Christopher John Stephens

Features June 17, 2022 0

Thank You, Mr. Nixon: stories Gish Jen’s fiction looks at the complicated 50 year legacy of China/U.S. normalized relations

Going back to 1949, according to history.state.gov, the U.S.Ambassador had met with Communist Ambassadors to discuss U.S. recognition of the newly declared (as of October 1, 1949) PRC (People’s Republic of China.) Had Mao not declared his intention to side with the Soviet Union, recognition could have come much earlier than 1972. The United States stayed out of the Chinese Civil War, even though “the Truman Administration was prepared to abandon the Nationalists and allow the Communists to take over […]

Features May 24, 2022 0

A Song Everlasting: Ha Jin and the Absolute Cost of Creative Freedom

The status of a creative writer in their own culture is always tenuous, always in flux. Are they best as servants to the status quo, or are they only understood within the context of what they manage to overturn? Think of American authors like James Patterson or Tom Clancy, whose bestsellers over the course of their many decades follow standard formulas of handsome rugged heroes and clearly defined bad guys. Their creativity exists in their ability to define and perfect […]

Features May 6, 2022 0

Crying in H Mart

There are few more universal signs of cultural prosperity than a well-stocked supermarket. At their best, they represent the widest array of what we can offer ourselves, our friends, and our neighbors. At their worst, they’re the embodiment of consumer excess, especially in the United States, as they are easily accessible primarily to people with their own transportation and money to spare. Walking down a football field length of at least a dozen aisles, tempted by everything: natural foods, fresh […]

Features April 27, 2022 0

Understanding the Zeitgeist: Pachinko, Representation, and the Cultural Road Ahead

Writer Min Jin Lee is having a moment. Culturally speaking, that conclusion is the ultimate two-edged sword for any artist. Is she being embraced purely for her work, or is there something more crass beneath the discussion? Her 2017 novel Pachinko, embraced at the time for carefully balancing the lives of four Korean generations as they struggle and eventually prosper in Japan, is the basis of the currently streaming (since March 25th) Apple TV + series created by Soo Hugh and […]

Features April 12, 2022 0

Haruki Murakami’s “Drive My Car”- a road trip through the stages of grief

The film version of Murakami’s 2020 short story “Drive My Car” is a three hour meditation on grief, forgiveness, and redemption. A stage actor and director named Yusuke Kafuku travels from Tokyo to Horshima to mount a performance of the Anton Chekhov play Uncle Vanya. As written by Murakami and interpreted for film by director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Kafuku comes off as stubborn, stoic, hiding his true self. Kafuku is a prototypical Murakami make. He curates a classical music collection on […]

Boston March 28, 2022 0

The Warmth of Community Strength: How Organizations Are Helping Solve Boston’s Home Heating Oil Crisis

The worst kept secret for most homeowners, renters, or landlords today is that energy prices were on their way up well before Russia invaded Ukraine. It’s raised prices on everything from Uber rides to children’s toys. The current (as of March 21, 2022) price of oil at above $110 a barrel is down slightly from this month’s high of $130. Gas to run your automobile is precariously priced from a low of $4 a gallon to a high of $6 […]

Jobs February 28, 2022 0

Five Steps to Getting the Job You Want

The most recent Federal job market report showed a strong economy rebuilding itself in spite of Covid waves. Employers added nearly half a million jobs in January 2022. Even more surprising to many, the restaurant and hotel industry has started adding jobs. President Biden noted, with the usual flair seen from Chief Executives, “America’s job machine is going stronger than ever.” What does this mean? We can certainly be comforted by numbers by the definitive objectivity of numbers, but there’s […]

Education February 15, 2022 0

The First Step is the Hardest: How ESOL Classes can Save Lives

Adult education can be a difficult trail for any of us to start. Whether we’re 18 or 80, the path is not always clearly visible. There are brambles in the way, overgrown bushes, fallen trees, and strange creatures jumping out at various moments to keep us on our toes. No matter how equipped we might feel we are, there’s never any guarantee we’ll be in the same shape at the end of the trip as we were when we started […]

Education August 21, 2020 0

End of semester essay: Writing your life story one page at a time

One of the more difficult assignments in my English classes comes near the end of each semester. Sometimes I call it a “transformative” essay, other times “reflective,” and other times a standard “autobiography.” In three pages, students write the simple story of their lives. Who were they yesterday? Who are they now? Who do they plan to be tomorrow? In my ESOL classes, the assignment takes a different variation. What was their relationship with written and spoken English as a […]

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