At Mary Higgins Clark Keynote, Students Learn the Challenges of Chronicling Personal History
Last Wednesday, October 19th, the English Department hosted prolific writer Ava Chin as this year’s Mary Higgins Clark keynote speaker. Like many of my peers, I was thrilled by the opportunity to meet an author after reading their work closely; the deeply personal story of Mott Street, Chin’s recent narrative non-fiction book, primed my curiosity for the in-person meeting in a way that not many pieces can. The book itself –– a sprawling, lush chronology of Ava Chin’s journey discovering her heritage –– bridges the gap between historical and creative writing by intertwining its heavily researched contents with fragments of the author’s internal experiences, personal life, and the very process of compiling the research for the book.
As a Creative Writing Concentrator, I was lucky to get the chance to speak with Ava before the keynote event at an intimate master class she ran for us in the South Lounge at FCLC. In the class, she invited us to ask ourselves the question Why do we write?, offering possible answers from George Orwell and Joan Didion, who both had outlined the reasons they believed that writers have for creating work. Ava made the case that whether we were more like Orwell, Didion, or some secret third thing, it was important for all of us to know why it is that we write, and be able to stand by those reasons as a fundamental part of our practice.
After sharing out our answers and introducing ourselves, we enjoyed getting to know one another over a feast of Indian food, and Creative Writing Concentrators were able to get their copies of Mott Street signed. I found that Ava’s question had inspired me not just to dig deeper into my own identity as a writer, but to become more curious about those of others; I spent the following forty-five minutes engaged in many exciting conversations with acquaintances, classmates, and friends.
Once the food was eaten, the students and I made our way downstairs to Pope Auditorium, where the public event was held. It was amazing to see how many people had showed up –– despite the event being required for English majors, I saw many non-majors in the audience, most with their own copies of the book.
Ava began the keynote address by reading the opening excerpt of her book, adding a couple of extemporaneous details that flowed seamlessly with her writing voice. Then, she took us through the process of conceiving, conceptualizing, and writing the book: a journey that lasted over a decade, and cost Ava relationships with family members due to its personal nature. It was refreshing and a little scary to hear an adult writer talk so openly about the turbulence of her life –– particularly someone who, like Ava, exudes such a deeply confident, grounded energy.
Between the keynote and the Q&A, we learned that the research for Mott Street took place across both years and continents, including a trip to the Chinese town where her family originated from and culminating in Ava renting out a room in the Chinatown building that both sides of her family had roots in in order to write the book. When asked how she was able to maintain stamina for such a long time, Ava simply shrugged: this was the story, she explained to me. It needed to be told.
On the subject of history, the Q&A addressed the highly difficult process of accumulating information about Chinese-American histories. Tracing her family roots back to the Chinese Exclusion Act, Ava found that relying on written documentation was virtually impossible due to the heavy restrictions on Chinese immigration, resulting in forged paperwork and assumed identities. This meant that one of the biggest sources of information for her was the sprawling archive of oral histories –– both documented by various organizations and told to her by her family members. To those embarking on similar journeys, as one of the students was, Ava advised to speak with their relatives while there’s still time. Memory, she told us, is a precious commodity.
