The Great State of New Jersey is a thread this year for Siren Books. Since I’ve launched, most of the authors I’ve interviewed have ties to New Jersey. Coincidence? Sort of! Regardless, NJ cultivates some of the most talented, interested people and Jane Wong is no exception.
Atlantic City, New Jersey native, poet, and essayist Jane Wong grew up understanding the darkness on the edge of town. In the latest in the Author Interview Series, we chat about her memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, which shares its title with the iconic Bruce Springsteen song.
“I like to describe my memoir as a love song for working-class immigrant families. It’s a book about my upbringing in a Chinese American restaurant, my mother’s curiosity and wisdom, and my journey finding my voice through poetry,” Jane said. “[Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City] is also a rallying cry for radical Asian Americans and dives into the depths of loss, toxic relationships, and the beauty of community.”
Atlantic City is close to The Siren’s hometown. While we know the same Atlantic City, our lives could not be more different. What we can all identify is the pain we feel and experience as kids and how it matters in our lives now. Jane’s work is undeniably touching and vulnerable. Her willingness to candidly share her deepest pains with compassion for her younger self will have you thinking of this book long after you've finished.
“It’s definitely a celebration of Jersey and how I always keep coming back home,” she said.
While her memoir will break your heart and restore hope in the resilience we have within ourselves and our communities, this interview reminds us that the sun always rises, and brightness remains.
Without further delay, Jane Wong.
Make Room for Yourself on Your Bookshelf
What were your favorite books growing up?
I loved The Babysitter’s Club, and unsurprisingly, loved Claudia Kishi and all her colorful pattern-mixing outfits. If it was my birthday or Christmas, I’d always ask for new books, especially the mystery ones. I basically grew up at the public library, which was across the street from my family’s restaurant, and spent hours reading there.
That said, I so badly wish I had books growing up that reflected who I was (this was in the ‘80s and early '90s). It was so rare to see a main character who looked like me and came from a similar background. I used to rewrite the endings of stories and slip them into library books—perhaps part of becoming a writer was to write myself into being!
Was there a particular author you loved?
I was so hungry for Asian American authors when I was young. I remember reading The Woman Warrior and dreaming about meeting Maxine Hong Kingston one day (which I did! And I read with her, too!).
What’s your most asked question (and answer) about being an author, and what do you think people should understand about being an author?
I think my most asked question is what inspired me to become a writer. I realized – even at a young age – that writing meant having a voice. I was a really quiet kid with a lot to say. I never spoke in class, but I wrote pages upon pages of stories in my notebook. This was a way of making myself seen (I don’t know if I knew that in the fifth grade, but it definitely felt like pushing back against my invisibility as a young person of color).
I’m the first in my family to graduate high school and go to college; I’ll be honest, if I told my teenage self that I’d have three books now, I think she’d be in shock. If you want to write – if words swim in your blood – you must.
Make room for yourself on the bookshelf. I think people should also know that writing is an intimate act and that putting yourself out there is sometimes scary. A risk, a gift, a community.
What is your biggest lesson as a reader writing a book?
Balance! As a reader, I love being in conversation with the author as I read. I want to do the work. I want to listen closer, to draw the constellations of connection. That’s taught me a lot in terms of trusting the reader. As authors, we have to hold out our hands to guide and simultaneously let the reader’s hand go.
Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City contains threads from your published poetry. What inspired you to switch gears for your story?
I definitely wanted to speak to my life as a poet in this memoir since it’s such a huge part of finding my agency and voice. I also really wanted to embrace the space that prose offers. I switched gears for my story because I wanted to unravel even more layers, including research.
It also felt important to articulate why and how I felt after pivotal moments in my life; that kind of blunt reflection rarely happens in my poetry life. I also wanted different parts of my personality on the page in the memoir, including my goofy self. I hope the memoir is funny, as much as it is heartbreaking. Those tonal shifts felt more natural in memoir writing for me.
Your essays are introspective and vulnerable. How did you find the courage to share such painful and intimate details of your life? What advice do you have for aspiring essayists?
Wow, great question about vulnerability and intimacy. I worked on this book for about six to seven years, and honestly, I think time helped me a lot in that courage. And trying, through revision, to articulate exactly what I was going through. There were some elements in the book that I’d written about in poetry, but there were also other parts - like intimate partner violence - that I hadn’t fully spoken about.
The chapter “The Object of Love” took me seven years to write. I wrote the first part of that chapter and then put it away for six years because it hurt too much to write. I think the biggest advice I can offer is to listen to your body and keep yourself safe when writing. I didn’t want the page to hurt me, and so I waited. I trusted that when I was ready, I’d be ready.
I also grew up on the Jersey Shore, not far from you. You even used Springsteen lyrics for your book title, making you an undisputed Jersey Girl. Do you have any New Jersey quirks or stories that are a hit in the Pacific Northwest (PNW)?
Omg, way too many. Honestly, my Jersey accent comes out when I have strong opinions about something, usually about what to order if we’re sharing food! I think people from Jersey just talk to anyone, anytime. We aren’t afraid to ask questions or offer opinions or just shoot the shit.
There’s this “Seattle Freeze” thing in the PNW where people joke around about how, during the rainy season, Seattleittes completely avoid each other (funny side note: my Halloween costume was the Seattle Freeze one year, and I dressed up like a storm cloud). Once, I was waiting for the bus, and I just asked some dude who was also waiting what time the bus was coming and if it was late. He looked at me like I asked him out on a date and didn’t even know what to do, so he just looked down at his shoes.
Ready, Set, Rapid Fire!
What sparks your writing process?
Snacks and taking walks!
What’s your reading hot take?
Read lots of books at the same time – like dating!
What’s your New Jersey hot take?
Home, always.
What’s one book you recommend the most?
Any poem written by Lucille Clifton. You can also find her collected book of poems!
What’s a genre you’ve always wanted to tackle as a writer?
I began as a fiction writer, and I want to return.
What’s next for you?
Writing a mixture of essays, short stories, and poems— thinking lots about seeds, my mom’s garden, fertilizer, immigrant hoarding, scarcity.
Thank you to Jane for sharing her thoughts and love of New Jersey with Siren Books! Shannon, The Siren, loved Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, and highly suggests it to anyone looking for a moving memoir. Jane is talented and inspires how I become vulnerable as a writer. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to chat with her!
“For those of you who read or are reading Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City, truly, thank you. It’s such a vulnerable book and you are seeing some of the deepest parts of me and my family. It means the world and then some that you held this book,” Jane said.
We’re glad she made room for herself on her bookshelf, and I hope you all make room, too.
You can find Jane Wong here:
Interviews are edited for length and clarity. If you are an author or you know anyone who's an author who would like to be featured, contact Shannon at TheSiren@sirenbooks.org.
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