I was born in the West Village of New York City to a father who was born in Pennsylvania to Chinese immigrants, and a mother who immigrated to the United States from Kowloon, Hong Kong, at the age of 7 in 1964. Raised as an American, I did not learn to speak Chinese until I moved to Hong Kong for two years at the age of 21, where I taught English and studied Cantonese. (My Cantonese is elementary, at best, but I have tried to keep it up.) I am also a 2006 grant recipient from the Urban Artist Initiative/New York City, in conjunction with the Asian American Arts Alliance, currently working on a collection of creative non-fiction stories based on the life of my paternal grandmother. My non-fiction work has appeared in HK Magazine, Sawasdee Magazine, Smith Magazine and Time Out New York.
--Jennifer Yee
Astoria, NY
