May-lee Chai
May-lee Chai is the author of the American Book Award–winning story collection Useful Phrases for Immigrants and ten other books. Her prize-winning short prose has been published widely, including in the New England Review, Missouri Review, Seventeen, The Rumpus, ZYZZYVA, the Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The recipient of an NEA fellowship in prose, Chai is an associate professor in the Creative Writing Department at San Francisco State University.
Twitter: @mayleechai
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
Yes! I love movies! I particularly love indie/arthouse and international films that are quiet, character-driven, even experimental more than action-oriented blockbuster types.
I love Wong Kar-wai’s films for the way he explores characters, relationships, and style. For example, In the Mood for Love, which is about two neighbors who discover their spouses are having an affair and then end of falling in love with each other. I love how Wong brings in the era through clothing, music, set design, and how the characters talk and don’t talk to tell this story. Similarly, I love many of Hong Sang-soo’s films that allow his characters to be revealed through their conversations, often over meals or drinks.
What period of history do you wish you knew more about?
I am forever interested in the Republican-era of Chinese history—the period between the fall of the Qing Emperor in 1911 and the founding of People’s Republic under the Communist Party in 1949. This was an era of a lot of creative activity—books and movies and music that continues to inspire me in the present, despite the fact it was also a period of great suffering from foreign imperialism and war. It was also an important era for my father’s family, when my father was born, when my grandparents were living and working and trying to survive in China. I studied quite a bit about this period in grad school and have visited museums in China, for example in Nanjing, that have exhibits specifically about this era. But it continues to fascinate me.
What’s the oddest thing a reader has ever asked you?
A (white) man at a reading once in Berkeley, CA asked me why my English was so good. HAHA! This was years and years ago back when my first novel came out. But sadly, that kind of question was common when I was growing up. It’s related to a question that many Asian Americans get: “Where are you from? Where are you really from?” It’s an indication that in many people’s eyes we’re seen as eternal foreigners in the U.S. I’m hoping that what with all the Asian American creatives in the media these days, this stereotype will die out. But I know of other Asian American authors who’ve gotten this type of question, quite recently in fact, so unfortunately it’s not over yet.
Is your go to comfort food sweet or savory? Is it something you make yourself? Does food inspire your writing?
My comfort food changes depending on where I’m living. For example, when I lived in Nanjing, my favorite foods were soup noodles or steamed jiaozi. I studied at Nanjing University and there used to be a row of noodle and jiaozi stands right outside the university gates. The chewy long flour noodles in a rich broth with a cracked egg and some spicy lajiao pepper added on top got me through the rather long, cold winter. Delish! And the handmade steamed jiaozi (dumplings) were the best I’ve ever had. When I first arrived in Nanjing, I could eat maybe 5 or 6 at time, but by the end I was eating mega bowls of 25-30!
Do you speak a second language? Do you think differently in that language? Does it influence your writing?
In addition to English, I speak Mandarin Chinese and French, and I have used both languages to different extents in my writing as you’ll see in some of the stories in Tomorrow in Shanghai. When I lived in France as a student, I spoke only French. When I was living in China, I taught English but outside of my classes, I made a concerted effort to speak only in Chinese. And sure enough, I started dreaming in Chinese. To this day, there are certain expressions that come to me first in Chinese. For example, some things are just máfan (麻煩), which can mean “trouble” or “bothersome” or can be used to describe something that’s annoying and time-consuming like bureaucracy. It’s a really useful term and I don’t feel the English terms quite convey all the layers of the Chinese one.
