Alumni Authors: Lisa See '79

Presenter

Lisa See

Event Type

Talk

Location

Von der Ahe Family Suite, Hannon Library

Start Date

7-3-2012 6:00 PM

End Date

7-3-2012 7:30 PM

Description

Alumni Authors Series - Spring 2012. The William H. Hannon Library was happy to celebrate some of our acclaimed literary alumnus. Each author discussed their newest works and share a few stories from their days at LMU.

Lisa See ('79) - Ms. See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. She lived with her mother, but spent a lot of time with her father's family in Chinatown. Her first book, On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), tracing the journey of Lisa's great-grandfather, Fong See was a national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book. Three more award winning novels followed: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls. While collecting the details for On Gold Mountain, she developed the idea for her first novel, Flower Net (1997), which was a national bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book, and on the Los Angeles Times Best Books List for 1997. Flower Net was also nominated for an Edgar award for best first novel. This was followed by two more mystery-thrillers, The Interior (2000) and Dragon Bones (2003), which once again featured the characters of Liu Hulan and David Stark. This series inspired critics to compare Ms. See to Upton Sinclair, Dashiell Hammett, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In addition to writing books, Ms. See was the Publishers Weekly West Coast Correspondent for thirteen years. Her articles have appeared in Vogue, Self, and More, as well as in numerous book reviews around the country. She has written the libretto for Los Angeles Opera based on On Gold Mountain, which premiered in June 2000 at the Japan American Theatre followed by the Irvine Barclay Theatre. She has recently designed a walking tour of Los Angeles's Chinatown and wrote the companion guidebook for Angels Walk L.A. to celebrate the opening of Metro's Chinatown Gold Line station. She also curated the inaugural exhibition - a retrospective of artist Tyrus Wong - for the grand opening of the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. In Lisa's new novel, Dreams of Joy, she continues the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl's strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.

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Mar 7th, 6:00 PM Mar 7th, 7:30 PM

Alumni Authors: Lisa See '79

Von der Ahe Family Suite, Hannon Library

Alumni Authors Series - Spring 2012. The William H. Hannon Library was happy to celebrate some of our acclaimed literary alumnus. Each author discussed their newest works and share a few stories from their days at LMU.

Lisa See ('79) - Ms. See was born in Paris but grew up in Los Angeles. She lived with her mother, but spent a lot of time with her father's family in Chinatown. Her first book, On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family (1995), tracing the journey of Lisa's great-grandfather, Fong See was a national bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book. Three more award winning novels followed: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls. While collecting the details for On Gold Mountain, she developed the idea for her first novel, Flower Net (1997), which was a national bestseller, a New York Times Notable Book, and on the Los Angeles Times Best Books List for 1997. Flower Net was also nominated for an Edgar award for best first novel. This was followed by two more mystery-thrillers, The Interior (2000) and Dragon Bones (2003), which once again featured the characters of Liu Hulan and David Stark. This series inspired critics to compare Ms. See to Upton Sinclair, Dashiell Hammett, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In addition to writing books, Ms. See was the Publishers Weekly West Coast Correspondent for thirteen years. Her articles have appeared in Vogue, Self, and More, as well as in numerous book reviews around the country. She has written the libretto for Los Angeles Opera based on On Gold Mountain, which premiered in June 2000 at the Japan American Theatre followed by the Irvine Barclay Theatre. She has recently designed a walking tour of Los Angeles's Chinatown and wrote the companion guidebook for Angels Walk L.A. to celebrate the opening of Metro's Chinatown Gold Line station. She also curated the inaugural exhibition - a retrospective of artist Tyrus Wong - for the grand opening of the Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles. In Lisa's new novel, Dreams of Joy, she continues the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl's strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.