From China to Delco: Books look at life with humor, wisdom
NETHER PROVIDENCE » When Annabel Annuo Liu’s grandchildren were 5 and 9 years old, they would visit their grandmother at least once a week. Liu, who lives at Plush Mills senior living community in Wallingford, would try to share tidbits about their family and their heritage, as well as the many unique experiences in her life, but the stories seemed way too complicated and complex for young children to understand and grasp the full meaning. In an effort to preserve her history to share some day with her grandchildren, Liu decided to do what she has done her entire adult life — write a book.
Liu recently released her 11th book, “When Chopsticks Meet Apple Pie.” The book is a witty and contemplative collection of literary essays and short stories reflecting upon her travels, issues of food and drink between vastly disparate cultures and the struggles of bridging generational and cultural gaps within the family.
“When Chopsticks Meet Apple Pie” is the third of the books that she has written in English, reflecting upon her lifetime experiences and observations. The first two books in the trilogy were “Under The Towering Tree,” a memoir focusing on her relationship with her father, and “My Years As Chang Tsen, Two Wars, One Childhood,” a memoir of her younger years in Mainland China and Taiwan. Her first two books in English are riveting firstperson accounts of a child caught in two consecutive major wars that killed more than 22 million Chinese people.
Previous to publishing these three books through Amazon, the bilingual author wrote eight books in Chinese — seven are collections of essays and short stories and one is a novel.
“I wrote eight books in under 20 years,” the author said proudly. “My books have all sold well, with millions of readers enjoying my writing. People tell me that they like to read my books before they go to sleep because they laugh and the humor puts them in a good mood before sleeping.”
She explained that in Chinese culture, authors must first publish in newspapers. From there, the essays and short stories are put into book form.
Born in Shanghai, China, Liu is an experienced award-winning journalist. She received a B.A. in law from National Taiwan University in 1957 and then traveled solo to America at 22 years old. She earned an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia and launched her career in New York City at Scholastic Magazine. She hasn’t stopped writing since.
Liu’s humorous writing is well known in Chinese culture because she is regularly featured in World Journal, a daily Chinese language newspaper published in North America. It is the largest Chinese language newspaper in the United States and one of the largest Chinese language newspapers outside of China, with a daily circulation of over 350,000. The newspaper is headquartered in New York.
“I feel very flattered when I meet people and they tell me that they cut out clippings of my work,” Liu confided. “One woman even pulled out the clippings from her purse that she was carrying to show me!”
In addition to being a well known and respected writer in the World Journal, Liu has taught journalism at Iowa State University in Ames and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She is also a hit on the Chinese speaker circuit.
“In our Chinese culture, we have events that are called ‘talks.’ They are different than book signings,” Liu explained. “Hundreds of people attend a talk where an author talks about the stories or essays he or she has written. I have had people laughing so hard that they fall into the aisles at my talks. This is very satisfying to me as a writer of humorous literature.”
Locally, Liu and her books have been featured at Swarthmore, Kate Furness and Primos libraries. She said she hopes to begin speaking at more libraries and venues in the fall.
Throughout her long writing career, Liu has been honored with many awards. She won a Dahua Evening News literary essay contest and two Liang Shiquiu literature translation competitions. Additionally, she received several Iowa Press Women awards, including a first prize for her cover story in the Sunday Des Moines Register’s Picture Magazine.
Liu has lived many places to gather subject matter for her writings and her books. At age 14, she fled Shanghai to Taiwan. Once she left Asia, she never once returned to her birthplace. From there, she moved to Oregon, followed by Missouri, New York, Iowa, Tennessee, summers in Germany and Denmark, finally making her home in San Diego. She came to Pennsylvania nine years ago, following a stroke, to be closer to her daughter, who lives in Swarthmore.
Her family is accomplished, just like Liu. Her husband of 44 years, Samuel, was a professor of physics before he died in 2005. Her daughter, Andrea Liu, and her son-inlaw are both physics professors at University of Pennsylvania. Andrea, mother to Annabel’s two grandchildren, was recently named to the National Academy of Sciences.
Liu’s son, Clifton, also earned a Ph.D in physics. He was a part of the team that developed the Amazon Kindle. He currently works for a technology startup near San Jose, Calif., where he lives.
Liu is a go-getter. Before “When Chopsticks Meet Apple Pie” was even back from the printer, she was already pounding her computer’s keys writing the next book, which is currently a work in progress. She’s working on a second edition of “My Years As Chang Tsen” because there is so much material that she forgot to include in the first edition. She said she hopes to highlight her mother more in the next book.
In addition to writing every chance that she gets, Liu also enjoys watching movies through Netflix.
“I usually only watch movies that deal with family drama,” Liu said. “I don’t just watch the movie. I research it and read reviews and become very knowledgeable about how it was made and everything about it.”
Liu is also an avid reader. Asked what book she is reading now, Liu said she’s currently reading books by neurologist/ author Oliver Sacks.
“In addition to books, I especially enjoy my subscription to New Yorker magazine and I always read it cover to cover,” she smiled.
Liu said that her grandchildren are getting a little older now and will soon appreciate and understand the road their grandmother has traveled in life. She hopes that they, along with other readers, will be inspired by her upbeat and humorous view of life.
“Being an author is absolutely wonderful,” Liu exclaimed with a twinkle in her eye. “I can sit here at my computer and my mind can take me and my readers all over the world to experience all sorts of unforgettable drama, experiences and adventures.”
Liu’s books are available at Amazon.com. For more information about the book or to inquire about Liu as a speaker, contact the community relations department at Plush Mills: plush.communityrelations@sageseniors.com or 610-6901630.