Amy R. Tan
Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents from China, Amy Tan grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. After receiving her B.A. with a double major in English and Linguistics and an M.A. in Linguistics, she worked in education and human services programs and was then a freelance business writer before becoming a short story writer and novelist. A series of short stories led to The Joy Luck Club, which became a surprise bestseller, spending over forty weeks on The New York Times Bestseller List in 1989.
Her other novels are The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement, all New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of two memoirs, The Opposite of Fate and Where the Past Begins: Memory and Imagination, as well as two children’s books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat. Her essays and stories have appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s Bazaar, National Geographic, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Her work has been translated into 35 languages, from Spanish, French, and Finnish to Chinese, Arabic, Estonian, and Hebrew.
Tan served as co-producer and co-screenwriter with Ron Bass for the film adaptation of "The Joy Luck Club," for which they received WGA and BAFTA nominations. She was the Creative Consultant for "Sagwa," the Emmy-nominated PBS television series for children, which aired worldwide, including in the UK, Latin America, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and Singapore. Her story in The New Yorker, “Immortal Heart,” was performed on stages throughout the U.S. and in France. Her essays and stories are found in hundreds of anthologies and textbooks, and have been assigned as required reading in many high schools and universities.
Tan's honors include the Commonwealth Gold Award, the Carl Sandburg Award, and the 2024 NYPL Library Lion. In 2023, President Biden presented her with the National Humanities Medal.