R.F. Kuang on Writing Her Latest Novel, "Taipei Story," Reclaiming Language, & Finding Home

The novel *Taipei Story* serves as a lens for exploring grief, the complexities of heritage language acquisition, and the disconnect between diasporic identity and ancestral culture. Author R.F. Kuang explains how the narrative, inspired by her own experiences in Taipei following her grandfather’s death, examines the shame associated with not speaking a native language and the flawed assumption that fluency is an innate, inherited trait. Language acts as both a political tool and a conceptual framework, fundamentally shaping one's perception of time and history. Furthermore, the discussion addresses the broader decline in sustained attention caused by digital saturation, arguing that modern technology incentivizes passive consumption over the deep, active engagement required for literary appreciation and personal growth.