Id always dreamed about writing this book. Its an incredibly moving, eye-opening book told through the eye of seven-year-old Wang about the struggles they endured. The act of writing was transformative and incredibly healing. In each of the scenes, I was able to be back there and also as an adult in the background. Writing really forced me to do to relive my traumas. There were all these emotions that I couldnt acknowledge as a child because I didnt have the resources to deal with it. Qian Julie Wang, who is a Yale Law graduate, now an attorney, has written a memoir, "Beautiful Country." Coming out of college, I was an English major. My book is a celebration of childhood, that wondrous time when we were all still so tender and open. SIMON: I feel the need to ask about your father, baba (ph) in Chinese. The stench of decomposing flesh floods his nose. 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. WANG: Immediately upon arriving here, I noticed that my parents were incredibly nervous. When she's not writing incredible memoirs, Wang is a litigator working as the managing partner of Gottlieb & Wang LLP - a firm dedicated to advocating for education and disability rights. Most of all, though, I am really looking forward to getting together with family at the seder. WebQian Julie Wang is blissfully married to her husband Marc Ari Gottlieb. Qian Julie Wang This is the very reason I wrote the book: this dream that another Chinese, Asian American, immigrant, poor or hungry kid might come upon it at their public library and might find in it something that gives them hope or solace to keep going. Qian Julie is now a managing partner at Gottlieb & Wang LLP and is dedicated to advocating for marginalized communities' education and 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. What memoirs, or other books, inspired you in your writing process? After loading a plate with a vegetable Id never heard of, with a name I could not pronounce (arugula), I approached a table in the side room with my new friends all of us still in that precarious need-to-impress stage and marveled in awe: Can you guys believe the spread today? 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. Qian Julie Wang came to America with her parents when she was seven years old, living in the shadows and always looking over her shoulder throughout her childhood. And the fact that people are willing to risk being undocumented shows just how bad it is in the home countries of people who immigrate. When Qian started school in New York City, she could not speak English and was full of self-doubt. After immigrating to America, I was never able to feel fully at home in a public space. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We use cookies to improve your experience on our website. When I discovered Judaism, I finally felt complete. When Im at work, I snap into that hyper-focus survival mode, and I could just go on working forever. A graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College, American Judaism is Ashkenazi-centric, even though, historically and globally, Judaism is far more diverse. Thank you so much for being with us. I just assumed everyone was like that. Lauded by clients as "exceptionally talented" and "exemplary," Qian Julie has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in As we approach the Jewish New Year, any Rosh Hashanah plans you are looking forward to? For a decade, she has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation. Editors note: Swarthmore has committed to becoming a Zero Waste campus in efforts to reduce environmental harm and promote just and sustainable systems. The Daniel Pearl Investigative Journalism Initiative, From Undocumented Child to Successful American Jewish Lawyer and Writer. Hongs book awakened and galvanized me. 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. 04 Mar 2023 20:24:54 It's a voyage into the love, pain and secrets of family, a train ride through the confusion, resilience and delight of coming of age. But if you look outside America, and specifically to Mexico and China, which are the two sources of major immigration to the United States, you see that if those people are not able to leave and find refuge, they are under lifelong - lifelong - persecution for their religious and political beliefs in a way that is far worse than what my parents and I went through. Was it hard writing such a memoir? Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang I hope Beautiful Country will serve as an invitation for readers to revisit their own childhood terrain anew, and consider just how much of our society might be healed if we honored the hold childhood continues to have on us and on those all around us. Review of Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang. And for all three of us, it just happens to be around the same age of 7 or 8. But I guess when youre not carrying the trauma of never having had the chance to really play, you actually get to play for your entire life because it just comes out. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies. Qian Julie Wang (Author of Beautiful Country) - Goodreads You can opt-out of the sale or sharing of personal information anytime. SIMON: Your parents were academic professionals in China, but what did they do to get by in the U.S.? That contrast weighed on me far more than my newfound pounds. We are in overdrive pretty much all the time. I even found a poem about my cat. The diary really transported me back. There were alsosome conversations with my parents but they not very comfortable talking about it all. There were also a very few photos which helped me remember things like my favourite clothes. Librarians are our unsung, modern-day heroes. Here at the Reading Group Center, we are self-proclaimed book nerds, so you Its a voyage into the love, pain and secrets of family, a train ride through the confusion, resilience and delight of coming of age. Copyright 2021 NPR. In the book near the end a Judge says this very powerful line that seemed like the core of the book. 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.
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