The Story Behind the Story: “Lost in Translation”
A behind-the-scenes look at how this short fiction came to life.
Lost in Translation is available to read at The Looking Glass Review, first published in May 2024.
Many of my short story ideas that touch on social justice issues are driven primarily by this simple question: “Whose perspective have we not heard from as much (if at all) about this issue?”
Lost in Translation is another example of this kind of story, where there’s an underrepresented perspective that I’d want to give voice to through my short fiction.
This flash fiction piece is about a Chinese mother, Evelyn, who struggles to grieve and connect with other parents whose children were killed in a horrific school shooting incident. There have been countless editorials and social commentary about gun violence and gun control, particularly in school settings — we mostly hear from the perspectives of the teenage/young adult survivors, the American parents of the victims and the survivors, the educators and school staff, law enforcement, government officials, mental health professionals, and yes, the pro-gun access enthusiasts.
However, when I read this piece from the New York Times about a Chinese mother whose son, alongside sixteen students and school staff, was tragically murdered in Parkland, Florida 6 years ago, I was overwhelmed with empathy and sadness. Losing a loved one to senseless violence is horrifying in itself, but having to experience and process that grief in isolation due to language barriers is unfathomable to me. In times of anguish and distress, we often lean into our community for support, but Linda Zhang (from the article) was not able to do that.
It was the Linda Zhangs in America, immigrants who barely spoke English and uprooted their lives to move to the US and raise their family with the hopes of a better future, that I wanted to represent through Lost in Translation. Through Evelyn, and her sister-and-law and translator Melody, I tried to imagine myself in their shoes and convey the suffering, loneliness, and defeatism that foreign-born residents go through under such harrowing situations. They came to America, a melting pot of cultures, in pursuit of a better life, but what they got instead was unspeakable pain and alienation.
In terms of publishing, this story was picked up by The Looking Glass Review for their special edition called “Motherhood, Martyrs, Misfits.” Read those three words and there’s no question that Lost in Translation checks every single box. This fiction piece is about a Chinese mother (Motherhood) who suffers in silence (Martyrs) as she encounters difficulties connecting with peers who do not share the same language, background, and upbringing (Misfits).
Gun violence is one pressing societal issue that happens too often in America that many people have likely been desensitized by the news. But if the news and think-pieces don’t cause us to move to action anymore, it is my hope that stories will.
So, Long Story Short (SLSS) is a Medium publication where I pull back the curtain on my original works of short fiction that have been published in literary magazines and journals.
I write about the why and the how, and I aim to post my thoughts within two weeks from the story’s first publication, while the story is still fresh on my mind.
By doing so, I hope to have written artifacts beyond the stories themselves and be reminded of my motivations, inspirations, and evolving writing process, as well as the state of the external world and my inner life in that moment in time.
Thanks for following along.
For more short fiction writing, consider subscribing to my Substack newsletter of the same name, So, Long Story Short.
I write drabbles and offer a behind-the-scenes look at my original works of short fiction published in literary magazines and journals.
