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 44 - Celebrating One Year Of The Make Meaning Podcast!
Episode 43 - Rising Above With Natasha Guynes
Episode 42 – Building Detroit with April Jones Boyle
Episode 41 – Making Meaning from Loss with Marianne Simon
Episode 40 – The Message Matters with Lynne Golodner
Episode 39 - Rabbis Who Rock
Episode 38 – Cities and Communities with Andrew Stein
Episode 37 – A True Education with Lynne Golodner
Episode 36 – Teens and Food with Jen Rusciano
Episode 35 – Purposeful Third Spaces
Episode 34 – Building True Health
Episode 33 – Transcending Transactions
Episode 32 – A Poet's Legacy
Episode 31 – Art from the Heart
Episode 30 – The Power of Culture
Episode 29 – Brilliant Detroit with Cindy Eggleton
Episode 28 – Greening of Detroit
Episode 27 – Advancing Justice
Episode 26 – Profit + Well-Being
Episode 25 – Perfect PR Moments
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