Grace Talusan
American writer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grace Talusan is a Filipino American writer. Her 2019 memoir, The Body Papers, won the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing and the Massachusetts Book Award in nonfiction[1] and was a New York Times Editors' Choice selection.[2][3] Her short story, "The Book of Life and Death," was the Boston Book Festival's One City One Story selection in 2020.[4][5]
Talusan was born in the Philippines, and during the 1970s, her parents came to Chicago from Manila, as her father, Totoy, finished his medical studies on a student visa, and then they settled in Boston, Massachusetts, when she was 2.[6][7] Upon expiration of her father's student visa, the family, including Grace and her two brothers, all U.S.-born, were undocumented.[6] She graduated from Tufts University and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UC Irvine.[8] Her work often explores immigration, trauma, memory, and belonging.[9]She was the Fannie Hurst Writer in Residence at Brandeis University[10] and is currently a lecturer in the Nonfiction Writing Program at Brown University.[11]
Reception
In a New York Times review, Jennifer Szalai wrote that The Body Papers "doesn’t track a one-way march to triumph from adversity; Talusan’s essays loop in on themselves, as she retrieves old memories and finds unexpected points of connection."[7]
Kirkus Reviews said of The Body Papers, "Moving and eloquent, Talusan’s book is a testament not only to one woman’s fierce will to live, but also to the healing power of speaking the unspeakable. A candidly courageous memoir."[12]
In a review in NYLON, Ilana Masad calls the memoir "stunning" and writes, "Grace Talusan is honest and elegant about some of life's most difficult moments."[13]
Profiles in Carve Magazine and Literary Boston highlight Talusan’s impact as a Filipino American voice in contemporary literature.[14]
Works
Books
- The Body Papers (Restless Books, 2019)[15]
Anthologies
- Alone Together: Love, Grief, and Comfort in the Time of COVID-19 (2020)
- And We Came Outside and Saw the Stars Again (2020)
Short stories
“The Book of Life and Death” (2020) - selected for the Boston Book Festival’s One City One Story program. Archived 2021-05-26 at the Wayback Machine.[16][17]
