CHRISTINE C. HSU
Writer Portfolio
In a time of destruction, create something.
Maxine Hong Kingston
Plays, Personal Essays, Poetry, and Journalism
MY PROJECTS
I’ve put together a carefully curated selection of my latest and most influential pieces. Read through the samples below and feel free to get in touch to learn more about me and to discuss any projects you may want to send my way.
"I LOVE YOU, BUT . . ."
Play - Negro Ensemble Company -Â October 2020
My first play that was ever performed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqCCz1_S2u0
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Personal Essays -Â The Bold Italic - January 2018 & August 2018
KQED - BAY AREAÂ JOURNALISM
October 2013 - April 2014
Local pieces for NewsFix - https://www.kqed.org/author/chsu
"KOREAN PIRATE"
Read on KALW for Bay Poets on June 8, 2022:
https://www.kalw.org/show/bay-poets/2022-06-08/korean-pirate-by-poet-christine-c-hsu
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"TOO MANY WHITE GUYS: HOW TAIWANESE FOOD GOT IN THE WAY OF MY RELATIONSHIPS"
Personal Essay - Lunchbox Moments - June 2021
About my ex-boyfriends that were white and had complicated relationships with them and my food. Check out the work here: https://lunchboxmoments.com/Zine. This charity zine supported the San Francisco's Chinatown Community Development Center.
"MOTHER TONGUES OF CONFUSION, SHAME, AND LOVE"
Personal Essay - Yellow Arrow Journal: RENASCENCE, Vol. VI, No. 1, Spring 2021
About my interactions in Taiwanese and Mandarin Chinese in the U.S. and Taiwan.
"DISGUISES"
Poetry - Mixed Mag on June 20, 2021
Inspired by Halloween costumes - https://mixedmag.co/2021/06/20/disguises-by-christine-hsu/
"ODE TO MY FAVORITE MUG,"Â "NEWS," &Â "HORROR MOVIES"
Poems - Slipform 2020 Poetry Anthology
Pandemic poetry written during Slipform Poetry Workshops.
"I LIVED WITH MY EX AFTER WE BROKE UP"
Personal Essay - xoJane - December 1, 2015
My first personal essay ever published, but republished in Defuncted Editors.
"BUG BOXES"
I wrote about a junior high project in Texas collecting bugs for our biology class.
"WEEKEND TO-DO LIST"
This was inspired by my roommates in West Oakland.
"CHINA DOLL"
Micro Essay - Nonwhite and Woman: 131 Micro Essay on Being in the World edited by Darien Hsu Gee and Carla Crujido
What happens when your high school best friend's mom calls you a "China Doll" on her wedding day? I wrote an essay about that experience.
"THE MISSION"
Sci-Fi Flash Fiction - Soft Star Magazine - September 20, 2022
Basic love story gone wrong - alien style!
"BAIJIU"
The Pear Theatre - Fresh Baked Pears One Act Fest - May 2022
First paid play commission with an entirely Asian American female cast and director. A dream come true!
"CARIÑO"
Play - Playwrights' Center of SF - July 2022
Donny is an elderly Black and Mexican American man, who visits the graves of his ex-wife and son to remember them and share big news.
"FORTUNE COOKIE"
Vanessa Chen is a Taiwanese American college student trying to cheer up her Chinese American classmate, Tammy Johansen, during her birthday via Zoom during the pandemic.
"GUAVA"
Women Artists 2023 Datebook - Syracuse Cultural Workers
This poem was inspired by a conversation with my landlady.
