Hua Hsu (born 1977) is an American writer and academic, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He is a professor of English at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

and a staff writer at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. His work includes investigations of immigrant culture in the United States, as well as public perceptions of diversity and

multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

. He is the author of ''A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the Pacific''. His second book, '' Stay True: A Memoir'', was published in September 2022.

Early life and education

A second-generation

Taiwanese American Taiwanese Americans (traditional Chinese, Chinese: 臺灣裔美國人; pinyin: ''Táiwān yì měiguó rén''; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ''Tâi-Bí-jîn'') are Americans of Taiwanese people, Taiwanese ancestry, including American-born descendants of migrant ...

, Hsu was born in 1977 in Champaign-Urbana,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, before moving to Plano, then

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the Universit ...

. His family moved to southern California, then ultimately

Cupertino, California Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose, California, San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The ...

, where his father was an engineer; his mother stayed at home with Hua. The family lived in Cupertino from about the time Hua was 9 to 18, though his father moved to Taiwan to pursue work and Hua often spent summers and other school vacations there. Hsu attended college at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He graduated in 1999. He next attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

to study Asian-American literature, earning a Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization in 2008.

Louis Menand Louis Menand (; born January 21, 1952) is an American critic, essayist, and professor who wrote the Pulitzer-winning book '' The Metaphysical Club'' (2001), an intellectual and cultural history of late 19th- and early 20th-century America. Life ...

advised his dissertation, titled ''Pacific Crossings: China, the United States, and the Transpacific Imagination''.

Career

Hsu was a tenured

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of English and director of

American Studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, History of the United States, history, Society of the United States, society, and Culture of the Unit ...

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

until 2022, when he became professor of English at

. Since 2017, he has also been a staff writer at ''

''. His work includes investigations of immigrant culture in the United States, as well as public perceptions of diversity and

. Other research work and interests include studies of literary history and

arts criticism Arts criticism is the process of describing, analyzing, interpreting, and judging works of art. The disciplines of arts criticism can be defined by the object being considered rather than the methodology (through analysis of its philosophy): buildi ...

. Hsu has been a fellow at New America, a

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

and a contributor to ''

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''Slate'', and ''The Wire''. His 2012 essay for ''Lucky Peach'' about suburban Chinatowns was nominated for a 2012

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

for food writing. He is a board member of the Asian American Writers' Workshop. His book, ''A Floating Chinaman: Fantasy and Failure Across the Pacific'', was published in June 2016 by

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

. He was a 2016 National Fellow for the New America Foundation. Hsu's second book, ''Stay True: A Memoir'', about an important friendship he had while in college, was published by Doubleday on September 27, 2022. It received a starred review in ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''. Jennifer Szalai of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote, "Hsu is a subtle writer, not a showy one; the joy of 'Stay True' sneaks up on you, and the wry jokes are threaded seamlessly throughout." The book was named one of the "10 Best Books of 2022" by ''

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''. The book won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography and the 2022 National Book Critics Circle award in autobiography.

Personal life

Hsu lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He is married with a son.

Bibliography

Books

* *

Essays and reporting

* * * * * Available on website only. * * * Title in the online table of contents is "Kanye West realizes his dreams". * Online version is titled "Mackelmore, the hip-hop villain". * Online version is titled "White plight?". * * * * Online version is titled " Alice Coltrane’s devotional music". * Online version is titled "Kendrick Lamar's holy spirit". * * Online version is titled "Bjõrk's visions of an enchanted future". * Online version is titled "Electronic pop for the surveillance era". * * Online version is titled "The Asian-American canon breakers". * Online version is titled "Beverly Glenn-Copeland's music for a future that never came". * Online version is titled "Paul McCartney's surprisingly playful pandemic album". * Online version is titled "The obsessive beat-making of Madlib". * Online version is titled "The rise of the athlete podcaster". * Online version is titled "Saint Etienne's Nineties nostalgia". * ——————— ;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu, Hua Living people American academics of Taiwanese descent American male writers The New Yorker people Vassar College faculty Bard College faculty Harvard University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Writers from California Writers from Illinois American music critics American literary scholars 1977 births American writers of Taiwanese descent American people of Taiwanese descent