Curtis Chin discusses his new memoir “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant”
The Yale LGBTQ Center, in partnership with the Asian American Cultural Center and the Connecticut Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity & Opportunity, welcomed distinquished writer, producer, director, and activist Curtis Chin to Yale on Wednesday, April 17th to discuss his new memoir “Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant.”
Curtis is a co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the non-profits’ first Executive Director. He went on to write for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in sixteen countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appetit, the Detroit Free Press, and the Emancipator/Boston Globe. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His memoir, “Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant” was published by Little, Brown in Fall 2023. His essay in Bon Appetit was just selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023 and he just produced an episode of America’s Test Kitchen’s podcast, Proof.
His memoir, an evocative narrative set against the backdrop of 1980s Detroit, is a poignant reminder of the struggles and the resilience within our communities. It reflects not just a personal journey of coming of age and coming out but also an activist’s fight against xenophobia, the AIDS epidemic, and the harsh socio-political landscape of the Reagan era. His story, rooted in the rich, cultural setting of his family’s Chinese restaurant, resonates deeply with the ongoing battle for representation and voice.
The event allowed members of the Yale and New Haven communities to explore the process of professional writing, intersections of identity and family life within the working class context, and explored issues affecting queer and trans people in light of current efforts to censor our narratives.
You can purchase a copy of Curtis’ memoir “Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese Restaurant” today at your local bookstore or online at Amazon.com.