Woman. Warrior. Writer. 5-2022
Vanessa Hua Vol. 3. No. 8 May 1, 2022
Aloha,
Meet Woman Warrior Writer Vanessa Hua!
Vanessa Hua is a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of A River of Stars, Deceit and Other Possibilities, and Forbidden City. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a Steinbeck Fellowship and honors from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Asian American Journalists’ Association. A Bay Area native, she teaches at the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.
How did you come to author your life?
Years ago, on a reporting fellowship in South Korea, I told another journalist that I’d always wanted to write a book. She looked at me and said, “Well, then, write a book!” Dinnertime small talk, but her words resonated with me. I realized that if I truly wanted to achieve this goal, I needed to make it a priority. Writing in the mornings before work and at lunch and on weekends wasn’t enough; I needed to center my writing, to put the best part of myself in it even as I juggled other commitments.
I’ve done a series of articles covering everything from finance to empowerment for Scarlet Society on divorce. This is the most recent one on fearing divorce and it came out after my last newsletter. You can also check me out on the hellorevel.com site.
Summer Intersectionality: Manuscript Workshop starts June 7 1-3PM (HST) and runs 8 weeks!
This is a limited enrollment class. If you are ready to get work done on your manuscript—this is the place! Former students receive a 10% discount and payment via US bank check qualifies you for an additional 5% off. Payment plans available! By instructor permission only. Please contact me about writing sample and we can also jump on a call: writer@drstephaniehan.com
If you want to work on your writing or manuscript project one-on-one please contact me!
It’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
May Day is Lei Day in Hawai’i! (The Kid is at 1:17 – it’s from back in the day…)I think that Pacific Islanders and Asian American heritage month should be split; each group deserves an individual month.
In this spirit, my magnet poem…Mainland Aloha. Teachers: check out Asian American Education Project teaching resource.
Here’s some info on the late great Haunani Kay-Trask – I first became acquainted with her work as a poet, but she may be recognized more as a scholar and activist who disrupted the colonial narrative of Hawai’i.
The opening chapter of Notes From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’i should be taught to every high school student in Hawai’i. Don’t tell me it’s too hard to teach. I taught it to 10th graders. Scale it. Think of the main points and ideas. Break it down. If you have problems, please feel free to email me!
THE FEELING OF HAN: Portraits of Post-War Korea 1956-57
For the May 2022 you can use the password MAYPHOTO (all caps) to see The Feeling of Han: Portraits of Post-War Korea 1956-1957 by photographer Marie Ann Han Yoo. (my mom!) For more info @marieannhanyoo.com
Marie Ann Yoo was 20 years old at the time of her one year sojourn to Korea. She is the only known woman photographer of Korean descent during that time and there were few color photos from this time period. This is a charcoal drawing of her from the early 1960s.
Last fall the Korea Society presented an online exhibition and sponsored a youtube interview of my mom interviewed by my sister Katherine Yoo.
My family is interested in having more of her work displayed in both online and in-person forms! If anyone knows of museums, galleries or institutions sponsoring an exhibit, especially given that the 120th anniversary of the first wave (1903) of Korean immigration to the US is next year, please contact writer@drstephaniehan.com
Nonwhite and Woman
I’m so excited to be in this anthology alongside writers I feel grateful to have met in any way—live, over zoom, or through their words on the page. They have helped me to understand the world a little more. Writing changes lives. In the anthology co-edited by Woman Warrior Writer Darien Hsu Gee and Carla Orujido is former Woman Warrior Writer Deeshaw Philyaw and women’s creative writing workshop guest authors Devi S. Laskar and Grace Talusan. I sat in VONA workshop with Tayari Jones back in the day! I’m also honored to have taught Iris (Yi Youn) Kim, Elizabeth Su, Grace Hwang Lynch, and Gabrielle Smith. Pre-order Nonwhite and Woman -- a fantastic read and teaching resource!
Elizabeth Su of Monday Vibes and a former Asian Women’s Creative Writing Workshop member swung into town! Given my location in the Pacific it’s great when anyone flies in, so lmk if you get to HNL!
HEALTH … True Confessions and Exercise
Here I am a few weeks ago. I am feeling STRONG and particularly kick-ass because I am wearing a 12 pound vest and there are 1.5 pound weights around my ankles. Fast forward two weeks and my shoulders had knots. I had to go to a masseuse to get better. I wore this vest and ankle weights to excess. I was hiking, walking, wandering around the mall, sweaty in my T-shirt and spandex chugging down water from my bottle with my hair in a messy ponytail. GI Jane. I looked like a paramilitary freak show. Discouraged, I told Darin KawazoeI had Lost Momentum. It was more like this: There was a lot going on personally. I had Embraced Anxiety and Lost Balance.
Darin: What did you think was going to happen if you wore the vest?
Me: I was going to get my bones strong. In uh…like 3 weeks.
Darin: (nodding) Hmmmm.
Me: I think I looked pretty weird in the mall.
Darin: Like GI Jane!
Me: I was going for STRONG BONES -- REALLY FAST.
Darin: Now you know where your kid gets that!
Me: (sigh) 8 pounds is a lot lighter. Maybe I gotta go back to 8 pounds.
Darin: You can do 12 pounds. But try two days a week.
Moral of the story: STEPH, CHILL THE HELL OUT.
Stress can lead to bone loss too!
We always hear about core. Here are hints that Darin gave me. I’m not doing it all the time, but I’m trying to be conscious.
1) Breathe in and out of my nose.
2) Think about tightening the pelvis area of my core. I thought about this might be linked to the Kegel exercise.
3) DO NOT LET THE POOP OUT. Or squeeze your butt—but not too hard!
These days I am pondering the integration of bodily health with mental health. Our bodies are our vehicles in this life. Take care of your body. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally.
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If you have any women writers you would like to recommend. Please LMK at writer@drstephaniehan.com