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. - a podcast by 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 TimesThe Resisters

The Girl at The Baggage ClaimTiger Writing

World and TownThe Love Wife

Who’s Irish?Mona In The Promised Land

Typical American 
Peter Ho DaviesA Lie Someone Told You About Yourself

The FortunesThe Welsh Girl

Equal LoveThe 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 AmericansMiss Saigon by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil


Madame Butterfly by PucciniM. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang


Passing by Nella LarsenTerrific Mother by Lorrie Moore



Rising Sun, film by Philip KaufmanThe 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 

KundimanAsian American Writers' Workshop – The Margins


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