The Chinese name for America, 美国/美國/měiguó, translates to “Beautiful Country”. We talked with author Jane Kuo about her experience as a 1.5-generation immigrant bridging Chinese, Taiwanese, and American identity. Her family’s pursuit of the American Dream inspired her debut novel In the Beautiful Country which is available for pre-order before its June 28 release (delayed from June 14 due to supply chain issues).
Featuring Jane Kuo:
- In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo
- janekuo.com for upcoming tour dates and projects
- instagram.com/janekuowrites
- facebook.com/janekuowrites
- twitter.com/janekuowrites
About Jane: Jane Kuo is a Chinese and Taiwanese American writer. She is an immigrant and the daughter of immigrants. Jane grew up in Los Angeles in the 1980s and as a child, she spent her weekends and summers working in her family’s fast food restaurant. Jane’s middle grade novel, In the Beautiful Country, is a fictional story inspired by the events of her childhood.
Other works mentioned:
- Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Wikipedia)
- Asian Comedian Destroys America!, Ronny Chieng’s first special on Netflix
English language writing by Taiwanese Americans about the May 15 shooting in Laguna Woods, California
- Brian Hioe for New Bloom Magazine, “Confusion About ‘Chinese’ Or ‘Taiwanese’ Identity Of Gunman After Shooting At Taiwanese Church In California”
- HoChie Tsai and Leona Chen for TaiwaneseAmerican.org, “We grieve the May 15th Shooting at Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church”
- Jocelyn Chung for USA Today, “Church shooting is deeply personal for us as Taiwanese Americans”
- A prayer by Jocelyn’s ama for the Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church (Instagram video in Taiwanese with English translation in the caption)
Connect:
instagram.com/heartsintaiwan
facebook.com/heartsintaiwan
heartsintaiwan.com
Connect:
buymeacoffee.com/heartsintaiwan ← Buy us a boba!
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com