WANG: It really happened during my second clerkship, when I was clerking on the 9th Circuit. Elena Bowes spoke with debut author Qian Julie Wang about her poignant and often humorous memoir Beautiful Country, an instant bestseller that tells the childhood story of Qian Julie when she moves to New York City with her undocumented, highly educated parents. Even with this rule though, there were months (and up to nearly a year) when I just had to take time off writing entirely. He had to find some sense of control and power in his household and the two women that he lived with, and it drove him to do some things that were, I think, probably not even understandable from his point of view. What memoirs, or other books, inspired you in your writing process? That was all pre-covid. Copyright 2023, David Strathairn plays historic Holocaust witness Jan Karski in PBS's 'Remember This'. It was then that I realized that what I had long thought of as singularly mine was no longer my secret to keep. Could you elaborate on how books provided comfort to you growing up? As I started writing this book and then editing it, I was reacquainted with that 8-year-old little girl who found the condensed biography of Thurgood Marshall and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and was reminded of all the reasons why she wanted to go into law, and how, in her mind, lawyers were so powerful. The Best Books to Get Your Finances in Order, Books Based on Your Favorite Taylor Swift Era, Cook a Soul Food Holiday Meal With Rosie Mayes. A graduate of Yale Law School and currently a litigator and managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP, Wang is also a skilled writer, rendering her childhood in rhapsodic sentences that immerse the reader in her experience. Adults often say that children cannot help but tell the truth. ButI had to maintain this secret everyday, almost like a double life. WANG: It was, but I think I was protected by the fact that I was a child and just kind of took things as they came, as children do, and had that sort of natural resilience. She said, secrets - they hold such power over us, don't they? I think it is easy to forget as adults how very difficult and terrifying it is to be a child navigating the world. Judaism is the religion of the enslaved, the uprooted, the marginalized, and the other, and we are dedicated to making sure that its American community lives up to its roots. SN: What is the importance or role of education, inside or outside of the American education system, in the book and in your life? So, I turned down partnership, and it shocked absolutely everybody in the firm, and I opened up my own firm to focus on education law, civil rights, and discrimination work. You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. Her family escaped to the United States, New York, in 1994 but were undocumented, and they had to live, in the Chinese phrase, as people in hei (ph) - the dark, the shadows, the underground world of undocumented immigrants who work menial jobs off the books in fear that their underground existence might be exposed. Rarely are we able able to attend services without receiving at least some inappropriate, offensive remark. Making more equitable access to books and literacy is, I think, number one. Qian Julie Wangs incandescent memoir, Beautiful Country, puts readers in the shoes of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world. What inspired you to share your tale of being an undocumented child?. As we approach the Jewish New Year, any Rosh Hashanah plans you are looking forward to? I think that kind of background at home cannot easily be supplanted by an external education system. The story of Qian Julie Wang, as she explains, begins before she was born. KM: I loved reading about your passion for books and the importance of stories not only in your journey in learning English but also in seeing yourself. Help me. But that has never been the stance of the Swarthmore I know. CONTACT US. Even so, I figured I would never make it happen, because I lived under messaging from all directions, my parents included, that my past was shameful and had to be kept hidden. For despite all the campus discourse about anti-racism and wealth equality, there had been so much waste. And it was there, really, that I discovered that I, myself, could learn English just through books. This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. KM: Names can hold so much power in our identities. QJW: I wrote Beautiful Country with the hope that readers will experience it as a train ride back into that familiar, joyful, and sometimes terrifying forest of childhood. Its a voyage into the love, pain and secrets of family, a train ride through the confusion, resilience and delight of coming of age. Web12.7k Followers, 1,121 Following, 373 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Qian Julie Wang (@qianjuliewang) qianjuliewang. Beautiful Country : A Memoir of An Undocumented Childhood Even with this rule though, there were months (and up to nearly a year) when I just had to take time off writing entirely. We only spoke Mandarin, and that immediately relegated us to kind of a lower caste. Watching Moment Magazine wonderful moderator Sarah Berger interview of Qian Julie Wang was a welcome & sad experience. More than an immigrant narrative or an Asian American story, at bottom, the book is an exploration of what it means to be human, and what it means to make a home. During my undocumented childhood, a period of extreme poverty that I never dared speak of during my time on campus, I arrived at elementary school every day starving, stomach churning toward the free meal that would be slopped onto my tray at lunchtime. Secrets: they have so much power dont they. Please try again later. It was my biggest and wildest ambition to write a book that might allow others out there to see themselves reflected in literature, and have them know that it is possible to survive similar circumstances. On this front, Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" and Maya Angelou's "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"were my north stars in crafting my own book. In many ways, Beautiful Country is *such* an American story. Much like Betty Smiths A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and Frank McCourts Angelas Ashes, we are carried into the heart and mind of a child: this time, a young, undocumented girl in 1990s New York City who shows us an SIMON: I feel the need to ask about your father, baba (ph) in Chinese. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. QJW: Im just so grateful for that, to have had that as a child and to still have that. Do you recognise her in yourself now? SN: Theres a line in the book that reads, Ma Ma didnt know it, but she was the reason my imagination burned alive everywhere I went, the reason I saw love in all beings and things. Can you talk about the joyful, playful aspect of your relationship with your mom and your parents, and how they inspire your creativity? But more than that, books gave me insight into how other Americans lived in the parts of the country to which I did not have access: series like Sweet Valley Twins and the Baby-Sitters Club showed me how regular American kids lived, and how I was not so different from them. KM: Your book provides such a unique perspective, seeing your experience through a young childs eyes. WANG: Absolutely. What do you hope your story will leave with readers, either with or without similar experiences to your own? He sees on the dirt ground a single character written in blood: . Wrongly accused. If readers can take away anything from the experience, I hope it is that, beyond the external labels and divides, we are all not that different from each other. QIAN JULIE WANG is a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. But two months later, on December 30, I was done with the entire draft. While I grew up learning English on library books, I never found a book that depicted characters who looked like me and lived in the way my parents and I did. It was safe and I could always count on it to supply my old and new family and friends in the form of beloved characters - and all for free. It was my biggest and wildest ambition to write a book that might allow others out there to see themselves reflected in literature, and have them know that it is possible to survive similar circumstances. A recent book would be Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hongwhich was the first book that I read that tackled face-on the dynamic of being an Asian American woman and the racism you deal with on a daily basis. As such, one could argue, perhaps, that it is none of our business, our responsibility. If my book might inspire readers to revisit their own childhood, to recognize and honor the resilience of the child self that still dwells in all of us, then it would be a dream come true. From Undocumented Child to Successful American Jewish What memoirs, or other books, inspired you in your writing process? We are not a monolith by any means, but the unity of intersectionality is a beautiful thing. Wang and her parents were undocumented, and the 2016 election - which occurred just after she became a naturalized American citizen - spurred her to begin writing her memoir on her phone on the subway. Do I want to go down this path, which is just following the momentum of what Id done with my adult life, or do I want to listen to little Qian and do what she would want me to do? They could choose to do whatever they can for the world. All of us are stared at and assumed to be new converts or gentile. as a gift from my beloved third grade teacher. (SOUNDBITE OF SPIRITUALS' "A NEW KIND OF QUIET"). Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang Review of Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang. When Im at work, I snap into that hyper-focus survival mode, and I could just go on working forever. So I walked into my judge's office and just kind of sat down and spilled everything. We are in overdrive pretty much all the time. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, The Giver.. The Books Alexis Patterson Is Loving Right Now, Amazing Childrens Books by Arab and Arab American Authors, Browse All Our Lists, Essays, and Interviews. The College has also built a fully campuswide postconsumer compost system that offers compost bins in every campus building, managed by our Environmental Services team and the student Green Advisors. First, it is the day my book comes out. And my dream is that the book's publication might help them finally find some forgiveness and healing over the past. Kathryn Monaco:Thank you for sharing your story! But from kind of my first days here, he told me, I no longer have status as a man. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. Emily Burack(she/her) is Alma's deputy managing editor. The stench of decomposing flesh floods his nose. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. From then on, I experienced a different Sharples. Wang is also an active member of a synagogue and its Jews of Color community. Both of these names are integral parts of me, and I can no more choose between them than I can between my left and right legs. WebQian Julie Wang is blissfully married to her husband Marc Ari Gottlieb. The waste I witnessed at Sharples threw into relief the hunger painted on the faces of the homeless lining the streets of Philadelphia, where I worked several part-time jobs. Learning English and surviving the harsh realities of being undocumented, Qian Julie eventually made her way to Swarthmore College and Yale Law School, marrying and converting to Judaism. What do you hope readers take away from Beautiful Country? By the time of my wedding in 2019, Id uncovered a sense of fashion that, for the first time, gave me home in my body. That was just natural for me. That myopic focus in the U.S. tends to result in Jewish spaces that feel deeply unwelcoming, and often even overtly hostile, to Jews of Color. I was attuned to my mother's every move pretty much the minute we landed at JFK. The links below will allow your organization to claim its place in the hierarchy of Kansas Citys premier businesses, non-profit organizations and related organizations. It was not safe for us to go to, quote, unquote, "regular doctors," so we found other doctors, undocumented like us, who could help us. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. Her hunger was regularly so intense that she broke into cold sweatswhich, according to her Ma Ma, meant Wang was growing and getting stronger. WANG: My father, I think, would've been very different if we had stayed in China. Learn more about Qian Julie Wangs memoir, Beautiful Country, here. Start typing to see what you are looking for. You do fart jokes. Everything thats super-immature, we do. There were not so many immigrants from North China. According to our reviewer, Qian Julie Wangs debut memoir, Beautiful Country (Doubleday, Sept. 7), tells the story of how one little girl found her way through The number one message is there are more undocumented people around us than we think. Agirl I went to law school was also undocumented but I never knew.There are millions of us but we need people to understand that we arent that different from everyone else. Channel thatempathy into youreveryday life. It was there that I never had to question whether or not I belonged. Something I was really struck by was how much reading, and your local library, was a safe space for you as a child (as a fellow kid who loved going to the library!). It wasnt until the discourse of the 2016 election, which took place just six months after I became a naturalized U.S. citizen, that I discovered that I had a newfound power and thus responsibility to share my story, that at that juncture of my life, I was making an actual decision to stay quiet a privilege that millions of undocumented immigrants do not have. So, from day one, I knew the books were my salvation. Minor Feelings gave me the permission I didnt know I needed, and it helped me dig up more of my voice, my compassionand in the wake of anti-Asian hate and Atlanta, this is a change Ive seen in not just myself but younger Asian Americans across the nation. WebFrom ages 7 to 12, Qian Julie Wang lived as an undocumented immigrant in Brooklyn, New York. This year's Rosh Hashanah is major for me for many reasons. I would say the first year of working on the book was just me in therapy trying to break everything apart and understand what had happened. An online magazine for todays home cook. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. i couldnt have done it otherwise. Now, shes telling her story for the first time buoyed by the hope of reaching those in libraries who were just like her. Central to tikkun olam is hearing the call of the voiceless and fighting for justice in every available avenue. I lived and breathed books. Thats how I learnt Englishbut nobody in literature looked like me , Channel thatempathy into youreveryday life. Photo credit: Second, I am delighted to be giving a speech that morning at Central Synagogue (live-streamed worldwide here) and in Radio City Music Hall. Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. I realized that I had been Jewish all along; I simply hadn't known it. So help us understand how you navigated through that world. An Immigrants Story, Once Secret, Told At Last | Kirkus Reviews I'd gotten to a point where I was a lawyer and was fairly accomplished, but I was still not honest about who I had been. It made my whole year. Qian Julie is now a managing partner at Gottlieb & Wang LLP and is dedicated to advocating for marginalized communities' education and But I had to think about making an income, and law seemed like a way that I could use storytelling to make a difference in peoples lives and still make sure I could pay off my loans. There have been more than one report of, for instance, Black Jews being followed by synagogue security guards and Asian Jews being subjected to fetishized comments during services (if I had a nickel every time a man came up to me during prayer and told me about an Asian woman he once dated). Then, going into the election and hearing all the discourse, I felt something fundamentally change within me, where I recognized for the first time that I had a profound privilege to be on the other side of the experience and that I was choosing not to think about it and not to speak about it. We all, I suspect, have had a teacher who was not altogether nice to us; we all have at some point felt like we did not fit in, and we all recall fondly the first time we discovered our favorite food and our favorite book. The young girl in the book is such a strong character resilient, humorous, scrappy. Now as an adult, stepping back and having looked at everything in my childhood that led me to interact with work that way, I am now very consciously teaching myself boundaries that my work is indeed intellectual; it does not need to be physical. I think that is true for all three of us. SIMON: Yeah. One classmate referred to Wangs family not as low-income but no-income. I was damaged in some way; I was not normal. After immigrating to America, I was never able to feel fully at home in a public space. What inspired you to share your tale of being an undocumented child? Alumni/ae Association Book Club personal reflection by Qian Julie Wang 09. WANG: I think that viewpoint is deeply myopic. Interview by Elena Bowes. Imagination, Reality, and Two Very Different Americas For most of my life, I told myself that I was just oversensitive, that I read too much into thingseven though chink was among the first English words I learned, even though I had never been in a public space in America without fearing for my bodily safety. It also means standing up and speaking out even when it might be uncomfortable to do so to be rooted first and foremost in our faith in equality. WebQian Julie Wang is the author and subject of the memoir. What were some influential books for you growing up?, In my book, I share my story about receiving my copy of "Charlotte's Web" (which I still have!) During that time, she and her parents navigated school, sweatshop work, poverty, and a lack of access to basic needs like medical care the trauma inflicted by a country bent on dehumanizing people it deems illegal. But Wangs world was also filled with imagination, love, and discovery, and Beautiful Country vibrates on every level of nuance and storytelling. Scott Simon speaks with author Qian Julie Wang about her new memoir, "Beautiful Country," which details her life growing up as an immigrant in New York City. And thirds. There was probably no better way to discover kindred spirits with whom I share my passion for activism, racial justice, immigrants' rights and spirituality. When did you feel you could begin to talk more openly about all of this? For me at the sweatshop, it was kind of like play because it was physical. Even so, I figured I would never make it happen, because I lived under messaging from all directions, my parents included, that my past was shameful and had to be kept hidden. But two months later, on December 30, I was done with the entire draft. I read and re-read it while editing my book, and it opened my eyes to all of the ways in which growing up under white supremacy had shaped how I viewed myself, and how I invalidated the extremely valid feelings that decades of racialized misogyny had engendered in me. When seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. They are both books seen from the childs perspective. Nor would it be true to the beating heart of the Swarthmore we love. If you have any questions, you can email OnLine@Ingrams.com, or call 816.268.6402. QJW: There are people in my life who know me only as Qian, and others who know me only as Julie. After that, I thrust myself into writing. Shalom, Shana Tova & Gmar Hatima Tova, It also means standing up and speaking out even when it might be uncomfortable to do so - to be rooted first and foremost in our faith in equality. There is universality in humanity and in the childhood experience in particular. people are often shocked to hear that i wrote my entire book on my commute while making partner at a natl law firm & enduring chronic workplace harassment& it should be said, within weeks of my DIY wedding. This was particularly the case in early 2019, because I was also planning my wedding at the time. Copyright 2021 NPR. But having had that ingrained early on, in my adult life there is nothing that is too much work for me. How did you balance working as a litigator and writing your memoir?. The book will forever represent to me the first time I felt accepted in the United States. I was very fortunate in getting a lot of early experiences that forced me to take on big cases and go into court and speak up. WebQian Julie Wang. So after a day or two, the teacher recommended that I be put in a classroom for students with disabilities, even though I had no disabilities. I think it is easy to forget as adults how very difficult and terrifying it is to be a child navigating the world. In the book near the end a Judge says this very powerful line that seemed like the core of the book.