SOURCE: Jen, Gish, and Yuko Matsukawa. “MELUS Interview: Gish Jen.” MELUS 18, no. 4 (winter 1993): 111-20.

In the following interview, conducted in November 1991, Jen discusses her writing process, literary influences, development as a writer, and use of humor in her stories.

With the publication of her first book, Typical American, in 1991 and articles such as “Challenging the Asian Illusion” (New York Times 11 August 1991), Gish Jen is fast becoming a visible and vocal part of the contemporary American literary landscape. Born in New York City in 1955, Jen, who is a second-generation Chinese-American, grew up in Yonkers and Scarsdale, New York. It was during high school that she acquired the nickname “Gish” (after the actress with whom she happened to share a first name, Lillian Gish), which she later adopted as her pen name. Educated at Harvard and Stanford Business School, Gish Jen embarked upon her writing career while attending the Iowa...