.z.lee / ill. by @allie_su588⁠ 03 - Mixed-Up Mooncakes - written by @christinamatula & @ricalyonswrites / ill. by @tracysubisak⁠ 04 - Thanking the Moon - written & ill. by @pacylin⁠ 05 - A Big Mooncake for Little Star - written & ill. by @pacylin⁠ 06 - The Shadow in the Moon - written by @christinamatula / ill. by @pearlperoni⁠
The September pick for our Taiwanese American Memo The September pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Kim Liao’s “Where Every Ghost Has a Name：A Memoir of Taiwanese Independence” SYNOPSIS：In her debut memoir, “Where Every Ghost Has a Name,” Kim Liao @the_kimlet travels to Taiwan in 2010, more than 60 years after her grandfather, Thomas Liao 廖文毅, the leader of the Taiwanese independence movement, was arrested by authorities there. Not long after Thomas Liao’s arrest, other members of the Liao family were arrested and had their land seized; but several family members, including the author’s grandmother, were forced into exile. ”Where Every Ghost Has a Name“ spans the year that Liao spent in Taiwan wading her way through her family’s history, which, she quickly learns, has been largely erased or hidden away by the KMT government. This historical and cultural silence around post-WWII Taiwan served as an uncanny mirror for the silence that surrounded the author’s own family after they arrived in the United States, lasting all the way into Liao’s adult life. Join us and author Kim Liao on Sunday, September 20 @ 6PM PT for a guided discussion（Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.
We were so grateful to speak with Jasmine Fang abo We were so grateful to speak with Jasmine Fang about her debut picture book, Beneath the Same Round Moon: A Mooncake Festival Story. The story, richly illustrated by Rong Pham and Vinh Nguyen, offers a fresh and topical take on a familiar tradition while thoughtfully expanding its resonance to include families who may have never celebrated or even known of the Mid-Autumn Festival. With tenderness and compassion, Jasmine enriches our understanding of what it means to draw close and forge connection even amidst change.⁠ ⁠ Read the full Q&A here: https://www.taiwaneseamerican.org/2026/08/beneath-the-same-round-moon-jasmine-fang/⁠ ⁠ Words by @jasmineifang | Illustrations by @vuon.illustration | Publisher @beamingbooksmn⁠ ⁠ Beneath the Same Round Moon launches on September 1 - pre-order now!⁠ And for those in the Bay Area, Jasmine will have the following book events next month:⁠ Sep 12 10:30am launch⁠ On Waverly SF @onwaverly⁠ ⁠ Sep 13 10:30am⁠ Linden Tree Books, Los Altos @lindentreereads⁠ ⁠ Sep 19 1:30pm⁠ Fairyland Children’s Festival, Oakland
A Story That Lives Within US: Ada — Volume II is A Story That Lives Within US: Ada — Volume II is a historical and cultural preservation exhibition curated by Tzu-Ying (Naomi) Chan. Featuring 17 artists from Japan, Spain, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Ecuador, and the United States, the exhibition explores Taiwanese immigrant experiences in New York during the 1980s and 1990s through contemporary art, oral histories, and written narratives. ⁠ ⁠ It will be on view at Crossing Art @crossingart in Chelsea from August 13–26, 2026, with artist talks, workshops, and guided tours. See @storyofus.ada for more information on upcoming events!
From longtime contributor, educator-activist, and From longtime contributor, educator-activist, and former TaiwanPlus producer Eric Tsai:⁠ For many people around the world, their first introduction to Taiwan comes through headlines about military tensions, semiconductors, or elections. Those stories matter, but they are only pieces of a much larger story. Taiwan is also its history, its people, its culture, its contradictions, and the everyday experiences that shape a vibrant society.⁠ TaiwanPlus @taiwanplus was created to help tell Taiwan’s story to global audiences, not just in response to flashpoints of crisis, but with the depth and context that Taiwan deserves. For many in the diaspora, it has become a resource to better understand our heritage, explain Taiwan to friends and colleagues, and participate in conversations that extend far beyond geopolitics.⁠ ⁠ As proposals move forward in the Legislative Yuan that threaten TaiwanPlus’s funding, I hope we take a moment to reflect on what this work has made possible.⁠ ⁠ Has TaiwanPlus ever helped you understand Taiwan a little better? Helped you explain Taiwan to someone else? Helped you connect with a part of your own identity? If so, I hope you will share it in the comments below. These stories are some of the clearest evidence that this work matters.
The August pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir The August pick for our Taiwanese American Memoir Book Club is Jessica J. Lee's "Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past."⁠ ⁠ SYNOPSIS: A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. There, she seeks his story while growing closer to the land he knew.⁠ Lee hikes mountains home to Formosan flamecrests, birds found nowhere else on earth, and swims in a lake of drowned cedars. She bikes flatlands where spoonbills alight by fish farms, and learns about a tree whose fruit can float in the ocean for years, awaiting landfall. Throughout, Lee unearths surprising parallels between the natural and human stories that have shaped her family and their beloved island. Joyously attentive to the natural world, Lee also turns a critical gaze upon colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, relying on and often effacing the labor and knowledge of local communities.⁠ ⁠ Two Trees Make a Forest is a genre-shattering book encompassing history, travel, nature, and memoir, an extraordinary narrative showing how geographical forces are interlaced with our family stories.⁠ ⁠ 🖥️ Join us on Sunday, August 16 6PM PT for a guided discussion (Google Meets)! RSVP at the link in bio.⁠
“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!⁠
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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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