Contributions and Distinctions
Kingston’s works of literature—including The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1996) and China Men (1980) — have earned her the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction and the American Book Award for Nonfiction, and later the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton in 1997 and the National Medal of Arts from President Obama in 2013. She has also been a prominent anti-war activist and has led therapeutic writing workshops for veterans.
Biographical Sketch
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) is a Chinese American writer whose work blends memoir, folklore and fiction to explore identity, family history and the immigrant experience. Raised in Stockton, CA by Chinese immigrant parents, she grew up between two cultures which deeply shaped her writing. Kingston’s work is known for its lyrical style and its focus on storytelling.