The author Jack Wang discusses his debut short story collection We Two Alone (House of Anansi Press, 2020), with Joseph Planta.

We Two Alone by Jack Wang (House of Anansi, 2020). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: We Two Alone

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Jack Wang has just published a short story collection, his debut, We Two Alone. The stories and the novella in it portray the Chinese diaspora in various points of time and place, throughout a hundred years from roughly the 1920s to the present. The stories take place in various places, and feature a disparate group of characters, be they educated or not, members of the elite or disenfranchised. Some of the characters are disadvantaged, some are contending with issues of identity, morality and intimacy. Jack joins me now to talk about his stories, this collection, and writing. I’ll ask him about how and where he writes, as well as what he wanted to illuminate in these fascinating characters and unforgettable stories. It is an important book, and that has been said to be a powerful debut from a writer we’ll be reading lots from over the years. This Sunday afternoon, Jack will be participating in an event with the Vancouver Writers Fest. He’ll be one of the writers at this year’s virtual Afternoon Tea hosted by Bill Richardson. Jack grew up in Vancouver, but joined me from his home in Ithaca, New York, where he is an associate professor in the Department of Writing at Ithaca College. He was educated at the University of Toronto, the University of Arizona, and Florida State University, where he received his Ph.D with an emphasis in creative writing. The Twitter handle is @jackwangauthor. This new book is published by House of Anansi Press. We taped this interview ten days ago. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Jack Wang; Professor Wang, good morning.

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