Episode 80: Commonplace goes to Taiwan, Part 1
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In 2019, Rachel traveled to Taiwan with her son Moses and met up with Commonplace team member Doreen Wang. In a conversation with Moses, Rachel discusses why they traveled to Taiwan in the first place and her late mother Diane Wolkstein’s special connection to the country. In a separate conversation, Doreen shares her life story and why she chose to move to Asia after living in New York City for many years.
This is the first of a two-part series that takes place in Taiwan. The second part, featuring conversations with bookstores in Taipei, posted on January 27, 2020.
Doreen Wang has been the voice, mind and heart behind Commonplace’s social media since September 2018. Doreen is a writer—poetry and creative nonfiction, among other genres—and longtime NGO worker who now manages a youth leadership program for the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, and leads food tours in Chengdu. Doreen received a poetry fellowship from Kundiman as well as a Pushcart Prize nomination for her work. You can find her work in On She Goes, Angel’s Flight: Literary West, and Racist Sandwich podcast. An inaugural participant of Spotify’s SoundUp Bootcamp for Women of Color Podcasters, Doreen is working on a writing and audio documentary where she and her grandmother talk story about how the borders of China-Taiwan and U.S.-Mexico have shaped their lives.
Relevant Links from Rachel’s Story
“Diane Wolkstein, Children’s Author Who Spurred a Storytelling Revival, Dies at 70” via the New York Times
Relevant Links from Doreen’s Story
Saigon Grill picket (approximately 2007-2012)
BOOK CLUB
Hsia Yu’s Salsa translated by Steven Bradbury (Zephyr)
Brenda Lin’s THE WEALTH RIBBON (courtesy of the author)
During their trip, Rachel and Doreen visited the Beitou Museum exhibit: “Stories Told Through Mother’s Hands: Children’s Textile & Embroidery Arts” guided by its curator Brenda Lin, who also serves as Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Les Enphants Co and is the author of Wealth Ribbon. The exhibit showcased items from Brenda’s mother, Christi Lan Lin’s, collection of traditional Asian textiles made by mothers for their children. Brenda’s essay, “Textiles: The Art of Women’s Work,” was recently published in Sotheby’s.
