PSB: Boston Edition and GrubStreet are delighted to present the latest installment of the Grubbie Debut event series, featuring Margaret Woo! Join us for a celebration of her book The City of Jade Trees on Friday, November 20th at Porter Square Books: Boston Edition. She will be in conversation with Alysia Abbott.

We had a chance to ask Margaret a few questions about her debut book:

GrubStreet: Can you share your book pitch and what inspired you to bring it to life?

Margaret Woo: The City of Jade Trees traces the sweep of four generations' migration from Southern China to Hong Kong, and eventually to Boston, navigating decades-long harsh anti-immigration laws.   From my great-grandfather’s journey as an early sojourner, my grandfather’s arrival during the Chinese Exclusion Act, my father’s service as a trained navigator during WWII, and my mother’s family connections to Shanghai’s Green Gang, to my own arrival to the United States from Hong Kong at age seven, each generation encountered a different version of America.

What inspired me to bring my family’s story to life is today’s fraught debate around immigration and the increased hostility towards China. The issues raised in the book thus have a distinct relevance. Through the narrative of one family’s multi-generational struggle against the rigid outlines of U.S. immigration history, this memoir illuminates a much larger historical journey as well as a personal account of migration, identity and belonging.

GS: GrubStreet is all about supporting writers through all stages of their writing journey. How has GrubStreet supported or shaped the writing journey with your debut?

MW: I have always enjoyed writing, but it was not until I started taking courses at GrubStreet that I gathered the confidence to be a writer.  The Memoir Incubator taught by Alysia Abbott was definitely transformative.  My training is in law, and I worked as an academic for over thirty years.  It took a little while for me to move away from a professional to a more personal voice, from an analytical to a more literary way of writing. 

GS: Writing a book can be a life changing experience. Looking back, were there any standout moments — a challenge and breakthrough, or a surprise — from the process of writing your book?

MW: What was particularly challenging in writing my family memoir was finding a narrative arc. I believe personal stories are important, but real-life stories do not always naturally string together coherently, complete with rising tension and successive pacing. But in fact, I discovered that every life does have a narrative arc, and you can find it if you look hard enough.

GS: One of the great benefits of a writing community like GrubStreet is the opportunity for learning and feedback from so many different perspectives. Was there a specific piece of advice or workshop experience at GrubStreet that significantly changed how you approach writing, either creatively or practically?

MW: I love beautiful writing and imaginative plots, but I learned that a good writer shares how she makes sense of the world.  The writing should elucidate something universal and allow us to see through the eyes of the writer.

GS: Aspiring authors often wonder how to take that first big step. What’s one piece of advice you would offer to writers preparing to take on their first book?

MW: Just start writing and lean into something that makes you uncomfortable, because that’s an opportunity to learn.

Join us on Friday, November 20th at 7:00pm at the Center for Creative Writing in the Seaport for "Grubbie Debut: Margaret Woo, author of The City of Jade Trees in conversation with Alysia Abbott. RSVP here.