Useful Phrases for Immigrants: Stories

This collection has already garnered several distinctions. It was selected for the Bakwin Award by judge Tayari Jones (An American Marriage, Silver Sparrow), who called it essential reading, and in January 2018, R. O. Kwon listed it among 46 Books by Women of Color to Read in 2018, published in Electric Literature. An early blurb by Edward P. Jones joins Tayari Jones in praise, calling this book a splendid gem of a story collection … Chai’s work is a grand event. In July 2018, Lydia Kiesling listed it on The Millions’ Most Anticipated: Great Second-Half 2018 Book Preview. Other accolades are bound to follow, given Chai’s stature in the literary community and the timely themes of these stories.

Chai, currently based in San Francisco, CA, also has ties to her MFA program colleagues at University of North Carolina at Wilmington, and will have appearances on both coasts, as well as at literary festivals. Given the early notice, the collection should have several prominent reviews that will launch it into award season, where Chai has fared well in the past.

Habitual readers of short stories will find, as Tayari Jones notes, that Chai interrogates heavy subjects with a light touch, and others will be drawn by Chai’s believable but surprising characters and her ability to deftly deploy their journeys.