Asian Americans have long played important roles in shaping SCI-FI as we know it \u2014 most notably as writers, designers and artists.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
But some also reject the idea that they’re “aliens” — and don\u2019t want to be portrayed that way.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
SCI-FI by Asian-Americans today includes inventive works from Authors like Marie Lu<\/strong>, Ted Chiang<\/strong>, and Malinda Po<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong>” series.<\/p>\n TED CHIANG is perhaps best known for “Story of Your Life<\/strong>,” 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong>” series.<\/p>\n 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:<\/p>\n