Revisiting Author of Interior Chinatown Charles Yu

Today we revisit our 2020 interview with Charles Yu, whose novel Interior Chinatown received the National Book Award for fiction and has been recently adapted into a Hulu series by Yu who is also the showrunner. A novel told in the format of a screenplay, Interior Chinatown follows Willis Wu, a bit player in a TV procedural, as he wrestles with his dreams, identity, and the limitations imposed by a world of rigid racial roles. In our conversation, Yu reflects on growing up with limited and stereotypical representations of Asian-Americans on screen and how those experiences shaped his incisive and inventive novel. He shares his journey from lawyer to writer and the creative process behind the book, the interplay of humor and serious themes in his work, his reflections on the rise of anti-Asian sentiment, and the transformative power of storytelling. In this special reposting of our conversation with Charles Yu, we revisit his insightful, funny, and deeply moving exploration of Asian-American identity and representation in popular culture.