15 Oct / Hannah Is My Name by Belle Yang + Author Interview [in AsianWeek]
Belle Lettres for Kids
What lovely serendipity that just as our oldest child started reading in 1999, one of my very favorite writers, Belle Yang, produced her first children’s title, Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin, a melodious story about a purple donkey. Yang began her writing career with two lauded adult works, Baba: A Return to China Upon My Father’s Shoulders(1994) and its sequel The Odyssey of a Manchurian (1996), both filled with her signature watercolor art.
Her new Hannah Is My Name is based on her own arrival in San Francisco from Taiwan as a young girl. When Yang told a close friend about how she would read Curious George at the local Woolworth’s because the family could not afford to buy books, the friend was so struck with the image that he encouraged Yang to write about her experiences. “He even sent me an article about the closing of Woolworth’s to prod me along,” she says.
Thank goodness for supportive friends: In Hannah, Yang lovingly captures her new environment, her new school and her new friends – with her signature colorful energy.
AsianWeek: Where did the inspiration for Hannah come from?
Belle Yang: The story actually came before Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin, but it just didn’t gel at the time. After 9/11, when immigrant issues became more frontpage news, I pulled out my own immigrant experiences. While I remembered the first one and a half years here as a sweet time, I also remembered that the time was fraught with tension because of my parents’ struggles. I didn’t know the specifics then, but I did know that our life here could not go well without that green card.
AW: What prompted you to first write?
BY: When I went to China [in the mid-’80s], I saw friends who were writers and painters who were not allowed to participate in their art. When I returned home to America, I realized I had to make use of this gift –the freedom of expression. In 1986, a stalker broke into our house and did awful things to my family. I wrote a letter to the district attorney and the sheriff’s office because I couldn’t get anyone to take the case. Once the crime was in the system because of my letters, we got detectives assigned and an investigation going. That’s when I realized the power of written words. Written words are better than spoken – words dissipate, but if you have something written that makes a point, you have a permanent record.
AW: You’re also an accomplished artist. Do you have a preference?
BY: I love writing more. I think writing comes harder because I have to think things through carefully. With painting, if I think through the initial stage, then I’m on autopilot – I’m never on autopilot with writing. Writing is more important to me because I never wanted to be a dumb – as in silent – painter. … [click here for more]
Author interview: “Belle Lettres for Kids,” AsianWeek, October 15, 2004
Tidbit: Belle Yang was a guest at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program’s literary event, “Three Chinese American Children’s Book Authors,” on November 6, 2005, together with Laurence Yep. Da Chen had also been scheduled to attend – hence the three authors, ahem – but had to cancel at the last minute, alas.
Readers: Children
Published: 2004