All rights reserved. Perhaps most of all though, books offered me a dependable and consistent cast of characters who would remain my friends and family no matter how far away I moved again. Soon, she was spending all her free time in her local Chinatown library, soaking up as much English as possible. Reading Qian Julie Wangs debut memoir, Beautiful Country, you wouldnt know its her first book. i couldnt have done it otherwise. Qian Julie Wang Wedding Husband: Who Is She Married To? QJW: Its definitely a two-way street. Something I was really struck by was how much reading, and your local library, was a safe space for you as a child (as a fellow kid who loved going to the library!). And I felt like such a complete fraud. There have been more than one report of, for instance, Black Jews being followed by synagogue security guards and Asian Jews being subjected to fetishized comments during services (if I had a nickel every time a man came up to me during prayer and told me about an Asian woman he once dated). There is universality in humanity and in the childhood experience in particular. Most of all, though, I am really looking forward to getting together with family at the seder. Its why I wanted to open the book with my first lie on the plane which I told to protect my mother. QJW: I read Cathy Park Hongs Minor Feelings at the beginning of the pandemic and then again throughout lockdown and after the Atlanta shooting. Interview by Elena Bowes. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Qian Julie Wang: I had always dreamed about writing this book because while I grew up learning English on library books, I never found a book that depicted characters who looked like me and lived in the way my parents and I did. Qian Julie is now a managing partner at Gottlieb & Wang LLP and is dedicated to advocating for marginalized communities' education and It took me 6 months from when I got the book deal to tell my parents because they are still very much afraid that we could all be deported. It was verystressful and I didnt know how they would take it. They didnt take it very well. Now they have resigned themselves to it. The Chinese we do not like airingour dirty laundry it was how I was raised and it feels very exposing. I have shown them chapters and fact checked parts (particularly the opening chapters about my father) but I havent shown them the whole book cover to cover. KM: Names can hold so much power in our identities. I never even thought about it until my husband pointed out, Your parents are super-playful. It became her second home, a place of safety. What does it mean to you that other young Chinese kids will be able to read your story now? So, from day one, I knew the books were my salvation. First, it is the day my book comes out. I think that kind of background at home cannot easily be supplanted by an external education system. As this mimicry went on, the pounds fell off, but the weight of shame on my shoulders grew. First, it is the day my book comes out. This program is part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation. It was my biggest and wildest ambition to write a book that might allow others out there to see themselves reflected in literature, and have them know that it is possible to survive similar circumstances. Beautiful Country They carry such guilt and shame over my childhood because they couldnt provide for me and I would love that if offers them some sort of healing. Whats your favorite part about being Jewish? By Kathryn Monaco. What memoirs, or other books, inspired you in your writing process? But I guess when youre not carrying the trauma of never having had the chance to really play, you actually get to play for your entire life because it just comes out. Qian Julie Wang On Defining Her Own Fashion - ELLE Yet, border control detained me whenever I reentered. SN: Theres a line in the book that reads, Ma Ma didnt know it, but she was the reason my imagination burned alive everywhere I went, the reason I saw love in all beings and things. Can you talk about the joyful, playful aspect of your relationship with your mom and your parents, and how they inspire your creativity? How did you balance working as a litigator and writing your memoir?. What's your favorite part about being Jewish? NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Its an incredibly moving, eye-opening book told through the eye of seven-year-old Wang about the struggles they endured. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two rescue dogs, Now, she's telling her story for the first time - buoyed by the hope of reaching those in libraries who were just like her. We spoke to Wang (who went to Yale and is now a managing partner of a law firm dedicated to advocating for education and discrimination rights) to ask her more: The book is very moving and feels extremely personal. Beautiful Country After loading a plate with a vegetable Id never heard of, with a name I could not pronounce (arugula), I approached a table in the side room with my new friends all of us still in that precarious need-to-impress stage and marveled in awe: Can you guys believe the spread today? Absolutely, I had always thought I would maybe one day write it as a child. I lived and breathed books. Thats how I learnt Englishbut nobody in literature looked like me an undocumented migrant. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. QJW: There are people in my life who know me only as Qian, and others who know me only as Julie. 373 posts. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO STAY IN-THE-NOW. Author Q&A: Qian Julie Wang. Sarah Neilson is a freelance writer. Its an incredibly moving, eye-opening book told through the eye of seven-year-old Wang about the struggles they endured. When Im at work, I snap into that hyper-focus survival mode, and I could just go on working forever. Can you talk a little bit more about this?. 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What do you hope your story will leave with readers, either with or without similar experiences to your own? Qian Julie Wang But I had to think about making an income, and law seemed like a way that I could use storytelling to make a difference in peoples lives and still make sure I could pay off my loans. When she's not writing incredible memoirs, Wang is a litigator working as the managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP - a firm dedicated to advocating for education and disability rights. SIMON: I feel the need to ask about your father, baba (ph) in Chinese. But having had that ingrained early on, in my adult life there is nothing that is too much work for me. Qian Julie Wangs incandescent memoir, Beautiful Country, puts readers in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world. I lived and breathed books. Thats how I learnt Englishbut nobody in literature looked like me , Channel thatempathy into youreveryday life. They became that in so many ways, not just in terms of learning English, but also finding a sense of emotional safety in America that wasnt readily available to me, and understanding the power of storytelling. QIAN JULIE WANG is a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. Bio Qian Julie Wang All of us have secrets but once youre told to keep something a secret, there is an inherent shame to them. Whether they are or not. It took me decades to unroll the physiological effects it had on me.. HOME| Qian Julie Wang came to America with her parents when she was seven years old, living in the shadows and always looking over her shoulder throughout her We are experiencing technical difficulties. For a decade, she has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation. If my book might inspire readers to revisit their own childhood, to recognize and honor the resilience of the child self that still dwells in all of us, then it would be a dream come true. At that point, I had maybe one third to half of the book finished. Her new memoir, Beautiful Country, surveys the impact of hunger in undocumented children in the United States. She said, secrets - they hold such power over us, don't they? Start earning points for buying books! This is the very reason I wrote the book: this dream that another Chinese, Asian American, immigrant, poor or hungry kid might come upon it at their public library and might find in it something that gives them hope or solace to keep going. We are in overdrive pretty much all the time. KM: What is a book that youve read during the pandemic that has given you hope? My parents have read parts of it, and I have fact-checked certain memories with them, but they have not read the whole thing! Judaism is the religion of the enslaved, the uprooted, the marginalized, and the other, and we are dedicated to making sure that its American community lives up to its roots. The brunt of our changing ecosystems falls first upon people of color and the poor, long before it will ever threaten to touch the perimeter of our lush campus. One cannot be passionate about demolishing systemic barriers of racism and wealth inequality while remaining apathetic to food sustainability and climate change. From then on, I experienced a different Sharples. The number one message is there are more undocumented people around us than we think. Agirl I went to law school was also undocumented but I never knew.There are millions of us but we need people to understand that we arent that different from everyone else. Channel thatempathy into youreveryday life. SIMON: Yeah. For me growing up, the library was my second home. The person that you engage at the restaurant and shop they could be one of those people and they need empathy and kindness. My third grade teacher gave me a copy of Charlottes Web because she knew I loved books. But that has never been the stance of the Swarthmore I know. Qian Julie Wang (Author of Beautiful Country) - Goodreads And it was in that room that I first felt this sense of agency.