Interviewed by Ross Rojek

Laurence Yep is a prolific, award-winning Chinese-American modern author. The most notable of his books is a series called the Golden Mountain Chronicles, which documents the story of the fictional Young family from 1849, in China, to 1995, in America.

He has received the Newbery Honor for two books in the series, Dragon’s Gate andDragonwings. The latter has been adapted into a play. With winning the Newbery Honor in 1976 for Dragonwings and then winning it again in 1994 for Dragon’s Gate, Yep shows longevity as a writer.

Other notable books are the Dragon series and The Chinatown Mysteries. In addition,Child of the Owl won the Boston Globe/Horn Book award in 1977 and The Rainbow People, Yep’s collection of short stories based on Chinese folktales and legends, received the same award in 1989. He was awarded the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal in 2005 for his contributions to children’s literature.

During his time at Marquette University, he met and became friends with the literary magazine editor, Joanne Ryder. She introduced him to children’s literature and later asked him to write a book for children while she was working at Harper & Row. The result was his first science fiction novel, Sweetwater. According to Yep, his relationship with Joanne began as friends and progressed into love (Yep, 1991).
Yep and Ryder are married and live in Pacific Grove, California.

Click HERE to read our review of City of Fire.