There are few things as universal as a parent’s love for their child—and the heartache that can accompany it. But, what makes a good parent in a rapidly changing society?
During Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, novelist Yang Huang will talk with Prof. Jennifer Cho about the power and burdens of parental love in her new novel, My Good Son, a Nautilus Gold Award winner, Lambda Literary Awards finalist and winner of the UNO Publishing Lab Prize. Through the story of Mr. Cai, a tailor in post-Tiananmen China, and his only son, Feng, My Good Son exposes readers to the parallels and differences of American and Chinese cultures: father-son relationships, familial expectations, sexuality, social mobility and privilege.
Meet the Speakers
Yang Huang grew up in Yangzhou, China, and came to the U.S. to study computer science. While working as an engineer, she studied literature and pursued writing. Her linked story collection, My Old Faithful, won the Juniper Prize, and her debut novel, Living Treasures, won the Nautilus Book Award silver medal. She works for UC Berkeley and lives in the Bay Area with her family.
Jennifer Cho is Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Boston University, where she teaches at the intersections of Asian American literature, film and culture, gender studies, social justice and critical theory. She received her Ph.D. in English from George Washington University and B.A. and M.A. degrees from New York University. Her work has been published (or is forthcoming) in MELUS (Multi-Ethnic Literature of the U.S.); Meridians: feminism, race, transnationalism; and Modern Language Studies. Currently, she is working on a book that rescripts Asian American grief and racial melancholy into potent sites of social redress and intracommunity, cross-racial and/or diasporic identification.
