Author Description

Amy Ling brings together in one comprehensive volume poets, novelists, dramatists, musicians, songwriters, composers, filmmakers, choreographers, and performance artists who span three generations and represent the broad spectrum of ethnicities that make up Asian America. They share thoughts on their work, their audiences, and their relationship to the Asian American rubric and American life and culture. They provide a rare glimpse of the inspirations and aspirations out of which their energy and ideas grow and place their work, each differently, in the complex fabric of American life. An indispensible anthology of work and an inspiring and provocative cultural record, Yellow Light casts a revealing glow on the contradictions, influences, imagination, and humanity expressed through the vastly varied creative projects of Americans with Asian roots. This book will engage readers interested in Asian American literature, film, and culture and students and scholars of Asian American studies, American culture, and multicultural studies. What is Asian America? a place? a race? a frame of reference? a government-imposed expedient? a box to check on a form? It's a dream in the heart Like Bulosan's claim, a tug in the gut, a gleam of recognition: Asian ancestry American struggle. --Amy Ling Author note: The late Amy Ling was Professor in the Department of English and the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She authored numerous books, including Between Worlds: Women Writers of Chinese Ancestry and Chinamerican Reflections, a chapbook of poems and paintings.