Jamie Ford | |
---|---|
Born | July 9, 1968 Eureka, CA |
Occupation | Author |
Language | English |
Nationality | American |
Genre | Literary fiction, historical fiction, speculative fiction |
Notable works | Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Songs of Willow Frost |
Website | |
www |
Jamie Ford (born July 9, 1968) is an American author. He is best known for his debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The book spent 130 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, and was also awarded best "Adult Fiction" book at the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature. The book was also named the No. 1 Book Club Pick for Fall 2009/Winter 2010 by the American Booksellers Association.
In 2013, Ford released his second book, Songs of Willow Frost.
His stories have also been included in Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology and The Apocalypse Triptych, a series of three anthologies of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction where Ford wrote Asian-themed steampunk. The collections were edited by John Joseph Adams and Hugh Howey.
Jamie Ford was born on July 9, 1968, in Eureka, California, but grew up in Ashland, Oregon, and Port Orchard [1] and Seattle, Washington. His father, a Seattle native, is of Chinese ancestry, while Ford's mother is of European descent.
His Western last name "Ford" comes from his great grandfather, Min Chung (1850–1922), [2] who immigrated to Tonopah, Nevada in 1865 and later changed his name to William Ford. Ford's great grandmother, Loy Lee Ford, [3] was the first Chinese woman to own property in Nevada.
Ford is best known for his debut novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The book received positive reviews after its release, and was also awarded best "Adult Fiction" book at the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.
In 2013, he released his second book, Songs of Willow Frost.
In 2017, his third novel, Love and other Consolation Prizes was released.
In 2018, ArtsFund presented him with their annual award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts.
Atria Books released Ford's next novel The Many Daughters of Afong Moy in August 2022.
Ford's first book, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, was published on February 1, 2009. [4] The novel received numerous awards after its publication. The most notable awards came in 2010, when the book was the winner in the "Adult Fiction" category at the 2010 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, [5] and was a runner-up for the 2009 Langum Prize for historical fiction. It was also named the No. 1 Book Club Pick for Fall 2009/Winter 2010 by the American Booksellers Association. [6]
The book is set mainly in the Nihonmachi and Chinatown-International District areas of Seattle, Washington. It switches between two different narratives of a Chinese-American named Henry Lee, each one taking place at different points of his lifetime. The first narrative, taking place in 1942 just after the United States has entered World War II, focuses on Henry's struggles with the racism towards Chinese and Japanese-Americans that was commonplace during that time period and his relationship with a Japanese-American girl named Keiko Okabe. The second narrative, also taking place mainly in the Chinatown-International District, is set in 1986, focusing mainly on an older Henry in his late fifties as he attempts to reconnect with his grown son, Marty, after the death of his wife Ethel. [7] [8]
The book was part of various selections and picks in the media which included the IndieBound NEXT List Selection, a Borders Original Voices Selection, a Barnes & Noble Book Club Selection, Pennie's Pick at Costco, a Target Bookmarked Club Pick, and a National Bestseller. [9]
The novel received positive reviews, including from the New York Times and the author Lisa See. Seattle author Garth Stein commented, "A tender and satisfying novel set in a time and a place lost forever, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet gives us a glimpse of the damage that is caused by war—not the sweeping damage of the battlefield, but the cold, cruel damage to the hearts and humanity of individual people. Especially relevant in today's world, this is a beautifully written book that will make you think. And, more importantly, it will make you feel." Lisa See said the novel explores "old conflicts between father and son", while the book was "an impressive, bitter, and sweet debut." [10] Goodreads gave the novel a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, with over 100,000 votes. [11] The book also received positive reviews from Kirkus Reviews. [12] As of August 10, 2018, the book had 3082 reviews on Amazon.com, with 4.6 out of a possible 5 stars.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet has been translated into 35 languages.[ citation needed ]
On September 10, 2013, Ford released his second novel, Songs of Willow Frost which debuted at No. 11 on the New York Times bestseller list. After the books release it received mainly positive reviews, with Barnes & Noble readers rating the book 4.5 out of 5 in November 2013. [13]
The book is the story of a twelve-year-old orphaned Chinese American boy named William. It is set in Seattle's Chinatown in the 1920s and 1930s and is alternately told from his mother's perspective and from William's. The book is also laced with details about life in Seattle in the 1920s and 1930s. The book references a number of historical figures, including "Rum King" Roy Olmstead and filmmaker Nell Shipman. There also a host of references to gone-but-not-quite-forgotten places including the Meadows Race Track, Frederick & Nelson and Seattle's Film Row. [14] Shortly after release, the book made it through to the second round of the 2013 Goodreads Choice Awards in the category of historical fiction. [15] As of August 10, 2018 the book had 684 reviews on Amazon averaging 4.1 of 5 stars.
At Seattle's 1909 World's Fair, a young boy named Earnest was auctioned off. Little, if any, more is known about him. Jamie Ford has given him a family name, Young, a girl friend, a life in the 'tenderloin' district of Seattle, and later a wife and daughters. As of August 10, 2018, the book has 275 reviews on Amazon averaging 4.4 of 5 stars.
Ford married Leesha Procopio on August 8, 2008, at 8:08 pm in Ashland, Oregon, the number eight being a Chinese lucky number.
Ford is a fan of Harlan Ellison and in 2012 bought Ellison's first typewriter, a 1938 Remington Wireless Portable.
Jamie Ford currently lives in Montana.
The Chinatown–International District of Seattle, Washington is the center of the city's Asian American community. Within the district are the three neighborhoods known as Chinatown, Japantown and Little Saigon, named for the concentration of businesses owned by people of Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese descent, respectively. The geographic area also once included Manilatown.
Laurence Michael Yep is an American writer. He is known for his children's books, having won the Newbery Honor twice for his Golden Mountain series. In 2005, he received the biennial Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for his career contribution to American children's literature.
Frank Chin is an American author and playwright. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Asian-American theatre.
Martha Elizabeth "Libba" Bray is an American writer of young adult novels including the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Going Bovine, and The Diviners.
Willy C. Vlautin is an American author, musician and songwriter. He was the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of Portland, Oregon rock band Richmond Fontaine (1994–2016) and is currently a member of The Delines. Born and raised in Reno, Nevada, he has released 14 studio albums since the mid-nineties with Richmond Fontaine while he has written six novels: The Motel Life, Northline, Lean on Pete, The Free, Don't Skip Out On Me and The Night Always Comes.
Lisa See is an American writer and novelist. Her books include On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), a detailed account of See's family history, and the novels Flower Net (1997), The Interior (1999), Dragon Bones (2003), Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005), Peony in Love (2007) and Shanghai Girls (2009), which made it to the 2010 New York Times bestseller list. Both Shanghai Girls and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan received honorable mentions from the Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.
Charles Chowkai Yu is an American writer. He is the author of the novels How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe and Interior Chinatown, as well as the short-story collections Third Class Superhero and Sorry Please Thank You. In 2007 he was named a "5 under 35" honoree by the National Book Foundation. In 2020, Interior Chinatown won the National Book Award for fiction.
Pam Chun is a writer and marketing consultant, most notable as the author of the book The Money Dragon.
Richelle Mead is an American fantasy author. She is known for the Georgina Kincaid series, Vampire Academy, Bloodlines and the Dark Swan series.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a historical novel by Jamie Ford. The story is told in two parallel storylines, one following 12-year-old Henry Lee's experiences during the Second World War, and the other depicting Henry 44 years later as a widower with a college-aged son. The plot centers around the forced evacuation of Japanese Americans to internment camps; the book depicts the pain and trauma of separation through the friendship of the Chinese-American Henry and his Japanese-American friend Keiko.
Jean Kwok is the award-winning, New York Times and international bestselling Chinese American author of the novels Girl in Translation, Mambo in Chinatown, and Searching for Sylvie Lee, which was chosen as The Today Show Read with Jenna Book Club Pick.
Ed Lin is a Taiwanese-American writer, actor and novelist. He is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards. His first novel, Waylaid (2002) won a Members' Choice Award at the Asian American Literary Awards and also a Booklist Editors' Choice Award in Fiction in 2002. Lin has written a series of crime novels revolving around Chinese-American cop Robert Chow and set in 1976 New York City Chinatown, beginning with This Is A Bust (2007), which won a Members' Choice Award at the Asian American Literary Awards. The sequel, Snakes Can't Run, was published in 2010, followed with One Red Bastard in 2012, both by Minotaur Books.
Christina Lauren, the combined pen name of Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, is an American author duo of contemporary fiction, teen fiction and romance novels.
Alif the Unseen is a 2012 cyberpunk fantasy novel by American writer G. Willow Wilson. In the novel, a Middle Eastern hacker named Alif discovers a book of djinn tales which may lead to a new age of quantum computing. The novel won the 2013 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
Sarah Janet Maas, known as Sarah J. Maas is an American fantasy author known for her fantasy series Throne of Glass,A Court of Thorns and Roses, and Crescent City. As of 2024, she has sold nearly 40 million copies of her books and her work has been translated into 38 languages.
Shawna Yang Ryan is a Taiwanese American novelist, short story writer and creative writing professor, who has published the novels Water Ghosts (2009) and Green Island (2016). She taught in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Rebecca Albertalli is an American author of young adult fiction and former psychologist. She is known for her 2015 debut novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, which was adapted into the 2018 film Love, Simon and inspired the spin-off television series Love, Victor. Albertalli has subsequently published seven additional novel-length works of young adult fiction, along with 2020's novella Love, Creekwood, from which Albertalli has donated all proceeds to The Trevor Project.
Charlie Nicholes Holmberg is an American fantasy writer best known for The Paper Magician series. She is from Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in English in 2010. Her first novel, The Paper Magician, was released in 2014. Holmberg expanded the book into a series, the film rights for which were purchased by Disney in 2016. In addition to her other book series, Holmberg has published seven standalone novels. She is a multi-Whitney Award recipient for The Fifth Doll (2017), The Will and the Wilds (2020), Star Mother (2021), and Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (2022). The Hanging City was a 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist. Many of her other works have been nominated for literary awards as well. In addition to writing, Holmberg cohosts the podcast Your Mom Writes Books.
Rebecca F. Kuang is an American fantasy novelist. Her first novel, The Poppy War, was released in 2018, followed by the sequels The Dragon Republic in 2019, and The Burning God in 2020. Kuang released a stand-alone novel, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence in 2022. Her latest release is Yellowface, a satirical novel which was published in 2023. Kuang holds an undergraduate degree in international economics with a minor in Asian Studies from Georgetown University and graduate degrees in Sinology from Magdalene College, Cambridge, and University College, Oxford, and is currently pursuing a PhD at Yale University.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes is an American writer of young adult novels.