Words Matter

Wendy Law-Yone: Interview by Nancy Yoo and Tamara Ho

Born in Burma (now called Myanmar) at the end of almost a century of British colonialism, Wendy Law-Yone is an American author of Asian descent who conveys a particularly postcolonial and polyglot sensibility in her writing. Her father, Edward M. Law-Yone, was a notable figure of Burmese politics and letters who founded and published The Nation, the premier English-language newspaper of fifties Burma. He was later imprisoned by the government and eventually exiled for his political views and affiliations. His passions for writing, political critique, and resistance to the repressive, postcolonial Burmese regime find new form in Law-Yone’s writing. At age twenty, when she tried to leave the country herself, Law-Yone was arrested and detained by the government, an experience she details in her short story “The Year of the Pigeon” (1994). After living in various parts of Southeast Asia for a number of years, she came to the United States in 1973, obtaining her B.A. in Florida and then moving to Washington, D.C., where she currently lives. Law-Yone’s memories of Burma, her experiences of grow16 Wendy Law-Yone Interview by N A N C Y Y O O A N D T A M A R A H O ing up under a totalitarian government and emigrating to the States, surface as thematic concerns in her work. Her writing, however, is distinctive for its focus on what Law-Yone calls “stories of failure.” Her novels contest the usual “success story” trajectory of American literature, just as her protagonists stubbornly contest traditional Western and Asian cultural expectations both at “home” and in their travels. Written from the perspective of a Burmese girl emigrating to the United States, Law-Yone’s first novel, The Coffin Tree (1983), received considerable critical acclaim for its eloquent representation of exile, alienation, and madness. Her second novel, Irrawaddy Tango (1993), which was nominated for the Irish Times Literary Prize in 1995, deals with similar themes, although the plot and protagonist differ radically from those of her first book. Like many other Asian American and postcolonial writings, Law-Yone’s works critique official versions of history from the perspective of the forgotten and the oppressed. The postcolonial /emigrant storyteller claims cultural memory as her own property and path to power and resolution. Often narrated through the position of a marginalized Asian woman emigrant/exile, Law-Yone’s works attempt to undermine the social hierarchies enforced by dominant, male-centered versions of history. Ultimately, Law-Yone’s protagonists, like she herself, are survivors, not only of a troubled history in Asia, but also of an American system that attempts to confine, define, or limit their individuality and agency. N Y Tell us something about your genesis as a writer. W L Y My career in letters began early, in Rangoon, Burma, where I grew up. It was launched by an illiterate maid. She was a great flirt who attracted suitors, some of whom declared themselves in letters. Since she couldn’t read, I became her personal reader; later, I became her personal writer. I can’t 284 Words Matter remember how old I was when this began, but answering her letters was the first memory I have of writing something important . I mean, not just writing words, but shaping thoughts, making statements. The sense of importance came from feeling needed, useful, powerful, but also from seeing that writing had real consequences, actually made things happen. N Y Was there ever a time when you actually sat down and thought, “I’m going to be a writer?” W L Y I do that every morning. And every night. But to answer your question another way: No, there wasn’t that single illuminating moment when I decided to become a writer. I never thought it would be the one thing I’d focus on in my adult life. There were many other things I wanted to do. I wanted to be a concert pianist for a time. Had my father not been arrested, I would have gone abroad to study music. I once won a scholarship to the State Conservatory in what was then Leningrad. If I’d taken that road, who knows? I might still be in Russia now, writing Russian novels instead of just reading them. N Y Did your family play any particular role in your writing? W L Y...