217: Write Dangerously - Interview with Yang Huang

DIY MFA Radio

Hey there word nerds!

Today I am delighted to have Yang Huang on the show!

Yang is an author and former engineer. She grew up in China’s Jiangsu province where she participated in the 1989 student uprisings, and moved to the U.S. to attend Boston College.

Her debut novel, Living Treasures, won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal in fiction, and her essays and short stories have appeared in several notable magazines and journals including The Margins, Asian Pacific American Journal, and Porcupine Literary Arts Magazine just to name a few.

Her latest book, My Old Faithful, is a collection of interlinked short stories centered around the five members of one totally ordinary yet thrillingly singular Chinese family.

So listen in as Yang and I chat about this amazing story collection, and how and why you should always write dangerously.

In this episode Yang and I discuss:

• The benefits of writing in your non-native language.
• Interlinked short story collections vs. multiple P.O.V. novels.
• How to immerse yourself in your character’s world, why you should.
• Why diverse readers need diverse writers.
• Risking it all, pushing your writing (and your readers) to the edge.

Plus, Yang’s #1 tip for writers.

For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/217