Growing up Asian in Australia is an anthology of personal accounts, essays, short stories and poetry edited by
. The discourse of "Asians" in Australia is similar to that in America and usually includes people of East Asian "
. However, in this anthology, the term "Asian" extends to people from Indian and Pakistani backgrounds, which is more in line with the British use of the term "Asian".
and emerging writers and poets of Asian descent. There are over 50 contributors.
Growing up Asian in Australia is currently a set text for the VCE English context of Identity and belonging.
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1 of 5 stars2 of 5 stars3 of 5 stars4 of 5 stars5 of 5 starsPreviewGrowing Up Asian in Australia
by
Alice Pung (Editor),
Sunil Badami (Contributor),
Amy Choi (Contributor),
Tom Cho (Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
Ivy Tseng (Contributor),
Ken Chau (Contributor),
Francis Lee (Contributor),
Hop Dac (Contributor),
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850 ratings ·
75 reviewsAsian-Australians have often been written about by outsiders, as outsiders. In this collection, compiled by award-winning author Alice Pung, they tell their own stories with verve, courage and a large dose of humour. These are not predictable tales of food, festivals and traditional dress. The food is here in all its steaming glory - but listen more closely to the dinner-table chatter and you might be surprised by what you hear.
Here are tales of leaving home, falling in love, coming out and finding one's feet. A young Cindy Pan vows to win every single category of Nobel Prize. Tony Ayres blows a kiss to a skinhead and lives to tell the tale. Benjamin Law has a close encounter with some angry Australian fauna, and Kylie Kwong makes a moving pilgrimage to her great-grandfather's Chinese village.
Here are well-known authors and exciting new voices, spanning several generations and drawn from all over Australia. In sharing their stories, they show us what it is really like to grow up Asian, and Australian.
Contributors include: Shaun Tan, Jason Yat-Sen Li, John So, Annette Shun Wah, Quan Yeomans, Jenny Kee, Anh Do, Khoa Do, Caroline Tran and many more.
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Paperback, 351 pages
Published June 2008 by Black Inc.
Original Title
Growing Up Asian in Australia
ISBN
1863951911 (ISBN13: 9781863951913)
URL
http://www.blackincbooks.com/books/growing-asian-australiaOther Editions (4)
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Mar 23, 2015CC the Great is Not Okay rated it liked it
Shelves:
bipoc,
reviewed,
less-than-1000-ratings,
non-fiction,
this-is-australia,
anthologies,
authors-of-colour,
asian-authors,
2000-2009-published,
racism-xenophobia3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
The flaws:
Let me start with the biggest one that I found. In the section called "The Folks," the last story is called Are You Different? by someone named Mia Francis, who is a WHITE WOMAN. No, I'm not saying the fact that they let or asked a white woman to contribute to an anthology about ASIAN PEOPLE growing up in Australia is the flaw that I'm referring to (but I'm not saying it's not a flaw either… ahem). How she told the story was the main problem. It's bad enough that she, a white woman, was the one telling HER adopted Filipino son's story, the way she told it was from a white western gaze. OH, and the fact that it was ridden with racial slurs like the N-word! I wanted to SCREAM! "Ricky has lots of good friends at school. They affectionately call each other 'n****r' and 'bro.'" DING DING DING DING! THIS is the warning sign that a white parent is most DEFINITELY racist. WHY would you let your son say racial slurs that are not for him to reclaim? Did you not teach him not to say racial slurs? Did he learn it from YOU? And also, why would you brag about it as if this is a stepping stone for your son in making friends at school? WHY ARE YOU TREATING IT LIKE IT'S A GOOD THING??? AARRRGGHH I was so mad when I read this story!! I don't know HOW or WHY they let a racist white Australian woman with a white saviourism complex contribute to an autobiographical anthology about ASIAN PEOPLE growing up in Australia!! It's not a book about white people adopting Asian kids!! Who is this Mia Francis person and WHAT IS SHE DOING IN A BOOK ABOUT ASIANS??? "Thank you for being our beautiful son" MY ASS. WHY CAN'T I READ ANYTHING WITHOUT A WHITE PERSON RUINING IT AND MAKING IT ABOUT THEM???
*deep breath*
I expected that there would be more stories in this book told by Filipinos. There was only one, and the story wasn't even about the author, who is half-Filipino. Filipinos don't get enough representation ANYWHERE, whether it be movies, TV shows, books. Sigh. It just makes me feel all the more ostracised. :/
Redemption:
I did like the stories, generally. Most of them were the typical "I was bullied in school for being different" "I don't know how to speak my native language" "My parents put too much pressure on me" type of stories, but I did like them, even though they were so similar that they blurred together. There were a good amount that stood out -- from dealing with sexuality to humorous everyday situations that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with them being Asian. Even though I couldn't relate to these stories in a degree of "oh my god, that is exactly what my family is like" "something similar has happened to me before", I still had one big thing in common with these people, and that is we are all Asian immigrants living in Australia. Even though I couldn't relate to their stories on a personal level, I still felt like there was at least some sort of connection between me and these stories, and the people who wrote them who were Asian immigrants like me.
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Dec 30, 2016Rana Erdal rated it it was amazing
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english-class,
ya,
contemporary,
5-starsI am reading this as a teacher intending to teach this to my students and yet I related to this so much being Turkish and having the same culture shocks while fitting into being an "Australian". These stories are funny, eye opening , interesting and even heartbreaking. I'm really glad I read these stories and I think this book is a gem , and something I definitely wish I had had when I was growing up.
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Jul 02, 2019Joyce rated it it was ok
Perhaps due to their brevity (only several pages each), the stories in this book present oversimplified analyses of Asian Australian life (terms like "banana", "east meets west" used). I can see the its significance when it was published in 2008, but eleven years on it feels outdated, with many of the narratives perpetuating antiblack sentiment that's rampant in (particularly east) Asian communities.
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Jun 06, 2020Kiran Bhat rated it really liked it ·
review of another editionAn extremely unique compilation of 2nd generation Australian voices. My only concern is that the narratives in the collection tend to harp on a similar theme (eg lack of acceptance in a relatively homogenous society). I think a lot few voices could have been selected, and some of the stories or poems could have been more multi-dimensional. Nevertheless, absolutely worthwhile reading. A lot of the essays are very easy to relate to if you grew up in an immigrant context.
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Jul 18, 2012Rich Gamble rated it it was amazing
Shelves:
rich-top-10,
australianI’ve never gave an Australian book 5 stars on Goodreads before so I’m not exaggerating when I gush about how much I love this book. This is a bunch of largely non fiction pieces collected together by
Alice Pung who I hadn’t read at the time but is now one of my favourite writers. I usually find multi-author collections to lack flow but this is seamless – Alice has done an excellent job as editor and delivers a great introduction to start things off. My favourite story was ‘Wei Lei & Me’ – touching to the point of tears, the pieces by
Benjamin Law are laugh out loud funny and the ‘tall poppies’ section of famous Asian-Australians is a great touch. Seriously, there are so many great new voices here competing for attention it’s enough in itself to justify abandoning our government’s embarrassingly inhumane treatment of refugees and migrants for the wealth they have brought to our country. As an ‘Anglo’ Australian I feel I can identify with these stories both as the close-minded kid at school giving grief to those he doesn’t understand for no good reason and as a young Australian finding his feet growing up in a great country.
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Aug 31, 2008Jen rated it really liked it
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non-fictionI am a second generation Australian Chinese, born into a typical working class suburb in Melbourne, raised within a strict yet somewhat liberal (in comparison to my other counterparts) Chinese family environment, so it's no surprise at all that I could relate to so many of the stories in this anthology--the bewildering cultural displacement (the typical "banana" analogy): am I more Chinese than I am Australian? Why can I not be both? Then there are the odd moments when you realise that this is what defines you. How many of us are familiar with the breakdown of familial ties or confronting and overcoming discrimination? I was horrified by Tony Ayres' conflict with a skinhead, incredulous and moved by Jacqui Larkin's chance encounter with a childhood bully in the unlikeliest of places and amused by the "Strine" accounts--how often do we stop and remember those brave, hard-working pioneers who paved the way for us younger generations so that we could have a chance at life and to succeed?
It would have been better to read more about other Asian ethnicities, like people from the Middle East, but this is a comprehensive outlook from people from all walks of life. A good read indeed for Australians of all ethnicities.
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Sep 13, 2017Amber rated it it was ok
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amberI found many of the stories far too brief ! One was only 2 pages .......I didn't feel that the stories were linked in a cohesive way
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Oct 29, 2016Initially NO rated it it was ok
Shelves:
memoirMost of the life-stories are aimed at Secondary School students, so, it's not a great read if you're looking for something more substantial than teen angst, fart jokes, identity issues, of (for the most part) privileged 1st generation or 2nd generation families that have migrated to Melbourne from overseas.
Some of the short memoirs are well worth reading employing symbolism and maturity that adult readers are looking for (ie The Water Buffalo), and, I'd argue that Secondary School students are looking for as well (helps in that essay). There is also some brilliant cartoon strips. Love them. Actually, a whole book of these cartoon strips would great!
The book comes across as teacher's curriculum style, with attempt to interest 'youth'. Way too many typical school kid issues that are not even unique to migrants, yet it is portrayed as though they are, which makes the authors look ignorant of what is going on in their midst. The interviews section doesn't quite do much more than a bland short biography does. No doubt this book replaces 'The Strength of Tradition' (Holt) that was the 1980s-90s curriculum, which was also somewhat disappointing, because of the editing style that dumbs it down for students.
Time for a new book, as this one is, as a whole, is really, really out-of-date. I'm surprised it has been reprinted so much. But it has a 'market' for curriculum (I'm not in favour of forced markets). I cannot hope the next one will be better, if the market is 'curriculum style.'
There are some cultural insensitivities as well, things that should never be said in Australia, and a sprinkling of psychiatrisms that are horribly discrediting to the authors (and re-traumatising to Australians that have suffered that). Publishers and teachers really need to think about what they condone.
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Jul 28, 2015Nina {ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ} rated it really liked it
Shelves:
contemporary,
australian-author,
autobiography-non-fiction,
asian,
memoir-autobiography,
want-to-ownI really enjoyed this. SO much that I now have a crick in my neck for leaning sideways just to read the pages (I could have just flattened the book out in front of me and read it, but for some reason, it was easier to read it sideways--so bad for the neck!)
Alice Pung did a wonderful job collecting and editing this anthology of short stories about asians growing up in Australia. It is very insightful, and being one of those asians, I can definitely relate to the majority of the stories contained.
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Jan 10, 2016Mark rated it it was amazing
I studied this book in year 11, and as an Asian Australian myself, I would often joke to my friends that I didn't need to read the book; I had lived it already. I did read it, and I was completely floored by it. Never have I felt so represented - in each story, I saw a bit of myself. Sure, many of the stories dealt with similar themes, but it's easy to see, or rather to feel, the nuances when you have literally grown up Asian in Australia. The categorisation of stories also improved their overall impact. 5/5
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Mar 16, 2016Beatrice rated it liked it
Being second generation Australian myself, there's a bit of a disconnect with this book - not as much of the embarrassment, not as much of the isolation - but what it really captured was that feeling of not quite belonging and that lack of connection with my cultural heritage.
If someone asks me where I'm from, do I say Australia, because I am, or do I say Singapore because that's where one generation of my family is from? And does insisting on Australian make me a brave struggler against racism or does it just mean I'm denying my history?
I'm still not sure.
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Apr 07, 2017Emily Mead rated it really liked it
This is such a wonderful anthology. The stories are by turn sad, inspiring, funny and fascinating, and it was wonderful to get a glimpse into some really incredible lives lived by Asian-Australian people. Heart-breaking to hear about all of the racism, though.
(Note that this anthology also includes South-Asian stories - Indian Wonder-Woman was my absolute favourite!)
It was a bit disheartening to see a lot of ableist language, though. This was published originally in 2008 so that may be why, but I was really surprised how often it cropped up. Also, one of the stories was by a white woman because her adopted son was Filipino. And she justifies the use of the N word between her son and his friends. Which was not cool.
STILL. Highly recommend this one because there are plenty of fantastic stories here.
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Aug 08, 2017Calum rated it really liked it
I had so much fun reading this book.
And i learnt a lot.
I feel like I am more aware of the difficulties experienced when multiple cultures demand your allegiance. I also thought about identity and how it is influenced by culture:
What exactly defines us?
Our actions?
Our heritage?
Or ourselves?
All brilliant questions which this book left me with.
I swear I felt all emotions while reading this.
There were literal laugh out loud moments many times. There were also moments when I shut the book and just had to take time out to process the horror I witnessed.
I look forward to revisiting this book.
A glorious anthology. Nothing less.
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Sep 11, 2017Sarah Yeung rated it it was amazing
Reading this volume, almost for the first time, I am greeted by a babble, a symphony, a loosely knitted collage of voices, memories, experiences which so closely recall my own. I have never laughed and cried or smiled so much from reading a single collection before, it is like I am reading fragments of my own story - dreams, guilt, shame, excitement, the bizarre sense of being between two worlds and yet belonging to neither. A really wonderful read.
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Nov 11, 2020Tony rated it really liked it ·
review of another editionImportant stories of intersectionality and for representation. Although some were a bit bland and oversimplistic in peddling a fatalistic pessimism, perhaps as a result of being collated in 2008
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Oct 10, 2017Ruby Soho rated it it was amazing
Great collection of thoughtfully written memoirs. Unputdownable.
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May 28, 2014Amanda rated it really liked it
Shelves:
biography,
reviews,
makes-you-think,
academicThis was one of the books I studied in Year 12 English. Its the only school book I've reread parts of since I finished studying it. Its relatable, and whilst some ideas seem farfetched or hard to believe (harsh expectations, consequences), the reality is that many people in today's society do face those hardships. Its great to see these kinds of experiences are replicated in these short stories, demonstrating not only how these events affected the individuals, but also how they have learnt and grown from them.
This is also one of the very few books (both fiction and non-fiction) where I quite like the prologue. Yes, these stories capture the "model minority" at the core, and the adversity they face as a result. Yes, its a book I'm glad I've read growing up. One that I will pass on to my friends who would also be able to relate to it.
"I hope that these loose themes will help bring to the forefront questions of identity, place and perspective. Because the stories deal so insightfully with the challenges of coming to terms with multiple identities, they move beyond crude labels such as "bananas" and "coconuts". We are not fruit (or power sockets) we are people. These are not sociological essays, but deeply personal stories told with great literary skill. These stories show us not only what it is like to grow up Asian in Australia, but also what it means to be Asian-Australian. And this is exactly the sort of book I wish I had read when I was growing up."
Thanks Alice.
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Apr 01, 2013Nisma rated it liked it
I don't think I can fairly rate this book as a whole. I'll admit, guiltily, that when I first randomly read a few stories out of it a few years ago, I must have have somehow picked out the angsty-est of the angsty-est stories out of the whole lot. This is what gave me negative preconceived notions, so I was kinda against the book from the start.
THAT BEING SAID, I admit now not all the stories are that bad. I mean, none of them are that fantastic, but I think quite a few of them had a certain, relatable charm. Admittedly, with all of them stuck together like this, a lot of them started to blur together - too many kids working in shops, being embarassed of their heritage... blah di blah. That's mean of me, though, 'cause they're only writing from experience and such...
... agh. Okay, on a personal level, I don't think it's fair to judge the stories at all. Entertainment value, a little less. Perhaps if I was reading this over an extended period of time, I could have enjoyed some stories a bit better.
* I swear I hate reading two books at once Dx *
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Nov 10, 2008Andrew rated it liked it
Whilst I absolutely adore Alice's "Unpolished Gem", as an Asian-Australian myself, I suffer a little from what I call the "ethnic cringe", so I was a little worried when this came out. However, Asian-Australian writing seems to be emerging as a distinct voice in recent years, and the publication of this anthology is an important one.
And at the heart of this anthology is the sheer diversity of stories, perhaps indicating that the Asian commonality is perhaps a tenuous one, constructed more by the society that we grow up in, rather than in our own identity and voice.
Of course, as an anthology, there is a wide range of storytelling, and some are stronger than others. But be they funny, sad, political, poignant or hopeful, these are all very real stories, and deserve to be read.
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Sep 16, 2013M rated it liked it
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memoir-bio-autobioI'm glad this collection exists, and there are some really good pieces in it. Some are far more powerful and assured than others, which kind of shows up some of the slighter pieces but does make for some gerat reading.
The best section is probably "The Folks", excluding the inexplicable last piece in that section, which was written by the white adoptive mother of a Filipino child and spends most of its words on pre-emptive defensiveness and protestations. I can't think of any reason for that kind of perspective to be represented here, and the piece is hardly a great piece of writing either.
For Australians there's a few minutes' meta-entertainment in figuring out which authors you've heard of elsewhere, too.
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Jun 27, 2013Jess C rated it really liked it
Again, English makes me hate everything about the texts we study, but I genuinely enjoyed this one. Although the stories do get repetitive, the writing does not. It can be so funny at one points, and the next minute it will break your heart. It's not just relevant to Asian people as you'd expect. It's relevant to anyone who's felt like they don't belong in society.
Probably the most enjoyable English text I've had this year (Macbeth is
my favourite text we've studied in school :D)
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Nov 12, 2008Oanh rated it really liked it
Shelves:
read-2008I have a piece of my writing in this collection, so I am not objective.
As with all collections, there are good and less-good, but overall, the collection is great and it's mere existence is A Very Good Thing.
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Dec 20, 2013Merideth Lee rated it liked it
Some of these stories were very amusing, some sad and many were insightful. However this collection couls have done with some severe editing. Sometimes a point is better made with less information.
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Jan 22, 2015Ash ♡ rated it did not like it
worst book ever... read it for school and it has been completely ruined because of that
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Mar 27, 2015Helen rated it liked it
Shelves:
non-fiction,
australian-non-fiction,
memoirs-biographies-autobiographies,
asian-australian-non-fiction,
essaysSome terrific anecdotes. The themes of growing up Asian are universal. Everyone just wants their parents to be proud of them.
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Jul 08, 2018Fiona rated it it was amazing
So many of these stories were relatable on a level I don't usually experience.
Shout out to the very first piece, 'The Relative Advantages of Learning My Language' which was in an English past paper I did some time in high school. I remember being extremely moved and upset by it the first time I read it, and then experiencing that all over again when I was using that past paper to tutor some kids. I was hit by the same feelings reading it this time.
Only recently have I begun to realise how fortunate I've been to grow up in not just Asian majority, but Chinese majority classes and schools since I was 9. Sure I've experienced casual racism but I've never had to be the only minority in a space.
Reading all these explorations of what it's like to have a home culture so different from that of the country you live in reminded me of high school creative writing assignments where rumour had it that capitalising on this fact would help us get better marks cos the white teachers would eat it up. It always seemed like selling out your heritage to me but I know at least one girl who tried it. After reading this book though I can definitely appreciate the importance of sharing these experiences and I'd love to read more like this in the future.
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Apr 10, 2020Gina rated it liked it
4 highlightsIt is always affirming and validating to read experiences that mirror your own, particularly the pieces by Viet Aussies that are also from Melbourne's inner west. I enjoyed some more than others, but overall I liked the collection. It is so important to elevate the voices of those who aren't usually heard and are subjected to discrimination. Similar editions have come out since this was published, with voices talking about their experiences growing up as a minority in Australia:
Growing up Queer in AustraliaGrowing up Aboriginal in AustraliaGrowing up African in AustraliaGrowing up Muslim in Australia (less)flagLike ·
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Nov 21, 2019Natasha (jouljet) rated it really liked it
Shelves:
lgbti,
memoir,
pocAn anthology of Asian-Australian voices recounting what's it's like growing up, coming of age, or figuring out who you are, whilst interacting with a racist White Australia (most of the time).
Stories of displacement and considered migration, of fitting in and standing out, of being too Aussie and not Aussie enough, of being connected to Asian roots or not at all. So many different experiences within this collection of the diaspora, and yet so many similar themes of turmoil also.
These anthologies are a real insight into the stories of multicultural Australia, and many contributors of this early book have gone on to many other writings within diverse and mainstream areas.
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Sep 29, 2018Courtney rated it it was amazing
It's hard to express how much I enjoyed this book. By my own admission I don't normally do so well with short stories but the way in which these stories are collated and arranged makes for easy and cohesive reading. The breadth of variety in writing styles only adds to the sustained interest and the approach to the themes and subjects is fascinating and riveting.
There's laughter and sadness so wonderfully expressed between the connecting threads of theme. Really fantastic reading.
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see reviewMar 10, 2020Hayden Wong rated it it was amazing
I absolutely loved this book with all the collections of short stories. As an ABC (Australia born Chinese) I found that there weren’t always a lot of texts based around the experiences of being Asian in Australia, and having a book with such diverse narratives is great. The stories in each category were intriguing, beautiful, harsh and well curated. Really recommend, hopefully a second addition comes out!
