S4 Ep. 14: This Is Who We Are: Gish Jen and Peter Ho Davies on the Long History of Anti-Asian Racism in the U.S.

fiction/non/fiction

In this week’s episode of Fiction/Non/Fiction, co-hosts Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan are joined by acclaimed writer Gish Jen and novelist Peter Ho Davies to reflect on recent and historic violence against Asian Americans. First, Jen reads her recent New York Times op-ed about the generational differences in how Asian Americans see anti-Asian racism. She also imagines a way forward, explaining that we need to elevate and recognize stories of trauma as well as strength in Asian American experiences. Then, Davies talks about Asian representation in literature and films, and reads from his novel The Fortunes, and its section about the tragic 1982 murder of Vincent Chin, which prompted major shifts in Asian American political organizing. Davies also discusses his latest book, A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself.

To hear the full episode, subscribe to the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. And check out video excerpts from our interviews at LitHub’s Virtual Book Channel and Fiction/Non/Fiction’s YouTube Channel.

This podcast is produced by Andrea Tudhope.

Selected readings:

Gish Jen

• “The Generational Split in How Asian-Americans See the Atlanta Shootings,” New York Times
• The Resisters
• The Girl at The Baggage Claim
• Tiger Writing
• World and Town
• The Love Wife
• Who’s Irish?
• Mona In The Promised Land
• Typical American

Peter Ho Davies

• A Lie Someone Told You About Yourself
• The Fortunes
• The Welsh Girl
• Equal Love
• The Ugliest House in the World

Others:

• “Covering the Atlanta massacre from inside the Korean community,” by Shinhee Kang, Columbia Journalism Review
• “Jay Leno Apologizes for Years of Anti-Asian Jokes,” by Daniel Victor, New York Times
• Media Action Network for Asian Americans
• Miss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil
• Madame Butterfly by Puccini
• M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
• Passing by Nella Larsen
• Terrific Mother by Lorrie Moore
• Rising Sun, film by Philip Kaufman
• The Karate Kid, film by Robert Mark Kamen
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, film by Steven Spielberg
• The Duke of Deception by Geoffrey Wolff
• The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
• “Adam Purinton Pleads Guilty In Olathe Bar Shooting, Still Faces Federal Hate Crime Charges,” by Andrea Tudhope, KCUR
• Kundiman
• Asian American Writers' Workshop – The Margins

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