Jenny Zhang Quotes

Jenny Zhang
Chinese Actress
Born: Jun 22, 1987
First Love Me People Writing You
Related authors: Anna May Wong Bai Ling Fan Bingbing Gong Li Joan Chen Li Bingbing Ming-Na Wen Zhang Ziyi
Shanghai, the city where I was born and spent my first four and a half years. It's not necessarily the most pleasant or most comforting place, but I have blood memory there, my core was formed there, so I need to go back often, or else I become empty, lost, without meaning. Jenny Zhang
Memory Comforting First Half Become Lost Else Pleasant Back Spent City Born Shanghai Most Half Years Empty Without Go Years Blood Often Where Place Formed Meaning Four Necessarily Need Core
As you get older, you realize you're only the protagonist in your own story and a blip in someone else's life. Jenny Zhang
Life You Own Older Else Someone Only Protagonist Get Story Realize Your
In my mind, scatological writing is a core of the English canon. Jenny Zhang
Writing Mind Canon English Core
I grew up in a Chinese American enclave where the person who lived down the street had literally lived down the street from my mother in Shanghai. Jenny Zhang
Mother Down Shanghai Had Up Person American Where Grew Literally Chinese Who Lived Street
'Alphabet' by the late Danish poet Inger Christensen. It's a book-length abecedarian poem. It's an activist text but also a portal to wonder. Jenny Zhang
Poet Late Danish Poem Alphabet Also Text Wonder Activist
I'd behave savagely if I had access to Bjoerk's closet. Jenny Zhang
Had Access Behave Closet
I seem to be drawn to these smaller forms, and I seem to be drawn to things that can be written and also read in one sitting. Jenny Zhang
Drawn Seem Written Smaller Also Read Sitting Forms Things
There's so much of our behavior that kind of curdles and hardens as we get into adulthood, and it becomes so much more difficult to be hopeful and to dream extravagantly. Jenny Zhang
Behavior Difficult Our Kind Dream Hopeful More Adulthood Becomes Get Much
Growing up, I had a face that people wanted to tell things to, and I grew up with adults who had so much to say. They had lived through decades of unbelievable poverty, starvation, political upheaval, chaos. Jenny Zhang
People Political Face Poverty Starvation Chaos Say Tell Unbelievable Through Adult Had Up Upheaval Decades Wanted Grew Much Who Growing Lived Growing Up Things
Chinese people of my parents' generation who lived through the Cultural Revolution knew so much of death at such a young age, and the psychic toll those experiences left was immense. I knew the stories of the Cultural Revolution before knowing what the Cultural Revolution was. Jenny Zhang
Death Age Generation People Psychic Parents Before Revolution Young Those Immense Through Knew Knowing Cultural Left Young Age Experiences Stories Chinese Chinese People Much Who Such A Young Age Toll Lived
It's okay if someone is disgusted or offended by my performance. It's just a performance. Jenny Zhang
Offended Okay Someone Performance Just Disgusted
Once I decided I was happy with something, I'd try to send it off into the world, and either someone would want it exactly as it was, or it would remain in my notebook/laptop, and no one would ever see it. This is probably why I didn't work with an editor until I was 26. The solipsism! Jenny Zhang
Work Happy World Try Once Would Exactly See Someone Something Remain No-One Until Editor Off Send Want Decided Either Why Ever
We're not the best about knowing what's the most interesting about ourselves. Jenny Zhang
Best Ourselves About Most Knowing Interesting
White people have always slipped in and out of the experiences of people of color and been praised extravagantly for it. Jenny Zhang
People White Out Color Always Praised Been Experiences
My mother had two unshakable beliefs that she tried to drill into me. The first was that I had to study and work twice as hard as my white peers if I wanted to survive in America, and the second was that it was delusional and dangerous to believe I possessed the same freedom white people had to pursue my dreams. Jenny Zhang
Work Dreams Freedom Me People Dangerous Mother First White Believe Peers Possessed Tried Drill Pursue Had Unshakable Delusional Study She Survive America Same Wanted To Survive Hard Beliefs Twice Second Two
Whenever I passed by a Chinese restaurant in a car, I'd joke to my friends, 'Oh yeah, my uncle owns that place.' Jenny Zhang
Car Uncle Joke Restaurant Passed Yeah Friends Oh Owns Oh Yeah Whenever Place Chinese
For a decade, Emma-Lee Moss has been steadily making weird, moody, melancholic music under the moniker 'Emmy the Great' that has been referred to as nue-folk, anti-folk, synthpop, and, most of all, literary. Jenny Zhang
Music Great Moody Has-Been Steadily Emmy Weird Moss Most Making Been Referred Decade Literary
I like to keep a book underneath the pillow that I'm not sleeping on so I can reach over and grab it when I wake up. I don't always do that, but I like to. I try to make sure it's a book and not my laptop. I also try not to get too excited about who might've been trying to contact me while I was asleep. Jenny Zhang
Me Book Wake Up Try Sleeping Too About Excited Contact Over Like Reach Also Make Underneath Sure Always Pillow Been Wake Up Grab Get Trying While Might Asleep Laptop Who Keep
It's like a weird mindset to wake up and want to be wanted. Like, I want to be wanted so much already... and I'm so greedy for other people's desire that I have to really force myself to have some shame about it and some control, neither of which come easily to me. Jenny Zhang
Myself Me People Wake Up Greedy Control Other Mindset Easily Neither Some About Shame Weird Come Like Force Wake Up Want Wanted Which Much Really Desire
I just submitted what I had to the 'Octopus Books' contest open reading period, and they said they wanted to publish my poetry book. Then I started to publish more and more poetry because people would ask me to do readings or ask me submit something for their journal. Jenny Zhang
Me Book People Reading Submit Publish Books Would Something More More And More Poetry Open Had Journal Period Because Readings Contest Said Octopus Submitted Just Wanted Ask Then Started
Poetry was my dirty little secret when I was a fiction writer at Iowa, and then fiction became my dirty little secret when I started writing more poetry and working for 'Rookie'. Jenny Zhang
Writing Secret More Poetry Dirty Writer Iowa Became Fiction Fiction Writer Little Rookie Then Working Started
With nonfiction, I had to learn how to be a clear communicator, but it was also a relief to be able to articulate some of my political ideas and beliefs. I also try to do that in my fiction, but I'm more interested in asking questions that lead to more questions, mysteries that lead to more mysteries, rather than immediate answers and solutions. Jenny Zhang
Political Try Mysteries Immediate Relief Solutions Able Some Rather More Lead Had Clear Ideas Also Learn How Nonfiction Answers Questions Than Articulate Fiction Interested Asking Asking Questions Communicator Beliefs
Sometimes I worry that people who read my fiction think that I am making some kind of thesis statement. Jenny Zhang
People Sometimes Think Worry Statement Kind Some Read Making Am Fiction Who Thesis
It's very Western to idealize a kind of love that does not come with any expectations, that still permits both the giver and recipient to be completely free. Jenny Zhang
Love Free Recipient Kind Giver Both Idealize Come Does Still Permits Western Very Expectations Any
I'm always interested in what is seen as obscene or profane or unfit. Jenny Zhang
Seen Obscene Always Unfit Interested Profane
The reader who likes my stories, I think they would see the violence on the surface, but I think they would also see a deeper violence - the one that's not as showy or as immediately arresting, but kind of the more unsolvable violence that lurks underneath. Jenny Zhang
Think Immediately Kind Would See More Unsolvable Also Likes Reader Underneath Surface Arresting Stories Who Showy Deeper Violence Lurks
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