Diana Chang


Diana Chang was a Chinese American novelist and poet. She is best known for her novel The Frontiers of Love, one of the earliest novels by an Asian American woman. She is considered to be the first American-born Chinese to publish a novel in the United States.

Early life

Chang was born in New York City to a Chinese father, Kuang Chi Chang, and Eurasian mother, Eva Mary Lee Wah Chang, and spent her youngest years in China, including Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai. She attended high school in New York, and graduated cum laude from Barnard College in 1949 where she majored in English, focusing on British and American poets. While an undergraduate at Barnard, Chang had 3 of her poems published by Poetry Magazine, including "At The Window."

Career

After graduation, Chang worked as a book editor at three publishing houses: PEN-sponsored journal American Pen and as a [creative writing">PEN International">PEN-sponsored journal American Pen and as a [creative writing teacher at Barnard College.

Literary work

Chang's best known work is The Frontiers of Love. Her work has more recently been read in terms of postmodernity and hybridity. Although critical work on Chang has increased since the republication of Frontiers, critics have preferred to examine her Asian-themed works; her "white" novels are only recently getting attention.
While at Barnard College, Chang published her poem, Mood in [Poetry Foundation#History|Modern Poetry Association]'s Poetry.

Personal life

Chang lived in Water Mill, NY with her husband David Hermann.
She died on February 19, 2009.

Published works

Novels