Diana Chang

Diana Chang (Chinese: 張粲芳; 1924 – February 19, 2009) was a Chinese American novelist and poet. She is best known for her novel The Frontiers of Love, one of the earliest novels by an Asian American woman. She is considered to be the first American-born Chinese to publish a novel in the United States.

Biography

Early life

Chang was born in New York City to a Chinese father and Eurasian mother, but spent her youngest years in China, including Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai. She attended high school in New York, and graduated cum laude from Barnard College in 1949 where she majored in English, focusing on British and American Poets. While an undergraduate at Barnard, Chang had 3 of her poems published by Poetry Magazine, including her work "At The Window." After graduation, she worked as a book editor at three reputable publishing houses (Avon Books, Bobbs-Merill, A. A. Wyn). She also worked as the editor for the PEN-sponsored journal American Pen and as a creative writing teacher at Barnard.

Literary work

Chang's best known work is The Frontiers of Love. Her work has more recently been read in terms of postmodernity and hybridity. Although critical work on Chang has increased since the republication of Frontiers, critics have preferred to examine her Asian-themed works; her "white" novels are only recently getting attention. While at Barnard College, Chang published her poem, Mood in Modern Poetry Association's Poetry.

Published works

Novels

• The Frontiers of Love, (1956, reissued 1974)
• A Woman of Thirty (1959)
• A Passion for Life (1961)
• The Only Game in Town (1963)
• Eye to Eye (1974)
• A Perfect Love (1978)

Poetry

• Saying Yes (Unknown)
• The Horizon is Definitely Speaking (1982)
• What Matisse is After (1984)
• Earth Water Light (1991)

Awards

• Fulbright
• John Hay Whitney Fellowship