Sue, she discovered that it was also doing her some good. She says: “I started to dig up all these memories, the really horrible stuff and it was very therapeutic, but it was also harrowing at times. You have to go back and relive it all, and when you are a creative you can see it all in great detail… and then you have to write it down. That was difficult, but I think that it was a good experience as therapy for me. And James was right, it has helped a lot of people. I’m glad I did it, even if it was very difficult.”
Universal issues
The reactions she has received, largely through her social media presence, “has made it all worth it. There have been so many people, and these are just the ones who have got in touch, who have gone through similar experiences or are still going through the experiences. I feel compelled to help people as much as I can, and I feel like some of them haven’t even spoken to anyone until now. They only person they have found is me.” Since the release of Chinglish, Sue has forged closer ties to her Chinese roots and says it has helped her reconcile her Chinese background with her upbringing in Britain. Throughout Chinglish, there is a sense of the young Sue striving for normality.
“Before I wrote Chinglish, I wanted little to do with the Chinese community because I felt it was the Chinese part of me that gave me the most grief. Then,
16 PEN&INC.
when people started contacting me after Chinglish I started to join online forums and I’m starting to embrace it.” Age and experience shows that there is no such thing as “normal”, but for many young people there is still a desire to fit in. That is one of the reasons that Chinglish resonates beyond ESEA communities in the UK and around the world, according to Sue.
“There are a lot of issues tackled in the book, racism, bullying, mental health, identity, language barriers,” says Sue. “It feels like it has opened up some ways for people to talk about these things. The topics in Chinglish are fairly universal and can effect anybody.” Chinglish is rooted in dark themes, but it is a book that is full of humour. Not just some of the funnier anecdotes, but also in Sue’s reaction to the darker moments. That is borne out of Sue’s own response at the time – using humour as a way of surviving the dark times.
Resonating She says: “I don’t think there is any other way I could have written it. It’s not only that it is my natural way of writing, but it’s also my personality. I don’t think I could have written it with just the dark stuff and I want people to see that there is a lighter side to things.”
Sue says that (pre-Covid) school visits would always spark recognition with some of the students she was talking to,
Spring-Summer 2021
irrespective of their background. She also says that a shift in perspective through the prism of Black Lives Matter and the effects of the pandemic have opened up conversations. She says: “[Black Lives Matter] has been so prevalent that people just couldn’t help but take notice. I can see that things are changing, but these universal issues have been around forever. Teachers are more aware and there are those conversations about
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