This summer, I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Community of Writers workshop at Lake Tahoe, where for the first time I got to see the one and only Amy Tan, award-winning writer, artist and the brain behind the American masterpiece “The Joy Luck Club.” Amy Tan also happens to have two degrees, as well as an honorary doctorate, from San José State, where I serve as managing editor of SJSU Magazine.
Listening to her read underneath the halo of the unadorned Sierra Nevadas, I knew I had to ask her for an interview. I assumed she would say no, and thus was surprised when she agreed for a zoom chat about a week later. In my nervousness I overprepared, because how else can you show up for a conversation with a legit legend?
Amy was gracious, kind and generous with her responses, sharing how her experiences publishing fiction about Chinese American women and their families provoked dialogue about cultural representation that she hadn’t anticipated. She talked about how, following the election of President Trump in 2016, the world felt so weighty that she turned her attention to the birds in her backyard, inspiring “The Backyard Bird Chronicles.”
I feel so lucky to have gotten the opportunity to talk to her and learn from her, and also to share her story with SJSU audiences. I was also delighted to hear from Andrew Tonkovich, editor of Omnium Gatherum Quarterly, an invitation-only publication of the Community of Writers, requesting permission to reprint the profile in its entirety.