Lan Samantha Chang Revisits ‘Hunger,’ 25 Years Later

Lan Samantha Chang was a student at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop when she wrote many of the stories in her luminous debut collection, Hunger. Published in 1998, Hunger comprises a titular novella and five stories, all filled with exiles and immigrants. Today, the themes of exile and immigration remain central to her work, as the author of three novels and the director of the Iowa Writers Workshop, which she has helmed for the past 17 years. Her new story, “Painting of Hannah,” will be published in Harper’s Magazine later this month.

I spoke to Chang about immigration, competing passions, and Hunger, which has been reissued by W.W. Norton for the 25th anniversary of its publication.

Margot Livesy: I read your collection