Laura Wang (Wang, Hsueh-Hui)

Introduction

Laura Wang was born in 1988 in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in Chemistry, and Sarah Lawrence College, where she obtained a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing. Laura currently teaches at an international high school in Taipei. Through creative writing, she explores the relationship between humans and the environment, with writing genres ranging from realism to science fiction.

Resident planning

Laura Wang (Wang, Hsueh-Hui) Laura Wang was born in 1988 in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Swarthmore College with a degree in Chemistry, and Sarah Lawrence College, where she obtained a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing. Laura currently teaches at an international high school in Taipei. Through creative writing, she explores the relationship between humans and the environment, with writing genres ranging from realism to science fiction. As a chemistry teacher, I believe we rely on the evidence experienced by our five senses to identify our surroundings; as an author, I believe humans explore imagination and empathy through literature. Therefore, I want to create multi-faceted characters to reflect the diverse facets of modern society. I have been living in Taiwan for almost a year now, and through this experience my five senses have transformed: I smell new scents, hear new sounds, and breathe in new air. For example, I have been studying oriental flower arrangements for about six months, and my understanding of my surroundings has changed through the process of learning. At the moment, I mostly notice the lines of the trees, the scent of the flowers in spring, etc.... The art of flower arrangement is seldom taught in the United States, so as a foreigner, I am faced with two challenges. Firstly, I am not familiar with the vocabulary and methods of flower arranging; secondly, I don't even know the flowers’ names. However, it is precisely because I am not familiar with this field that I have learned a lot. Because I couldn't remember the names of flowers, I relied on my five senses to recognize and analyze the characteristics of flowers, such as their different colors, scents, and feel. In this way, "unfamiliarity" became an advantage, and "challenges" became "learning opportunities". During my residency, I plan to write an essay about learning to arrange flowers in Taipei, reflecting from this small experience a new understanding of the larger concept of relocation. Through this essay I intend to compare my experience of moving from New York to Taipei with my grandfather's experience of moving from Shanghai to New York in 1947. The questions I shall explore are not limited to: How to live in a foreign language in a new city? How to enter a local community and create a new sense of self-awareness in a place where there is no family? After the flowers are placed in the tray or vase, a new ambience is created, and in general, immigrants in a new city also convey a new perspective. Because of the challenges with language, I have to create new "words" when I arrange flowers, just like how immigrants have to create new cross-cultural communities. Through words, I want to learn more about these issues. I have already written small notes on these topics, but I have not yet started on the prose. The plan for the residency is to write a 1,500- to 2,000-word English essay and then edit it to completion. On weekdays, I write a short paragraph every day, not only about my past experiences, but also about the surroundings of the Taiwan Literature Base and the experience of leading weekend activities. Because the subject matter of the work encompasses topics such as migration and change and development in a new culture, this exchange is a rich wellspring of inspiration for the composition of my work. After each event, I will write a poem based on my thoughts, interweaving them with the vocabulary suggestions from the audience and imagining more "cross-language and cross-cultural" issues. On the last weekend of the residency, I plan to compile the words I wrote during my residency and submit them to the magazine.