Curtis Chin is the author of the award-winning memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant. A co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the non-profit’s first Executive Director. He went on to write comedy for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in twenty 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 essay in Bon Appetit was selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023 and his short doc, Dear Corky premiered on American Masters (PBS). He is currently working on a new docuseries on the history o Chines restaurants in America. @curtischin8
Where were you born and raised? How did it influence your writing and your thinking about the world?
I was born and raised in Detroit in the 80s. It was a tough time for my hometown because of crack and AIDS, but I think it made me a fighter.
What kind of reader were you as a child? What books made you fall in love with reading as a child? I didn’t read much as a child. We didn’t have books in our restaurant. But I fell in love with stories by listening to our customers talk about their lives.
Describe your typical writing day. Currently, I’m working on my second memoir. I have a detailed outline that I’m working off of. It’s making the process go by much faster.
Tell us about the creative process behind your most well-known work or your current writing project.
With my first memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, it was more of a collection of stories that I stitched together. I just started writing my favorite memories from childhood of growing up in my family’s Chinese restaurant.
Do you keep a journal or notebook? If so, what’s in it? No.
How do you research, and what role does research play in your writing? I do a lot of research. It helps with my memoir to make sure that I have historical aspects.
Which writer, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with? Frank O’Hara.
Do you draw inspiration from music, art, or other disciplines? I listen to Canto pop. I love, Jacky Cheung.
AI and technology are changing the ways we write and receive stories. What are your reflections on AI, technology, and the future of storytelling? And why is it important that humans remain at the center of the creative process? I know it’s inevitable, but I stay away from it.
Tell us about some books you've recently enjoyed and your favorite books and writers of all time. Recently, I read Stay True by Hua Hsu.
The Importance of Arts, Culture & The Creative Process
I started writing when a family friend was murdered, and the judge only fined the killers $3000. I realized that it was important for us to tell people stories in order for people to value them.
Interviewed by Mia Funk
