Feisty Female Friday: Amy Tan

The FFF this week is Amy Tan.

Amy Tan was born in CA and is a Chinese American author whose parents immigrated to the US to escape from the Civil War in China. She grew up in CA and in Switzerland and travelled to China with her mother where she learned about her family’s history and struggles, those topics becoming the inspiration for much of her work.

She began working as a freelance business writer, publishing short stories, and writing essays for popular magazines.  Her first book, The Joy Luck Club, brought her own experiences into mainstream culture, the first book of its kind which paved the way for other writers to tell their stories of their multi-cultural families, friends, and the complex bonds between mothers and daughters who have lived in two cultures in different generations. More best-sellers followed including The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, and The Hundred Secret Senses. Her recent book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, also includes her own illustrations.

She was awarded the National Humanities Medal and has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her work has been translated into 35 languages. I attended a writer’s conference where she told an audience of writers to always write about what you know. Those words have been my inspiration for my The Feisty Woman Guidebook series.

She supports charities that focus on children, health issues, literary programs, peace, education, and freedom of speech. Amy also plays in a rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders, which raises money for literacy causes, gives TED talks, and has written an opera libretto.

Amy currently lives in CA with her husband.