Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang is a New York Times best-seller list. Its described as the moving story of an undocumented child living in poverty in the richest country in the world. After immigrating to America, I was never able to feel fully at home in a public space. One classmate referred to Wangs family not as low-income but no-income. The team at A Little Bird are taking a break to recharge and make some exciting changes behind-the-scenes. The public library is a cornerstone of our society and provides vital access to resources and knowledge to those who might not otherwise be able to afford it. All content on IngramsOnline.com 2000-2023 Show-Me Publishing, Inc. Rarely are we able able to attend services without receiving at least some inappropriate, offensive remark. Just for joining youll get personalized recommendations on your dashboard daily and features only for members. 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. Jewish spaces that feel deeply unwelcoming, Jewish Actor Adam Brody Will Play a Charming Rabbi on Netflix, I Tried to Contact My Jewish Ancestor Through an Ashkenazi Seance, 18 Things to Know About Jewish Model Sofia Richie. This is absolutely what I was meant to do. I'm delighted to be here. SIMON: This memoir takes us through five years in your childhood, a young girl trying to make a home in America with her family. 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. Before I read it, I never complained because I thought black Americans had it worse but to see somebody older than me writing about the same feelings that shaped her growing up, it really opened my eyes to how valid my feelings were and that there was something very real about the oppression we face. Qian Julie Wang was born the daughter of two professors in China and when she was seven, they moved to Mei Guo (the Beautiful Country) America and became undocumented immigrants. Second, I am delighted to be giving a speech that morning at Central Synagogue (live-streamed worldwide here) and in Radio City Music Hall. It was not until after years of therapy of struggling to make peace with my past while etching a balanced, ethical relationship with food that I realized my response to Sharples had been far from abnormal. WANG: Thank you for having me. Its the story of her childhood. For me, Qian represents the self and the precocious, mischievous child who went from knowing only love and acceptance to living in daily shame and hunger. Insights from The Orlando Senior Help Desk: What Is a Lady Bird Deed? The flippancy with which my peers regarded the many culinary options before them. QIAN JULIE WANG: It was very difficult at first because these years were years that I never allowed myself to think about or talk about for decades, because my 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. 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. For a decade, she has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation. Shalom, Shana Tova & Gmar Hatima Tova, SN: What is the importance or role of education, inside or outside of the American education system, in the book and in your life? As such, one could argue, perhaps, that it is none of our business, our responsibility. What memoirs, or other books, inspired you in your writing process? 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. There have been many times in the publication process when I have wondered whether I was crazy to go through with putting this book out into the world. The Books Alexis Patterson Is Loving Right Now, Amazing Childrens Books by Arab and Arab American Authors, Browse All Our Lists, Essays, and Interviews. Sign up for Moments upcoming Zoominarsand watch all our past eventshere! Her uncle, a teen at the time, was arrested for criticizing Mao Zedong, and her father's family lived under a hail of rocks, pebbles, slurs and worse. 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. 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 looooved going to the library!). Web12.7k Followers, 1,121 Following, 373 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Qian Julie Wang (@qianjuliewang) qianjuliewang. But in late September 2019, on our flight to our honeymoon, I realized that the break had allowed me to subconsciously process everything else that needed to go into my book. As utterly devastating as recent events have been, I do believe that we will look back on 2021 and see this as a marked turning pointa beginning for real and meaningful progress for the rights and equality of Asian Americans in our nations history. I decided to embark on writing this when I became a citizen in May 2016, six months before the election. In many ways, Beautiful Country is *such* an American story. Learn more about Qian Julie Wangs memoir, Beautiful Country, here. He took on the form of what American expected of us: docile, meek. And sometimes even fourths. For me, being Jewish cannot be separated from tikkun olam, the concept that calls upon us to repair the world. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Could you share why you chose your name and the meaning it has in your life? Those subway snippets would become "Beautiful Country," a gorgeous and heartfelt tale of Wang's childhood as an undocumented New Yorker, published Tuesday. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was a North Star in this project. I think that kind of background at home cannot easily be supplanted by an external education system. Im sure that things have changed and are changing still since I left campus some 12 years ago. 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. SIMON: I feel the need to ask about your father, baba (ph) in Chinese. T, My third grade teacher gave me a copy of Charlottes Web because she knew I loved books. But each time I returned to that vision of a preteen discovering my book at the library when she needs it most, all of my fears fall by the wayside. I was damaged in some way; I was not normal. 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? All of us are stared at and assumed to be new converts or gentile. Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang What inspired you to share your tale of being an undocumented child?. When seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York QIAN JULIE WANG is a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. From then on, I experienced a different Sharples. The book is only the first chapter of your life, you cover moving to Canada and getting your legal documents quickly in the last chapter. Thank you so much for being with us. 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. It created that route in my brain where I just keep going. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. She is a commercial litigation associate in the New York office of Robins Kaplan, a law firm. Has your family read Beautiful Country? 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. We are experiencing technical difficulties. If I had all the money in the world, I probably would have become a writer right away because I loved books and thats where I lived. Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang She joins us now from Brooklyn, N.Y. By browsing this website, you agree to our use of cookies. 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. My teacher spoke only Cantonese or English, neither of which I spoke. personal reflection by Qian Julie Wang 09. Rarely are we able able to attend services without receiving at least some inappropriate, offensive remark. Our childhood experiences comprise the hidden force that continues to wield power over our adult selves. And then, of course, there was his childhood, which was horrific. Qian Julie Wang on Her Extraordinary Memoir, 'Beautiful Country' Thats something that still guides me to this day. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Its a voyage into the love, pain and secrets of family, a train ride through the confusion, resilience and delight of coming of age. Now, shes telling her story for the first time buoyed by the hope of reaching those in libraries who were just like her. Nor would it be true to the beating heart of the Swarthmore we love. I wrote the first draft of "Beautiful Country" while making partner at a national firm. 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. Welcome because it was a great success story of a Jewish writer in a candid & luminous way. She said, secrets - they hold such power over us, don't they? (SOUNDBITE OF SPIRITUALS' "A NEW KIND OF QUIET"). Copyright 2023, David Strathairn plays historic Holocaust witness Jan Karski in PBS's 'Remember This'. I bit the insides of my cheeks, my appetite gone, while the friend closest to me explained that they had all just been complaining about how horrible the food was. Making more equitable access to books and literacy is, I think, number one. To check it out at their local library? 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. It was then that I realized that what I had long thought of as singularly mine was no longer my secret to keep. Kathryn Monaco:Thank you for sharing your story! 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. This is certainly not unusual for freshmen, but in my case, it was for atypical reasons. 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. There is universality in humanity and in the childhood experience in particular. Yet, border control detained me whenever I reentered. Beautiful Country : A Memoir of An Undocumented Childhood As such, our group's mission is first and foremost to build a safe space for Jews of Color to connect and engage in their religion - shelter for when we feel utterly unwanted in all other Jewish spaces. When I first read Minor Feelings, I was shocked to find another Asian American woman, living across the country and many years older than me, who had precise insight into all of the things that I thought I had been oversensitive about. The stench of decomposing flesh floods his nose. Reading Qian Julie Wangs debut memoir, Beautiful Country, you wouldnt know its her first book. Absolutely, I had always thought I would maybe one day write it as a child. I lived and breathed books. Thats how I learnt Englishbut nobody in literature looked like me an undocumented migrant. QJW: There are people in my life who know me only as Qian, and others who know me only as Julie. 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. Beyond that, we also work to create platforms for Jews of Color within our synagogue and in the Jewish community and to engage racial justice work and activism outside the temple and outside the Jewish world. So I walked into my judge's office and just kind of sat down and spilled everything. Memoirist Qian Julie Wang Finally Found a Home With Her Beautiful Country Around twice a year, publishing houses used to hold informal drinks parties where journalists could meet authors and chat about their forthcoming books. In China, Qians parents were professors; in America, her family is illegal and it will require all the determination and small joys they can muster to survive. 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. But it bears stating that one cannot in good conscience stand for everything Swarthmore does while generating the waste I watched its student body, myself included, create in abundance. That mystery never materialized, but it really helped me as an adult to look back and try to place myself in that little kids shoes. Its interesting because you think about lawyers and litigators as people who work with their minds, but its also a huge toll on your body because youre working 13 to 14 hours straight. Memoirist Qian Julie Wang Finally Found a Home With Her Fellow Jews of Color The "Beautiful Country" author speaks with Alma about her love of libraries and It was a physical kind of labor, and that was especially taxing for my mother not just because of her health issues, but also because she was a woman, and the ways that manifested I think deeply, deeply affected her. Alumni/ae Association Book Club Lauded by clients as "exceptionally talented" and "exemplary," Qian Julie has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in In New York City, and Im most familiar with New York City because I practice law here and I grew up here, theres so much segregation based on the wealth of zip codes and where children are just slotted in based on who theyre born to and how much they make. It was where I learned English, discovered my favorite books and learned what it meant to feel comfortable in my new land. SIMON: What did your parents caution you you should avoid saying and doing because your family was without documents? We are in overdrive pretty much all the time. So it finally culminated in the night that I found her rolling in bed and forced to call 911, and then holding my breath and waiting to see if she would get medical attention or we would instead get deported. Yet when seven-year-old Qian arrives in New York City in 1994 full of curiosity, she is overwhelmed by crushing fear and scarcity. 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? Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. My parents have read parts of it, and I have fact-checked certain memories with them, but they have not read the whole thing! The book will forever represent to me the first time I felt accepted in the United States. I observed the disdain with which my classmates surveyed the offerings. WANG: Immediately upon arriving here, I noticed that my parents were incredibly nervous. How one special Pink Day helps save and support cancer patients, A Jewish producer of 'All Quiet On The Western Front' sees his family history in the Oscar-nominated Netflix film, Jewish Chamber goes to a Solar Bears' game. You also didn't speak Chinese, as some kid taunted you about - at least his Chinese. Follow. Qian Julie Wang grew up in libraries. Which books inspired you to write your memoir and which have inspired you most recently? As a child who felt lonely and lost most of the time, the Chatham Square public library branch in Chinatown was my anchor in my American life. Adults often say that children cannot help but tell the truth. ButI had to maintain this secret everyday, almost like a double life. 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!) Qian Julie Wangs debut memoir Beautiful Country is a compelling and intimate portrait of an undocumented childhood. Qian Julie Wang On Defining Her Own Fashion - ELLE I gave myself permission then to stop working on the book, not knowing if I would ever find my way back. It is deeply problematic, and it creates this whole system of specialized high schools. We speak to the author to hear more about her life and the book. That experience really changed how I think about my story and my right to speak up and share it. I mean, they were in their early 30s at the time. Since 2016, the College has undertaken a substantial effort to reduce the waste that we generate and to divert waste away from incineration in Chester, Pa., and into compost or recycling. Qian Julie Wang is a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. For decades thereafter, the shadow of hunger lived in my stomach. For me, that was very much a choice, whereas for the millions of people who are still undocumented today, that is not a choice. 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. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO STAY IN-THE-NOW. 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. There was this constant fear and constant messaging that we could be sent home. Qian and her husband Marc exchanged vows in a lovely book-themed wedding in September 2019. 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? It is obvious that synagogues, where discrimination is most hurtful, have not addressed this vexing, humiliating and ongoing problem, whether by a few or by many Jewish racists. Detailing her familys experience as immigrants, Wangs first book vibrates with nuance and rhapsodic prose. 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. Coming to America at age 7, she was thrown into the brand new world of New York City. Beautiful Country 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. Qian Julie Wang Wedding Husband: Who Is She Married To? Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. WANG: I think that viewpoint is deeply myopic. What would you say to somebody who had read the book and felt moved to do something? Do you agree? Even with this rule though, there were months (and up to nearly a year) when I just had to take time off writing entirely. 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. This program is part of a Moment series on antisemitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation. Can you talk a little bit more about this? Soon, she was spending all her free By clicking Subscribe, I acknowledge that I have read and agree to PenguinRandomHouses, certain categories of personal information, discloses, sells, or shares certain personal information. She recalls their experience, with a childs frankness and naivety, which is really what makes this book stand out. In that sphere, I have been so fortunate to find lifelong friends my sisters and family in spirit. Soon, she was spending all her free time in her local Chinatown library, soaking up as much English as possible. QIAN JULIE WANG: It was very difficult at first because these years were years that I never allowed myself to think about or talk about for decades, because my parents and society told me that it had been bad and I would have gotten in trouble if I ever talked about it.