Kirstin Chen

Kirsten Chen
Chen at the 2022 National Book Festival
Born	Singapore
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Singaporean
Alma mater	Stanford University Emerson College
Notable works	Soy Sauce for Beginners Bury What We Cannot Take
Website
kirstinchen.com

Kirstin Chen is a Singaporean writer.

Early life and education

Chen was born and raised in Singapore. She moved to the United States at age 15 to attend boarding school, then attended Stanford University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts.[1] She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Emerson College.[2]

Career

Chen teaches creative writing at the University of San Francisco[2] and has taught on Ashland University's low-residency MFA program.[3]

Works

Chen's first novel was Soy Sauce for Beginners,[2] was an editors pick at O, The Oprah Magazine,[4] the novel tells the story of a young Singaporean Chinese woman living in the United States who returns to Singapore to help the family soy sauce business.

Chen's second novel, Bury What We Cannot Take, published in 2018 by Little A/Amazon Publishing,[2] relates the stories of three generations of a family set against the backdrop of 1950s Maoist China. The novel was named among "best fiction of 2018" by Entropy[5] and "best historical fiction of 2018" by BookBub.[6][7]

Bibliography

• Soy Sauce for Beginners, New Harvest, 2014.
• Bury What We Cannot Take, Little A, 2018.
• Counterfeit : a novel, William Morrow, New York, NY, 2022. ISBN 9780063119543 [8][9][10][11][12][13]

References

1. Ang, Prisca. "Kirstin Chen Ventures Out of Singapore with Novel Set in 1950s Maoist China". Forbes. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
2. "Kirstin Chen". University of San Francisco. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
3. "Kirstin Chen". MFA Faculty. Ashland University. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
4. "3 Books for Wintry Weekends". Oprah.com. Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
5. "Best of 2018: Best Fiction Books". Entropy. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
6. Golden, Johanna. "Best Historical Fiction Books of 2018". Book Bub. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
7. "Take 5 with Kirstin Chen". Hyphen Magazine. 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
8. Yu, Brandon. "'Counterfeit': S.F. author Kirstin Chen talks about her 'Trojan horse' novel". Datebook | San Francisco Arts & Entertainment Guide. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
9. "Kirstin Chen on Shattering the Model Minority Myth". Literary Hub. 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
10. "Review | At the Library: "Counterfeit" by Kirstin Chen". therecord.com. 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
11. "Counterfeit Is a Complicated Tale of Friendship, Lies, and Knockoff Handbags". pastemagazine.com. 2022-05-16. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
12. "Kirstin Chen pens con-artist caper that shatters the model minority myth". KALW. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
13. Auto, Hermes (2022-07-16). "Kirstin Chen's novel Counterfeit challenges the 'model minority' myth | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 2022-09-01.