Podcasts about other possibilities

In conversation with Pia Sarkar A former longtime columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Vanessa Hua has written about Asia and the diaspora from countries such as China, Burma, and South Korea, and has contributed articles to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She is the author of the bestselling novel A River of Stars, the award-winning story collection Deceit and Other Possibilities, and fiction that has been published in numerous literary journals. Hua's honors include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. A national bestseller, longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and named one of the best novels of the year by several publications, Forbidden City tells the story of a teenage girl in 1960s China who becomes a heroine of the Cultural Revolution and Mao Zedong's lover. Pia Sarkar is a longtime journalist with more than two decades of experience. She currently serves as deputy business editor for enterprise at The Associated Press, based in Philadelphia. She is also a board member of the South Asian Journalists Association and an executive committee member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. She previously worked as an editor and reporter for such media outlets as The American Lawyer, the San Francisco Chronicle and The Bergen Record. Sarkar received her bachelor's degree in English and communication from SUNY-Buffalo and her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. (recorded 4/3/2023)

THE LIST: TRANSFER PORTAL. CALEB LOVE, OTHER POSSIBILITIES. LAMAR JACKSON.

Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of the novel “A River of Stars” and a story collection, “Deceit and Other Possibilities.”In her new novel “Forbidden City” (Ballentine Books) – it's the eve of China's Cultural Revolution and sixteen-year-old Mei dreams of becoming a model revolutionary. When the Communist Party recruits girls for a mysterious duty in the capital, she seizes the opportunity to escape her impoverished village. It is only when Mei arrives at the Chairman's opulent residence—a forbidden city unto itself—that she learns that the girls' job is to dance with the Party elites.

Author and 2020 NEA Literature Fellow Vanessa Hua is getting a lot of well-deserved praise for her recently released novel, Forbidden City which tells the story of the Chinese Cultural revolution as experienced by a woman who is a member of Chairman Mao's dance troupe. In fact, Vanessa ‘s NEA Literature Fellowship enabled her to finish the book, so it seemed like a good time to revisit my 2020 interview with her—which remains one of my favorites both because of the books and because of Vanessa—she has a wonderful sense of humor and a feel for an apt turn of phrase. In this podcast, she talks about her novel A River of Stars  which she describes as “a pregnant Chinese Thelma and Louise” and her book of short stories Deceit and Other Possibilities whose theme she says is “model minorities behaving badly.” These two books explore the lives of immigrants in San Francisco's Chinatown and the divide between 1st generation parents and 2nd generation children.  She also discusses the 2020 Lit Fellowship which allowed her work on Forbidden City, as well as her experiences as a journalist, as a writer of fiction, as a mother and as a 2nd generation Chinese-American.  She is clear these experiences don't exist in silos but are always informing one another.

Author and 2020 NEA Literature Fellow Vanessa Hua is getting a lot of well-deserved praise for her recently released novel, Forbidden City which tells the story of the Chinese Cultural revolution as experienced by a woman who is a member of Chairman Mao's dance troupe. In fact, Vanessa ‘s NEA Literature Fellowship enabled her to finish the book, so it seemed like a good time to revisit my 2020 interview with her—which remains one of my favorites both because of the books and because of Vanessa—she has a wonderful sense of humor and a feel for an apt turn of phrase. In this podcast, she talks about her novel A River of Stars  which she describes as “a pregnant Chinese Thelma and Louise” and her book of short stories Deceit and Other Possibilities whose theme she says is “model minorities behaving badly.” These two books explore the lives of immigrants in San Francisco's Chinatown and the divide between 1st generation parents and 2nd generation children.  She also discusses the 2020 Lit Fellowship which allowed her work on Forbidden City, as well as her experiences as a journalist, as a writer of fiction, as a mother and as a 2nd generation Chinese-American.  She is clear these experiences don't exist in silos but are always informing one another.

Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of the novel A River of Stars and a story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has also received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, among others. She has filed stories from China, Burma, South Korea, and elsewhere, and her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic. She has taught most recently at the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and the Sewanee Writers' Conference. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. Forbidden City is her newest novel. How Do You Write Podcast: Explore the processes of working writers with bestselling author Rachael Herron. Want tips on how to write the book you long to finish? Here you'll gain insight from other writers on how to get in the chair, tricks to stay in it, and inspiration to get your own words flowing. Join Rachael's Slack channel, Onward Writers: https://join.slack.com/t/onwardwriters/shared_invite/zt-7a3gorfm-C15cTKh_47CEdWIBW~RKwgRachael can be YOUR mini-coach, and she'll answer all your questions on the show! http://patreon.com/rachael See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of the novel “A River of Stars” and a story collection, “Deceit and Other Possibilities.”In her new novel “Forbidden City” (Ballentine Books) – it's the eve of China's Cultural Revolution and sixteen-year-old Mei dreams of becoming a model revolutionary. When the Communist Party recruits girls for a mysterious duty in the capital, she seizes the opportunity to escape her impoverished village. It is only when Mei arrives at the Chairman's opulent residence—a forbidden city unto itself—that she learns that the girls' job is to dance with the Party elites.

Vanessa Hua is a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle and best-selling novelist. Her latest novel, FORBIDDEN CITY, tells the story of a teenage girl from a small village who is selected to serve the Communist Party and Chairman Mao at the start of the Cultural Revolution in China. Vanessa and I met nine years ago when we were both Steinbeck Fellows at San Jose State University, and she is a true champion of other writers. It has been such a thrill to watch her soar. Discussed in this episode: Her new novel Forbidden City How she got into writing How the topic of her new novel was born and her writing and research process Her evolution as an writer About Vanessa: Vanessa Hua is an award-winning, best-selling author and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Her novel, A River of Stars, was named to the Washington Post and NPR's Best Books of 2018 lists, and has been called a "marvel" by O, The Oprah Magazine, and "delightful" by The Economist. Her short story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities, a New York Times Editors' Choice, received an Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature and was a finalist for a California Book Award, and a New American Voices Award. Her latest novel, Forbidden City, was called “magnificent” by Publisher's Weekly, and was published on May 10, 2022. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/dallas-woodburn/support

Vanessa Hua, award-winning, best-selling author and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. For over two decades, she has been researching and writing about Asia and the diaspora. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Magazine, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, among others. Her books, which integrate many of the themes she covers, are critically-acclaimed. A River of Stars was named to the Washington Post and NPR's Best Books, and was called a "marvel" by O, The Oprah Magazine, and "delightful" by The Economist. Deceit and Other Possibilities, named a New York Times Editors' Choice, received an Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature and was a finalist for a California Book Award, and a New American Voices Award. Vanessa Hua's forthcoming book, Forbidden City, has already been hailed “magnificent” by Publisher's Weekly, and is getting rave reviews. I've pasted materials below Hua's new book, as well as some of the articles she's written, establishing her as a voice for the Asian American community. A Ballantine Hardcover & eBook | On Sale April 19, 2022 MORE: http://getthefunkoutshow.kuci.org

Welcome everyone to Episode 5 of Season 1 of the Like Father, Like Son sports podcast with your hosts Daryl & Daryl Jackson! In this episode, will give you our mock drafts for the 1st Round of the 2021 NFL Draft. While there is much to be determined and learned in America's most anticipated sports league draft, we break down who we believe each team should and could pick to improve their chances at competing on next season's highest stage! Episode Table of Contents NFL: The 1st Round of the 2021 NFL Draft NFL: Thoughts on the 2nd and Subsequent Rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft NFL: Trades, Moves, and Other Possibilities

""A River of Stars" and "Deceit and Other Possibilities" author Vanessa Hua joins hosts Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight to pay tribute to "Always Be My Maybe," the 2019 Netflix movie starring Ali Wong and Randall Park. "Always Be My Maybe" is also the next Total SF virtual movie night, starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 13. Also, support the Richmond District and its small businesses with the hashtag #ILoveTheRichmond. Produced by Peter Hartlaub. Music is "The Tide Will Rise" by the Sunset Shipwrecks off their album "Community," and cable car bell ringing by 8-time champion Byron Cobb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Award-winning writer Vanessa Hua joins the GrottoPod summer reading series today to share a taste of her short story "VIP Tutoring" from her newly reissued collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities. Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of A River of Stars. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has also received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, among others. She has filed stories from China, Burma, South Korea, Panama, and Ecuador, and her work appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, and elsewhere.

Vanessa Hua is an award-winning, best-selling author and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Her novel, A River of Stars, was named to the Washington Post and NPR's Best Books of 2018 lists. Her short story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities, received an Asian/Pacific American Award in Literature and was a finalist for a California Book Award, and was reissued by Counterpoint in 2020. We discussed her collection Deceit and Other Possibilities. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author and 2020 NEA Literature Fellow Vanessa Hua has a sense of humor and a feel for an apt turn of phrase. She describes her novel A River of Stars as “a pregnant Chinese Thelma and Louise.” She's just as wry in her description of her book of short stories, Deceit and Other Possibilities, whose theme she says is “model minorities behaving badly.” And while both descriptions are spot-on, they only hint at the complexity of the lives she explores in fiction. She vividly explores the lives of immigrants in San Francisco's Chinatown, single mothers hustling to support themselves and their children while agonizing over the daily separation, and first-generation parents and second-generation children facing a divide as wide as the Yangtze River or San Francisco Bay. Hua began her career as a journalist, and she has a keen ear for the struggles of people on the streets and has the ability to give them voice. In this podcast, she talks about her experiences as a journalist, as a writer of fiction, as a mother, and as a second-generation Chinese American. She is clear these experiences don't exist in silos but are always informing one another.

Author and 2020 NEA Literature Fellow Vanessa Hua has a sense of humor and a feel for an apt turn of phrase. She describes her novel A River of Stars as “a pregnant Chinese Thelma and Louise.” She’s just as wry in her description of her book of short stories, Deceit and Other Possibilities, whose theme she says is “model minorities behaving badly.” And while both descriptions are spot-on, they only hint at the complexity of the lives she explores in fiction. She vividly explores the lives of immigrants in San Francisco’s Chinatown, single mothers hustling to support themselves and their children while agonizing over the daily separation, and first-generation parents and second-generation children facing a divide as wide as the Yangtze River or San Francisco Bay. Hua began her career as a journalist, and she has a keen ear for the struggles of people on the streets and has the ability to give them voice. In this podcast, she talks about her experiences as a journalist, as a writer of fiction, as a mother, and as a second-generation Chinese American. She is clear these experiences don’t exist in silos but are always informing one another.

Author and 2020 NEA Literature Fellow Vanessa Hua has a sense of humor and a feel for an apt turn of phrase. She describes her novel A River of Stars as “a pregnant Chinese Thelma and Louise.” She’s just as wry in her description of her book of short stories, Deceit and Other Possibilities, whose theme she says is “model minorities behaving badly.” And while both descriptions are spot-on, they only hint at the complexity of the lives she explores in fiction. She vividly explores the lives of immigrants in San Francisco’s Chinatown, single mothers hustling to support themselves and their children while agonizing over the daily separation, and first-generation parents and second-generation children facing a divide as wide as the Yangtze River or San Francisco Bay. Hua began her career as a journalist, and she has a keen ear for the struggles of people on the streets and has the ability to give them voice. In this podcast, she talks about her experiences as a journalist, as a writer of fiction, as a mother, and as a second-generation Chinese American. She is clear these experiences don’t exist in silos but are always informing one another.

Author and 2020 NEA Literature Fellow Vanessa Hua has a sense of humor and a feel for an apt turn of phrase. She describes her novel A River of Stars as “a pregnant Chinese Thelma and Louise.” She’s just as wry in her description of her book of short stories, Deceit and Other Possibilities, whose theme she says is “model minorities behaving badly.” And while both descriptions are spot-on, they only hint at the complexity of the lives she explores in fiction. She vividly explores the lives of immigrants in San Francisco’s Chinatown, single mothers hustling to support themselves and their children while agonizing over the daily separation, and first-generation parents and second-generation children facing a divide as wide as the Yangtze River or San Francisco Bay. Hua began her career as a journalist, and she has a keen ear for the struggles of people on the streets and has the ability to give them voice. In this podcast, she talks about her experiences as a journalist, as a writer of fiction, as a mother, and as a second-generation Chinese American. She is clear these experiences don’t exist in silos but are always informing one another.

This week, Liberty and Vanessa discuss New Waves, Good Citizens Need Not Fear, The Animals at Lockwood Manor, and more great books. This episode was sponsored by Book Riot Insiders; Most Likely by Sarah Watson; and Ritual. Pick up an All the Books! 200th episode commemorative item here. Subscribe to All the Books! using RSS, iTunes, or Spotify and never miss a beat book. Sign up for the weekly New Books! newsletter for even more new book news. BOOKS DISCUSSED ON THE SHOW: The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey Deceit and Other Possibilities by Vanessa Hua New Waves: A Novel by Kevin Nguyen A Phoenix First Must Burn: Sixteen Stories of Black Girl Magic, Resistance, and Hope by Patrice Caldwell Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like “Journey” in the Title by Leslie Gray Streeter Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories by Maria Reva The Bramble and the Rose: A Henry Farrell Novel by Tom Bouman Dry Bones in the Valley by Tom Bouman A Murderous Relation (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Raybourn WHAT WE’RE READING: Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez The Silence of the White City by Eva García Sáenz MORE BOOKS OUT THIS WEEK: The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel You Will Never Be Forgotten: Stories by Mary South Harley in the Sky by Akemi Dawn Bowman The Liberation of Brigid Dunne: A Novel by Patricia Scanlan Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend: A Novel by Jenny Colgan Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights by Patrick Weekes The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp, Manuel Preitano (Illustrator) Mimi Lee Gets a Clue (A Sassy Cat Mystery) by Jennifer J. Chow Gold Rush Girl by Avi Powershift: Transform Any Situation, Close Any Deal, and Achieve Any Outcome by Daymond John, Daniel Paisner In the Lateness of the World: Poems by Carolyn Forché Bloom (The Overthrow) by Kenneth Oppel Three Brothers: Memories of My Family by Yan Lianke and Carlos Rojas Here the Dark by David Bergen Pharma: Greed, Lies, and the Poisoning of America by Gerald Posner A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations by Robert Bryce Cry Havoc: Charlottesville and American Democracy Under Siege by Michael Signer Gone by Midnight (Crimson Lake) by Candice Fox The Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress by Jennifer Steinhauer We Know It When We See It: What the Neurobiology of Vision Tells Us About How We Think by Richard Masland Lost Boy Found by Kirsten Alexander In Pursuit of Disobedient Women: A Memoir of Love, Rebellion, and Family, Far Away by Dionne Searcey The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better by Will Storr The Death of Sitting Bear: New and Selected Poems by N. Scott Momaday Maps and Transcripts of the Ordinary World: Poems by Kathryn Cowles To Make Room for the Sea by Adam Clay A-List Angels: How a Band of Actors, Artists, and Athletes Hacked Silicon Valley by Zack O’Malley Greenburg Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee Mustard, Milk, and Gin by Megan Denton Ray The Small Crimes of Tiffany Templeton by Richard Fifield Ledger: Poems by Jane Hirshfield Our Revolution: A Mother and Daughter at Midcentury by Honor Moore Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis by Stephanie Marie Thornton The Keeper by Jessica Moor Spindle and Dagger by J. Anderson Coats Margery Kempe (NYRB Classics) by Robert Glück That We May Live: Speculative Chinese Fiction by Ge Yan Most Likely by Sarah Watson Beyond the Sea by Paul Lynch My Dark Vanessa: A Novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell Defy the Sun by Jessika Fleck Untamed by Glennon Doyle Melton Lab Partners by Mora Montgomery When You Were Everything by Ashley Woodfolk Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit The Perfect World of Miwako Sumida by Clarissa Goenawan The Copycat by Wendy McLeod MacKnight The June Boys by Court Stevens Schrödinger’s Dog: A Novel by Martin Dumont, John Cullen (translator) The Deep by Alma Katsu Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling: And Other Feminist Fairy Tales by Laura Lane, Ellen Haun Precious You: A Novel by Helen Monks Takhar Before Familiar Woods by Ian Pisarcik So We Can Glow: Stories by Leesa Cross-Smith Privilege: A Novel by Mary Adkins Rust Belt Femme by Raechel Anne Jolie The Operator: A Novel by Gretchen Berg Social Poetics by Mark Nowak The Biggerers by Amy Lilwall Unfollow Me: A Novel by Charlotte Duckworth A History of Islam in 21 Women by Hossein Kamaly Young Heroes of the Soviet Union: A Memoir and a Reckoning by Alex Halberstadt The Hunt for History: On the Trail of the World’s Lost Treasures—from the Letters of Lincoln, Churchill, and Einstein to the Secret Recordings Onboard JFK’s Air Force One by Nathan Raab, Luke Barr The Blackbird Girls by Anne Blankman Line of Sight by James Queally Servant of the Crown (The Dragonslayer Book 3) by Duncan M. Hamilton Cries from the Lost Island by Kathleen O’Neal Gear A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler Between The Records by Julian Tepper American Birds: A Literary Companion by Andrew Rubenfeld and Terry Tempest Williams Woke: A Young Poet’s Call to Justice by Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, Olivia Gatwood, Taylor III, Theodore, Jason Reynolds The Vinyl Underground by Rob Rufus The Physics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained by DK The World According to Physics by Jim Al-Khalili Courting the Wild Twin by Martin Shaw Girls Lost by Jessica Schiefauer, Saskia Vogel (translator) The Immortal Conquistador by Carrie Vaughn Fantasy by Kim-Anh Schreiber Cat in the Agraharam and Other Stories by Dilip Kumar My Shadow Is My Skin: Voices from the Iranian Diaspora by Katherine Whitney (Editor), Leila Emery (Editor)

Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of a short story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities. For two decades, she has been writing about Asia and the diaspora in journalism and in fiction. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, the Asian/Pacific Award for Literature, the San Francisco Foundation's James D. Phelan Award, a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Asian American Journalists' Association. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, FRONTLINE/World, The Washington Post, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere, and she writes a weekly column for The San Francisco Chronicle. She lives in northern California.http://www.vanessahua.com

Behind appearances are stories — and sometimes they're complex, frightening stories that people hide. People milling through The Cheeseboard on Shattuck Avenue are harboring heart-stopping secrets in Shanthi Sekaran's page-turner, ‘Lucky Boy.' That normal-looking guy at the Chinatown restaurant is actually fleeing a scandalous Hong Kong celebrity career, in ‘Deceit and Other Possibilities' by Vanessa Hua, also a columnist with the San Francisco Chronicle. Characters cope with mental illness in ‘The Border of Paradise' (“stunning,” said the New York Times) by Esme Wang, who also blogs about cultivating resilience amidst disabilities. Start the morning with pathos, truth and wisdom from three dazzling fresh voices.

Vanessa Hua has done something most of us never will: She's traveled to faraway places including China, Burma, Panama, South Korea, and Ecuador to report. Here she shares what steps she took to transform a career working in business and tech journalism (at the L.A. Times, Hartford Courant, and San Francisco Examiner and later Chronicle) into her dream job of reporting abroad. How do you even conceive of an overseas reporting project? Vanessa shares smart tips for getting started and applying for fellowships. In addition to being an accomplished journalist—read her column in the San Francisco Chronicle—Vanessa is also a fiction writer (seek out her book of short stories, Deceit and Other Possibilities, and watch for her novel, A River of Stars, coming this year). Listen to her tell me how to get started on your book, and let's make #buttinthechair happen this year. Plus: thoughts on getting the most out of a mentoring relationship and finding your writing tribe. This episode was produced by Erin McKinstry. Our music, from Blue Dot Sessions, is called The Zeppelin. Logo by Theresa Berens of Boss Dotty.

Tonight, we rebroadcast Salima Hamarani's segment on the Rohingya refugee crisis. We visit Bindlestiff Studio to learn about Welga, their latest production that weaves labor rights, educational rights, and family into a coming of age story set in SOMA Pilipinas. Welga playwright Conrad Panganiban and labor activst Daz Lamparas. And we talk with artists participating in Kearny Street Workshop's annual showcase of Asian Pacific American artists, APAture. Interviews include Focus Artist Award recipient, Kristina Wong; visual artist Selena Ching; featured literary artist Vanessa Huang, author of Deceit and Other Possibilities; and featured book artist Innosanto Nagara, author of the popular children's book, A is for Activist. Books illustrated by APAture featured artist Innosanto Nagara. Community Calendar Welga continues through October 21 at Bindlestiff Studio. Kearny Street Workshop is also participating in at Lit Crawl at Five and Diamond in San Francisco featuring alumni from their three month summer program for writers of color. Also on Saturday, El Rio hosts a punk and hip hop benefit for Migrante SoMa/TL- San Francisco, a grassroots community organization that advocates and organizes Filipino migrants and workers in San Francisco and the Bay Area. APAture programs continue this week with the Book Arts Showcase featuring Innosanto Nagara on Sunday, October 15 at Arc Gallery and Studios in San Francisco. And save the date for the Performing Arts showcase on Saturday, October 21 at the Asian Art Museum featuring Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.   The post APEX Express – Rohingya, Welga, and APAture appeared first on KPFA.

Have you ever been gaslighted by someone? Well if you have, was it as bad as what happened to Becka here on Fear Street?Anna and Surge discuss!Before we talk about Fear Street The Best Friend, we also review Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton, and Deceit and Other Possibilities by Vanessa Hua.

Have you ever been gaslighted by someone? Well if you have, was it as bad as what happened to Becka here on Fear Street?Anna and Surge discuss!Before we talk about Fear Street The Best Friend, we also review Good Morning Midnight by Lily Brooks-Dalton, and Deceit and Other Possibilities by Vanessa Hua.

Deceit and Other Possibilities (Willow Books) In this powerful debut collection, Vanessa Hua gives voice to immigrant families navigating a new America. Tied to their ancestral and adopted homelands in ways unimaginable in generations past, these memorable characters straddle both worlds but belong to none. From a Hong Kong movie idol fleeing a sex scandal, to an obedient daughter turned Stanford imposter, to a Chinatown elder summoned to his village, to a Korean-American pastor with a secret agenda, the characters in these ten stories vividly illustrate the conflict between self and society, tradition and change. In “What We Have is What We Need,” winner of The Atlantic student fiction prize, a boy from Mexico reunites with his parents in San Francisco. When he suspects his mother has found love elsewhere, he fights to keep his family together. With insight and wit, she writes about what wounds us and what we must survive. Her searing stories explore the clash of cultures and the complex, always shifting allegiances that we carry in ourselves, our family, and our community. Deceit and Other Possibilities marks the emergence of a remarkable new writer. Praise for Deceit and Other Possibilities "Vanessa Hua inhabits in graceful and heartbreaking detail the people of her stories: strivers and betrayers, lovers and the landless, all of them on their way to transcendence in her hands. – Susan Straight, author of Between Heaven and Here and Highwire Moon    "Fast-paced, dazzling, smart, and fun, Vanessa Hua's debut collection illustrates the insanities and heartbreaks on both sides of the Pacific." – Gary Shteyngart, author of  Little Failure and  Super Sad True Love Story "Deceit and Other Possibilities gives us characters whose lives are constrained and yet also enriched by different borders, cultures, and traditions. A bracing and beautiful debut, full of fire and light."–Laila Lalami, author of The Moor's Account "Complicated, cosmopolitan and utterly contemporary, Deceit and Other Possibilities is a richly enjoyable collection.  Hua is expert at creating both empathy and suspense whether it's in the emptiness of a national park or the crowded space of an international flight.  These stories will jump right off the page into the reader's imagination."–Margot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy For nearly two decades, Vanessa Hua has covered Asia and the diaspora in journalism and in fiction, writing about the ways immigrants bring their traditions, their histories, and their ambitions to America. She received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the San Francisco Foundation’s James D. Phelan Award for Fiction, and is a past Steinbeck Fellow in Creative Writing at San Jose State University. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, FRONTLINE/World, Washington Post, Guernica, ZYZZYVA, and elsewhere. A former staff writer at the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, she has filed stories from China, South Korea, Panama, Burma and Ecuador. She is a graduate of Stanford University and UC Riverside's MFA program. She lives in the Bay Area with her family. Naomi Hirahara is an award-winning novelist and nonfiction writer. Her Mas Arai mystery series, which features a Southern California-based gardener and Hiroshima survivor, has been published in Japanese, Korean and French. The sixth in the series, Sayonara Slam, was released in May of this year. Her short stories have been included in Los Angeles Noir, Asian Pulp and Hanzai Japan. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo, she also is involved in the preservation of Japanese American and regional history in the form of books and exhibitions.  

Vanessa Hua is the guest. Her debut story collection, Deceit and Other Possibilities, is available now from Willow Press.  In today's monologue, I talk about the holidays, Christmas presents, and New Year's resolutions.       Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices