Asian Americans have long played important roles in shaping SCI-FI as we know it — most notably as writers, designers and artists.
They create Worlds drawn from Cultural Experience. One example: Immigrants can feel connected to Alien stories in Classic SCI-FI : the Journey far from home … to a Place you do not belong.
In 2019 one writer, Walter Chaw, described the film ‘ALIEN NATION’ as “A Sci-Fi Flick Doubling As A Metaphor For The Asian-American Experience”.
But some also reject the idea that they’re “aliens” — and don’t want to be portrayed that way.
One Seattle artist, Stasia Burrington, has this to say: “As a mixed-race Asian American, I am used to and feel comfortable existing as ‘other.’ The universes to be found in science fiction are both exciting, and also feel like home.”
Asian-American writers, naturally influenced by the histories and mythologies of their ethnic background, also grow up reading the works of Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and Ursula K. LeGuin — with all the conventions of Western Science Fiction.
SCI-FI by Asian-Americans today includes inventive works from Authors like Marie Lu, Ted Chiang, and Malinda Po.
MARIE LU, born in Wuxi, China and immigrated to the United States as a child, is a successful young adult writer. Most of her novels take place in a dystopian future, such as her popular “Young Elites” series.
TED CHIANG is perhaps best known for “Story of Your Life,” an incredible piece of writing that fuses linguistics, physics, and first contact, but ultimately becomes an intimate portrait of love and loss. It was adapted into the acclaimed Oscar-nominated film “Arrival” — starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner.
MALINDA PO, a popular sci-fi and fantasy young adult writer, strives to bring diversity to YA literature. Most of her novels feature LGBT characters, like those in her science fiction based “Adaptation” series.
As Award-Winning Authors who write SCI-FI for Young Adult readers, we believe that the unique perspective of Asian-Americans can offer a PATH to Enlightenment. A short, one minute video expressing this idea appears on DailyMotion:
Inspired by Hopi mythology, each volume of THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY explores Native Beliefs and Mythology pertaining to Alien Life — from a unique cultural point of view — book one: Native American, book two: ASIAN AMERICAN, and book three: African American. All are connected … through Hopi prophecy.
Readers’ Favorite in 2017 described Book Two, THE DRAGON’S GLARE as “an intriguing science fiction journey into the study of alien sightings … looking at immigrants and their experiences … an addictive read with mystery and suspense, action and danger, and an exploration into the unknown. ”
ASIAN AMERICAN SCI-FI … With its Unique Point of View, can help us Appreciate the Place … We call HOME.
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