Yang takes Neustadt children's prize, tells OU community his story

Oct. 25—World Literature Today, the University of Oklahoma-based literary magazine, awarded "American Born Chinese" author Gene Luen Yang with its NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's and Young Adult Literature prize.

Yang received $35,000 for his work, which inspired the Disney+ series with the same name. In addition to the 2006 "American Born Chinese," he has written dozens of other graphic novels, including three continuations of Nickelodeon's "Avatar: The Last Airbender," "Monkey Prince" and "Boxers and Saints."

Yang told visitors of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art that he became a comic book nerd when he was 5-years-old after his mother took him to a comic book shop where he purchased a Superman comic book.

"I took it home and I read it, and by the time I got to the very last page, I knew that I was in love," he said.

Yang quit his job as a computer engineer and became a high school teacher, and in his free time, he drew comics.

"A group of cartoonists in the San Francisco Bay Area, we got together every week at somebody's house, we would have dinner together, they would sit and write and draw together and we would talk shop and look at each other's work and get feedback," he said.

During this period, he created "American Born Chinese," which he printed at Kinkos, now FedEx Office, and unsuccessfully sold at conventions.

In the late '90s, he said comic books were not doing well in the U.S., which turned around after the release of two autobiographical comic books which made the New York Times Bestseller list. After this, he was approached about his work and was able to publish "American Born Chinese."

"So after this, everybody started entering into my world, inserting into the world of handmade comics, looking for the next graphic novel to add to their publishing lists," he said.

Kelvin Yu, Hollywood actor, writer and executive producer of Fox's "Bob's Burgers," adapted "American Born Chinese" for Disney+. He told The Transcript that the series is the culmination of many lived experiences of Asian Americans living in the U.S.

"As an Asian American, I have been familiar with Gene Luen Yang for over a decade, and I can say he is very singular," Yu said. "Having gotten to know him and having the privilege of calling him a good friend, I can say he's singular in every way."

He said Chinese people have immigrated to the U.S. for many years, but two waves came in the 1960s and the 1980s. During these periods, Chinese people were frequently misrepresented in the media, including in books and movies.

He said the children of immigrants from the 1980s are now in their 30s and 40s, and are in a position to become game changers by altering prevailing narratives.

"We are now capable of executing and affecting change that we could only dream of when we were children, and we are doing this by telling the stories of our parents and our own upbringings," Yu said.

RC Davis, executive director of World Literature Today, said he relates to the messages from Yang's work as a Mexican-American.

"He's trying to encourage people to stop applying stereotypes and recognize the reality of those who experience hyphenated identities," Davis said. "I'm a Mexican-American, so I know what that's like. My dad was from Mexico. If you have a hyphenated identity like Mexican-American or Chinese-American, people don't always know how to treat you."

Yu said he relates to Mario Puzo's "The Godfather" series, as it is about immigrants and the children of immigrants.

"There was a time where Irish and Italian-Americans were not considered Americans. 'The Godfather' is known as the great American movie, and you sort of forget that it's a story about immigrants," Yu said. "Asian Americans are still living in the category of people living the immigrant story, but Italians Americans have moved past that threshold."

He said that "American Born Chinese" can help bridge the gap between what is Chinese-American and what is simply American.

"There will be a time where 'American Born Chinese,' 'Shang Chi,' or 'Fresh Off the Boat' or 'Master of None' won't be considered immigrant stories, they'll just be considered American stories," Yu said.

"American Born Chinese" follows the story of Jin Wang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who makes his way through high school and tries to figure out who he is. He meets Wei-Chen, a foreign exchange student, who he learns is the son of Monkey King, a figure in Chinese literature, with mystical powers.

Trung Le Nguyen, Vietnamese-American cartoonist and author of "The Magic Fish," nominated Yang for the award. He said as the child of immigrant parents, he learned English alongside them, and children's literature became fundamental to their language learning.

"To everyone else who heard us speaking to each other, I think there was a notion that the language that we spoke was broken," Le Nguyen said, referring to how his family mixed words from both English and Vietnamese.

"Comics as an adult became something that I found to be incredibly helpful in so many aspects of bridging culture," he said. "Comics are this unique medium where the images, text and words exist together. This medium has become incredibly special to me as a grown up."

"Yang is from the United States, but he's done an amazing job at connecting with his Chinese roots and speaking to other Chinese Americans who may get left out. He's putting them on the map in a really good way," Davis said.

Yu expressed appreciation for viewers who have watched the show.

"It was a bit of a gamble, but then the planets really lined up in terms of getting our director Destin Cretton; our leads Ke Huy Quan, Michelle Yeoh and Daniel Wu, and we found two incredible young actors in Ben Wang and Jimmy Liu," Yu said.

OU President Joe Harroz Jr. said the winner of the Neustadt Prize is the second most important literature prize in the world, often called the "American Nobel."

"The Neustadt Prize is second only to the Nobel [Prize in Literature] in terms of its global importance," Harroz said.

Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.