The Role of English as a Literary Language and the Universal Theme of Grief in Literature

Yiyun Li, writer and author most recently of a collection of short stories Wednesday’s Child: Stories, talks about the beauty of storytelling and how she uses stories to explore the relationship between parents and their children — including mothers, like her, who suffer the loss of a child: “That's one thing that literature does well, is to examine losses in life,” she says. In the 20 years since Li arrived in the US from China, Li has become  a prolific writer, publishing five novels, three short story collections, and a memoir. She’s also currently director of Princeton University’s creative writing program. While achieving professional success, Li has navigated private tragedy and loss. She shares how the garden and gardening have become both sanctuary and metaphor for life. “It’s a place,” Li says, where “nothing works perfectly.”