Writers in Residence: Preserving Memories with Si’an CHEN

Where can we look to find joy amidst the chaos of our present moment? The Writers in Residence at-home video series from the PEN America World Voices Festival gives readers a glimpse into leading writers’ interior lives and hidden talents beyond their writing desks. Whether cooking meals, crafting cocktails, strumming instruments, entertaining kids, or performing poetry in their living rooms, our writers in residence remind us of the little comforts of staying at home in a time of unprecedented dislocation.

In this installment, Si’an CHEN shares a simple process for preserving specimens of the natural world that delight and inspire her.

Check out her video now, and order her latest story collection, Eating Alive, on Douban Books. 

About Si’an CHEN

Si’an CHEN is a playwright, theatre director, poet, short story writer, and literary translator. She has written three collections of short stories and seven plays. Her plays have been performed at the Royal Court Theatre, Edinburgh International Festival, National Theatre Company of China, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, and Beijing International Fringe Festival. She is also the executive editor of Wings Poetry, and founder and artistic director of the Sound and Fury Play Reading Festival. She has translated works by Carolyn Gage, Gertrude Stein, E.V. Crowe, Jude Christian, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Eileen Myles, Mary Jo Bang, Nicole Sealey, and John Murillo. She is currently working on a translation of Patti Smith’s Collected Lyrics, 1970-2015 and Jeremy Tiang’s novel, State of Emergency.