2 minute read
Think Pink
Mothers and Daughters
This season, a new series is joining the Center’s performance calendar: In Conversation. We have three fascinating and celebrated authors: Amy Tan, Fran Lebowitz and Erik Larson. Each person in this diverse group brings something unique to share with the audience about their books, what inspires them, and how their lives have shaped their art. Tan opens the series on January 23.
Tan’s early forays into writing were far from the books that have made her famous. As a freelance writer she completed many projects for business companies, including Bank of America, IBM and Pacific Bell, but this was to pay the bills. For real fulfillment, she began writing The Joy Luck Club on the side. The career she was meant to have had begun.
Today, Amy Tan is best known as the author of that book, which was made into a successful film, as well as five other novels, including The Bonesetter’s Daughter and The Kitchen God’s Wife. Her work often focuses on Chinese mothers and their daughters, derived from her own experience. Tan says, “I’m not writing sociology; it just so happens this is what happened in my own family. Who we become has so much to do with the experiences we’ve had.” Tan’s books have become so popular that she has to remind people they are works of fiction.
She was born to Chinese parents who emigrated to the Bay Area to escape the Chinese Civil War. There were dark secrets for Tan to discover, many of which found their way into her writing and make her books so compelling. Much of her work focuses on her Chinese heritage and what she experienced as she was growing up. It obviously resonates with readers. “A lot of what I write is emotion based. I have to feel the story,” says Tan. “If I’ve written it well, the readers will feel the emotions too and they will find relevance in their own lives.”
Tan’s novels are all New York Times bestsellers, and her memoir, two children’s books, and numerous magazine articles enjoy popular acclaim. Today she’s the subject of a PBS documentary and is still sought after for what she has to say about writing, families, and the trauma and resilience that shaped her. Her mother had hoped Tan would become a doctor and for many years they had a difficult relationship. Now she says her own measure of success is the joy she can bring others. “I [was] successful in making my mother happy,” says Tan. “Those are the moments of true success.”
This will be an exceptional opportunity to hear Tan share what made her who she is as a writer and the paths she has taken, which include becoming a renowned artist.
Photo: Julian Johnson
RENÉE AND HENRY SEGERSTROM CONCERT HALL January 23 | Tickets start at $29
