Christine Ma-Kellams

In Ames, Iowa, I met an older Chinese boy at church named Daniel. He was already in middle school--I was a lowly first-grader--he but told wild stories in Chinglish about this guy named Jesus. It produced a feeling that no one has ever been able to reproduce, even now. I forgot all about Daniel but remembered Jesus. Sometimes I forget. I'm working on that still.

My Life

Favorite Quote

“The price of freedom is loneliness. To be happy is to be tied.” ― C.S. Lewis.

My hobbies

Fiction writing; reading; baking/cooking

Fantasy dinner guests

My favorite musicians at the moment: Stromae; BTS; Lander Gyselinck

Best advice I ever received

Don't write what you know, because you don't know much.

My undergrad alma mater

UC Berkeley

My worst subject in school

PE

In college I drove

no cars

If I weren't a professor, I would

be a full-time writer

Favorite books

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz; Telephone by Percival Everett; Into the Distance by Hernan Diaz

Favorite movies

Independence Day; Little Miss Sunshine.

Favorite city

Anywhere but the current one I'm in.

Favorite coffee

Frappacinos

My latest accomplishment

My debut novel, The Band, is coming out from Atria in Spring 2024

Current Research

The emotional lives of Asians and European-Americans