Description

“The Genesis of Ideas and How They Become Books”

Where does inspiration come from? When do we know an idea could turn into a book? See will discuss the moments of inspiration she has had and the circuitous routes she has taken to turn them into novels.

Meet Lisa See

For her novel, Snow Flower, Lisa traveled to a remote area of China—where she was told she was only the second foreigner ever to visit—to research the secret writing invented, used, and kept a secret by women for over a thousand years. Amy Tan called the novel “achingly beautiful, a marvel of imagination.” The novel was made into a feature film produced by Fox Searchlight.All of Lisa See’s novels have been instant New York Timesbestsellers, and three were selected as Notable Books of the Year. Of her most recent book, China Dolls, the Washington Post commented, “This emotional, informative and brilliant page-turner resonates with resilience and humanity.” O Magazine called it, “a spellbinding portrait of a time burning with opportunity and mystery.”

Her first book, On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), traces the journey of Lisa’s great-grandfather, Fong See, who overcame obstacles at every step to become the 100-year-old godfather of Los Angeles’s Chinatown and the patriarch of a sprawling family.

She wrote two mystery-thrillers, The Interior (2000) and Dragon Bones (2003) that inspired critics to compare her to Upton Sinclair, Dashiell Hammett, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle!

Lisa See began her career as a journalist with stories appearing in numerous national magazines. For thirteen years, she was the West Coast correspondent for Publishers’ Weekly. She has curated museum exhibitions, wrote the libretto for an opera, and created a walking tour of Los Angeles Chinatown. She was honored as National Woman of the Year by the Organization of Chinese American Women in 2001 and was the recipient of the Chinese American Museum’s History Makers Award in Fall 2003.