The Ghost Archive: Master Class with Jane Wong
The archive is often associated with the physical or cinematic; its presence in writing is often taken for granted. However in her class "The Ghost Archive," Jane Wong encourages students to approach the subject with greater intention to demonstrate how the impact of memory can be strengthened through craft. Wong's oeuvre spans poetry, prose, and visual art, all of which deal with biography and family history: her ability to evoke a feeling and idea from the perspective of multiple different disciplines poises her to assist artists of all kinds in transforming their own archives into creative works.
Artist and writer Theresa Hak Kyung Cha writes: “Beginning wherever you wish, tell even us.” What happens when your archive is a ghost? Working through familial and historical archives, this generative craft intensive engages how we can grapple with the difficulty of research through memoir, poetry, and hybrid texts. How can we expand the definition of the archive to include the half-lit, the half-recorded, the speculative, even? And how can we reimagine storytelling through different mediums? Through readings and guided exercises, we will discuss, write, and share with each other.
Optional: Students may bring archival materials with them (i.e. photographs, clothing, seeds, food, documents, etc.).
Jane Wong is the author of the memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (Tin House, 2023). She also wrote two poetry collections: How to Not Be Afraid of Everything (Alice James, 2021) and Overpour (Action Books, 2016). She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize and fellowships and residencies from the U.S. Fulbright Program, Harvard's Woodberry Poetry Room, Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, Ucross, Loghaven, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and others. She grew up in a Chinese American take-out restaurant on the Jersey shore and is an Associate Professor at Western Washington University. Her poetry installations which engage haunting and nourishment have been exhibited at the Frye Art Museum, the Richmond Art Gallery, and the Asian Art Museum.
An incandescent, exquisitely written memoir about family, food, girlhood, resistance, and growing up in a Chinese American restaurant on the Jersey shore.
In the late 1980s on the Jersey shore, Jane Wong watches her mother shake ants from an MSG bin behind the family’s Chinese restaurant. She is a hungry daughter frying crab rangoon for lunch, a child sneaking naps on bags of rice, a playful sister scheming to trap her brother in the freezer before he traps her first. Jane is part of a family staking their claim to the American dream, even as this dream crumbles. Beneath Atlantic City’s promise lies her father’s gambling addiction, an addiction that causes him to disappear for days and ultimately leads to the loss of the restaurant.
In her debut memoir, Jane Wong tells a new story about Atlantic City, one that resists a single identity, a single story as she writes about making do with what you have―and what you don’t. What does it mean, she asks, to be both tender and angry? What is strength without vulnerability―and humor? Filled with beauty found in unexpected places, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City is a resounding love song of the Asian American working class, a portrait of how we become who we are, and a story of lyric wisdom to hold and to share.
《幽灵档案》：Jane Wong 写作与跨界叙事大师课
档案，不只是你拥有的东西。 档案，也是你曾失去的东西。
一张从未拍下的照片， 一段无人记录的深夜对话， 一种在异乡逐渐遗忘的母语，父母从未对你吐露的过去。我们习惯将“档案”理解为博物馆里的文献、历史教科书或精美的影像。 但如果，最核心的那部分从未被保存下来呢？ 如果你的家庭历史充满空白？ 如果祖辈的故事散落在柴米油盐里？ 如果记忆本身就是残缺、模糊，甚至彼此矛盾的？
韩国裔艺术家与作家车学敬（Theresa Hak Kyung Cha）曾写道：
“从任何你想开始的地方开始，讲给我们听。”
如果你的档案本身就是一个“幽灵”，你该如何动笔？
在《幽灵档案》大师课中，诗人、回忆录作家 Jane Wong 将带你打破传统写作的边界。我们将一起探索：如何通过文字，让缺席发声，让破碎的记忆长出全新的生命。
这门课适合这样的你：
创作卡顿者：想写点什么，却总觉得自己的经历“不值一提”或“缺乏素材”。
故事寻找者：面对专业创作（诗歌、散文、非虚构、视觉艺术）陷入瓶颈，想寻找新的叙事视角。
身份探索者：对家庭历史、移民/留学经验、代际隔阂有强烈表达欲，却不知如何落笔。
跨界爱好者：不满足于纯文字，想尝试将物件、影像、声音与文学融合。
在这场以创作为核心的工作坊中，我们将通过诗歌、回忆录与跨文类写作，共同探索：如何面对研究与记忆中的缺失？如何将家族档案转化为创作素材？如何重新定义“档案”？那些半明半暗、半真半幻、无法证实的故事，是否也能成为历史的一部分？ 我们如何通过不同媒介重新讲述自己的故事？
欢迎携带你的“幽灵档案”入场：
这不仅仅是一堂讲座，更是一场共同创作。请在来上课时，随身携带（或在脑海中带来）一件承载记忆的物件，它不需要多么珍贵，甚至可以是：
一张模糊的老照片或一封旧信件
一件褪色的旧衣服或一枚徽章
一份家庭配方，或者一种食物的味道
一张过期的车票、证件
甚至……一句你一直想说却没说出口的话。
关于导师：Jane Wong
Jane Wong，当代瞩目的亚裔美籍诗人、回忆录作家。 她毕业于知名创意写作项目（MFA），美国知名文学奖 Pushcart Prize 得主。荣获美国富布赖特（Fulbright）计划、哈佛大学 Woodberry Poetry Room 等顶尖机构的驻留与奖学金支持。著有先锋诗集《如何不害怕一切》（How to Not Be Afraid of Everything）、《溢出》（Overpour）。其2023年出版的回忆录《今夜与我在大西洋城相见》（Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City）横扫各大文学推荐榜。目前任教于西华盛顿大学。
她的故事： Jane 在美国新泽西海岸一家华人外卖餐馆的厨房里长大。 她看着母亲从味精桶里抖落蚂蚁，在餐馆后厨炸着蟹角当午餐，在米袋上偷偷睡觉。她目睹了父母这一代“美国梦”的追逐与崩塌，在父亲赌博成瘾、家庭负债的阴影下，她用诗性的语言和极大的温柔，把那些“不体面”的、被隐瞒的、破碎的底层移民记忆，写成了让美国主流文学界动容的艺术品。
她的作品经常围绕移民经验、家庭记忆、食物与劳动、幽灵与缺席、身份与归属展开。擅长引导人们如何直面成长中的阵痛与愤怒，并将其转化为温柔而充满力量的文字。
关于《今夜与我在大西洋城相见》
“大西洋城灯火辉煌的表象之下，是那些被遗忘的劳动者。Jane Wong 用充满诗意和愤怒的笔触，为所有隐形的亚裔移民写下了一曲赞歌。” ——《纽约时报》
这是一本关于家庭、食物、成长、抵抗与亚裔移民生活的回忆录。1980年代末的新泽西海岸。小女孩 Jane 看着母亲从味精桶里抖落蚂蚁。她在餐馆厨房炸着蟹角当午餐，
在米袋上偷偷睡觉，与兄弟嬉闹，同时见证着家庭对“美国梦”的追逐与崩塌。大西洋城灯火辉煌的表象之下，隐藏着父亲的赌博成瘾，以及一家移民餐馆逐渐走向失去的过程。Jane Wong 用诗性的语言书写：当历史充满缺席时，我们如何讲述自己？当愤怒与温柔同时存在时，力量又意味着什么？