Hao: Stories

"The most common word in Chinese, perhaps, a ubiquitous syllable people utter & hear all the time, which is supposed to mean good. But what is hao in this world, where good books are burned, good people condemned, meanness considered a good trait, violence good conduct? People say hao when their eyes are marred with suspicion & dread. They say hao when they are tattered inside." 

By turns reflective & visceral, the stories in Hao examine the ways in which women can be silenced as they grapple with sexism & racism, & how they find their own language to define their experience.

In “Gold Mountain,” a young mother hides above a ransacked store during the San...