Baba: A Return to China Upon My Father's Shoulders by Belle Yang

Belle Yang adult nonficition, graphic novel, children's picture book

photo credit: Belle's pop, Joseph, 2008. Hat by maggiemae.com

Author Biography

Belle Yang, subject of the PBS documentary, “My Name is Belle,” is frequently asked whether she is primarily a writer or a painter.
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Influences

The immigration journey, moving from Taiwan to Japan at age five and then to America during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, learning English as my third language.

Democracy Spring (1989) and the Tiananmen Massacre which silenced the voices of the Chinese people.

My father's Manchurian stubbornness and my mother's Hakka obstinacy.

The five years of stalking which drove me to writing and painting in solitude.

The benevolent spirit of my great grandfather who was swept out of his estate to wander a beggar under Communism.

Favorite Authors

Chekhov, Shakespeare, Blake, Wordsworth, Frost, Van Gogh, Dickinson, David B., Sun-Tzu, Homer

What I'm Reading

I-Ching, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Illiad

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Baba: A Return to China Upon My Father's Shoulders by Belle Yang

Synopsis:

Baba ("papa" in Chinese) recounts the colorful childhood tales of Yang's father, who grew up at a time of great political and social upheaval in China. Behind the protective walls of the House of Yang, Baba is immersed in a world of the legends and colorful characters of village life. Yang's beautiful watercolors accompany each story and create "an astonishing personal vision" (Kirkus Reviews, pointer). Preface by Amy Tan; illustrations.

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