Qin Sun Stubis is a Chinese-American author of the book Once Our Lives: A Memoir of Shanghai, Teahouses, and Three Generations of Family, which tells the story of four generations of Chinese women in Shanghai, China during the Great Famine, navigating war and revolution.
In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Qin about her early life, China’s Cultural Revolution and her love of words and storytelling. Qin explains how the loss of her parents inspired her to write a memoir that brings to life her family’s stories and a fascinating part of China’s history. She also discusses her writing process and the challenges she faced as a first-time author. Qin has received awards for this beautiful book and continues to write essays and short stories.
In this episode, Lynne and Qin discuss:
Growing up in poverty and how that influenced her writing
A mother's influence on her love of words
Early memories of writing – quoting Mao Zedong’s quotations
Attending the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Languages
Being a late-blooming writer
A mission to preserve family stories and reputation
Why history and humanity is the same around the world
First-time author challenges along the publishing journey
The importance of the first sentence and first chapter
Forming a support group for older women writers
Her column for the Santa Monica Star
Links and Resources:
Chinese Cultural Revolution
Thomas Hardy
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Louisa May Alcott
Bessie Streeter Aldrich
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Nonfiction Author Association
Miami Book Fair
PenCraft Book Awards
Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes
Find Qin Sun Stubis:
Website
If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll like these other Make Meaning Podcast episodes:
Episode 156 – Blair Fell – Original Storylines & Unique Characters
Episode 149 – Anne-Marie Oomen – Writing through Family
Episode 146 – Barbara Stark-Nemon – Tracing the Path of Historical Fiction
Episode 139 – Desiree Cooper – Being “Genre Agnostic”
Episode 131 – Weina Dai Randel – The Last Rose of Shanghai
Episode 125 - Gramps Jeffrey - Leaving a Legacy
Episode 124 - Dorit Sasson - On the Many Meanings of Home
Episode 123 - Karen Baum Gordon - On Surviving the Surviving
Episode 122 - Valoree Gagnon and Karena Schmidt - On the Food & Culture of Indigenous Gardens
Episode 121 – Stephanie Steinberg - On Personal Passions & Creating Communities
Episode #120 - Jacqueline Suskin - A Poem Every Day
Episode #119 - Roots - Israeli-Palestinian - Toward True Peace in the Middle East
Episode #118 - Elizabeth Gowing - How to know a place by living its stories
Episode 117 - Steven Wingate - How to find your voice again & again
Episode 116 - Jake Neher - Telling Stories & Planting Seeds
Episode 115 - Dean Stark - Why Purpose is Needed to Succeed in Competitive Sports
Episode 114 - Nancy Sharp - How to Turn Tragedy into Opportunity
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Episode 110 - Margaret Trimer - How to Define & Live by your Core Values
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Episode 108 - Lynne & Dan Golodner and Alisa Peskin-Shepherd - The pandemic's impact on relationships
Episode 107 – The Hon. Jan Tinetti – How to eliminate period poverty
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