Novelist and Iowa Writers’ Workshop director Lan Samantha Chang joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, The Family Chao, an homage to The Brothers Karamazov centered on the title family’s Midwestern Chinese restaurant. Chang talks about how the three brothers of her story and their varied relationships to identity reflect their parents’ changing circumstances. She also discusses how Asian American and immigrant narratives are evolving to reflect new generations; Asian American life in the Midwest; using humor to subvert cliches; and how directing the Workshop has altered her approach to writing.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Lan Samantha Chang

Others

The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Number One Chinese Restaurant, Lillian Li
Babette’s Feast, Isak Dinesen
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
Anita Mannur
Frank Conroy
Peter Ho Davies
James Alan McPherson
Iowa Writers’ Workshop
The Connie Brothers Era: 45 Years at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 3, Episode 2
Is College Education a Right or a Privilege?, Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 1, Episode 5

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S5 Ep. 23: The Brothers Chao: Lan Samantha Chang on Food, Family, and New Ways of Imagining Asian American Narratives