Pioneering Voices: The Impact of Women Writers in the Early 20th Century

Mike Palindrome, the President of the Literature Supporters Club, joins Jacke for a reading and discussion of "Mrs. Spring Fragrance" by Sui Sin Far. The story, which takes place against a backdrop of waves of immigration to America in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (and the racist anti-Asian laws that followed), depicts an enterprising "Americanized" Chinese woman with a taste for matchmaking as she navigates the worlds of Seattle, San Francisco, and her own marriage. While acknowledging the achievement of the pioneering Sui Sin Far, Mike explores his personal reaction to the story, especially the highly patriarchal world of Asian immigrant communities.

Additional listening:

• 667 Sui Sin Far (with Victoria Namkung)
• 529 Ten Thousand Things and the Asian American Experience (with Shin Yu Pai)
• 410 What Is American Literature? (with Ilan Stavans)

The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com.

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