A Ming Dynasty courtesan who transforms into a zombie. A family of ghosts wreaking havoc on a local hot spring. Elite Hong Kong bankers who are secretly serial killers. Welcome to the world of Lindsay Wong’s new short story collection Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality, a pleasantly grotesque series of “immigrant horror stories,” which was released this week. For readers who loved the vulgarity and wit of her memoir, The Woo-Woo, this latest book is Lindsay unleashed.
Lindsay’s struggle to get The Woo-Woo published speaks to larger, systemic issues of gatekeeping in the publishing industry where white publishers call the shots on what immigrant stories are considered ‘marketable’. Lindsay’s stories often stray from the model minority myth, depicting Chinese people as multifaceted individuals that can be both grotesque and vulgar.
Listen to this episode to learn more about Lindsay’s experience in the publishing industry, pushing past the gatekeepers, and her inspiration behind these haunting, grotesque horror stories.
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Shownotes:
Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality by Lindsay Wong
The Woo-Woo: How I Survived Ice Hockey, Drug Raids, Demons, and My Crazy Chinese Family by Lindsay Wong
Lindsay is the author of the award-winning memoir The Woo-Woo and her recent collection of short stories Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality. She has also written a YA novel entitled My Summer of Love and Misfortune. Lindsay has a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University. Currently, Lindsay teaches creative at the University of Winnipeg.
About Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality:
This collection of short stories tells darkly humorous tales of ghosts, possessed serial killers, and rotting zombies. From the Ming dynasty way up until the modern day, the book delves into class relations, love, vanity, and the suffering that is passed down through the generations.
Recommendations:
From Lindsay
Loveboat Reunion by Abigail Hing Wen
Sunshine Nails by May Nguyen
From Megan
How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa
From Joanna
Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui
Made in Taiwan by Clarissa Wei