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MEET BELLE YANG
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Belle Yang

I loved to muck about in the ponds, looking for tadpoles, salamanders and freshwater crabs.

What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer - adult or children?

Both adults and children. In fact, I don’t categorize myself as an adult or children’s book writer. I am simply a WRITER (and illustrator of my own books). I hate being pigeonholed into any category which marketers find useful for placement of books.

If you didn’t write as a child, then when did you start writing and what inspired you to start?

When a stalker broke into my home and the police did nothing about the crime, I wrote a long letter to the district attorney, the sheriff’s department detailing and explaining my predicament. I received an immediate response and action. The criminal was apprehended. At that point, I realized the power of the written word. I was 26 years-old.

When was it published?

BABA: A RETURN TO CHINA UPON MY FATHER’S SHOULDERS,(Harcourt Brace) an adult nonfiction book with 25 of my own illustrations was published in the fall of 1994.

Was your first book accepted immediately? or did you experience a number of rejections?

Yes, immediately.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

My father’s stories about old China— China before the Communist takeover.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Yes, currently I’m working on a graphic novel with WW Norton. It’s titled, FORGET SORROW: A CHINA ELEGY and a children’s picture book, FOO THE FLYING FROG OF WASHTUB POND.

When is your next book going to be in book stores?

Fall of 2007. The title is ALWAYS COME HOME TO ME, published by Candlewick Press.

Has anyone ever written you a fan letter that you’d like to share?

One girl wrote to say that she was glad I shared stories about my own immigration experience in the book, HANNAH IS MY NAME (Candlewick Press 2004) because it helped her to understand that having a green card did not make her a criminal. She said now she realized that to have a green card was something to be proud of.

Is there anything about yourself that you’d like to share - hobbies, where you were born, special talents other than writing/illustrating.

I was born in Taiwan, moved to Japan when I was five, and then to the United States when I was seven. English is my third language.