Hi everyone,
Before we get to the latest MFA Lore post, I’m pleased to share my interview on Katie Gee Salisbury’s Substack Half-Caste Woman. I chatted with Katie about the underhanded treatment of Asians in Hollywood when my father and Anna May Wong were being replaced by white actors in yellowface. We also discussed the tricky business of inspiration (which comes up again in my post below) — where does a good idea come from, and how can you tell if there’s a book in it? Head over to Katie’s newsletter HERE to read my answers and see some fun Hollywood stills from the ‘30s.
Now, on to Memoir As Road Trip, distilled from letters to several of my former MFA students, which I hope may be of use to you, too.
While backstory holds the emotional heat, subtext, like kinetic energy, generates meaning in the gap between past and present.
Every great memoir operates like an incredible journey. It doesn’t take us flying down a superhighway at 80 mph, pausing only for pit stops in anonymous rest …
