Charles Yu is the author of four books. His latest, Interior Chinatown, won the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction.
Yu was named one of the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" in 2007 for his short story collection Third Class Superhero. His short story "Fable" appeared in the May 30, 2016 edition of The New Yorker. His 2010 novel, How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe, earned a runner-up position for the Campbell Memorial Award for excellence in science fiction. His work on the HBO series Westworld garnered two nominations for Writers Guild of America awards in 2016.
In addition to his novels, short story collections, and screenplays, Yu has written for several publications about storytelling in video games, the culture surrounding Buffalo Wild Wings, and the visibility (or lack thereof) of Asian-American men in American media.
Yu has a Bachelor of Arts from UC Berkley, where he majored in molecular/cellular biology and minored in creative writing. He has a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. In conjunction with Taiwaneseamerican.org, Yu has established and continues to sponsor the Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes for Students. This cash award is "intended to encourage and recognize creative literary work by Taiwanese American high school and college students, and to foster discussion and community around such work."
Interior Chinatown (2020) is the second novel by American writer Charles Yu. It is the story of Willis Wu, a young Asian actor stuck playing two-dimensional caricatures like "Oriental Guy Making a Weird Face" and "Silent Henchman." Wu aspires to...
