By Elizabeth Howard

Episode Summary

Author Gish Jen talks with Elizabeth Howard about her most recent book, Bad, Bad Girl (Knopf), a critically acclaimed, genre-bending novel that probes the generational tensions between a mother and daughter as it explores the cultural differences and personal frictions that contribute to their conflicts. While the story contains elements of memoir, it is a work of fiction that has been expertly tailored to highlight the expectations, dreams, and history that shape a complex relationship. Jen’s mother was brought up in a wealthy family in 1920s Shanghai before emigrating to the United States, and Gish Jen was raised in 1960s New York. Bad, Bad Girl is a fascinating look at how two brilliant, headstrong women spar as Gish grows up—and the sadness she feels when her mother dies.

Episode Notes

Gish Jen

Gish Jen. Photo: Basso Cannarsa

Gish Jen’s work has been included in The Best American Short Stories five times, including in The Best American Short Stories of the Century. A fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has received NEA, Guggenheim, and Radcliffe fellowships, a Lannan Literary Award, and a five-year Mildred and Harold Strauss Living Award. Her short work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, and many anthologies. She has taught at Harvard University, New York University in Shanghai, and other universities.

Bad Bad Girl is her sixth novel; her other books include two collections of short stories and two works of nonfiction, including publication of her Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization at Harvard University.

The Short Fuse Podcast  is hosted by Elizabeth Howard. She talks with contemporary artists, writers, musicians, and others whose art reveals our communities through their lens and stirs us to seek change through their art, music, ideas, and performances. James Baldwin reminds us that “artists are here to disturb the peace.”  Her articles related to communication and marketing have appeared in European Communications, Investor Relations, Law Firm Marketing & Profit Report, Communication World, The Strategist, and the New York Law Journal, among others.  Her books include Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David Godine, 2015) and Ned O’Gorman:  A Glance Back (Easton Studio Press, 2016). She leads reading groups at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, New York.  @elizh24 on Instagram

Gerald Kent

Gerald Kent is the producer and editor of the Short Fuse. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. Gerald is a talented musician and audio engineer who has been releasing his own music independently since 2021. Alongside his artistry, he’s built up experience working with multiple clients in the podcasting space, from editing through full-scale production.

The Arts Fuse 

The Arts Fuse was established in June, 2007 as a curated, independent online arts magazine dedicated to publishing in-depth criticism, along with high quality previews, interviews, and commentaries. The publication’s over 70 freelance critics (many of them with decades of experience) cover dance, film, food, literature, music, television, theater, video games, and visual arts. There is a robust readership for arts coverage that believes that culture matters.

The goal of The Arts Fuse is to treat the arts seriously, to write about them in the same way that other publications cover politics, sports, and business — with professionalism, thoughtfulness, and considerable attitude. The magazine’s motto, from Jonathan Swift, sums up our editorial stance: “Use the point of your pen … not the feather.”

The Arts Fuse has published over 10, 000 articles and receives 80,000+ visits a month. This year the magazine is celebrating its 18th birthday – a milestone for a small, independent magazine dedicated to covering the arts.

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