John Chen is a Taiwanese American memoirist, essayist, and novelist raised between Kaohsiung and the Rocky Mountain West. He earned an MFA from the University of Wyoming and a BA in sociology from UC Irvine, and has worked as a translator, public-school paraeducator, and investigator for a legal aid clinic. His essays, often exploring migration, labor, and the classroom, have appeared in regional and national magazines and have been honored with fellowships from state arts councils and community foundations.
John also writes young adult fiction that blends the intimacy of memoir with propulsive storytelling. His work centers first-generation families, music, and the overlooked edges of the American West and Pacific Northwest, including the novels Silent Hearts and Violin and Scalpel. He has taught community writing workshops in Sheridan and Los Angeles, and lives in Seattle with his partner and a very patient dog.
