Circa

Tell us about your photography project.

Twelve years ago, my husband was racially profiled by his former employer in Georgia. The state police raided our home and held me at gunpoint and confiscated many of our belongings, including my computer. A state judge dismissed all of the baseless charges against my spouse in 2016; it is now 2022, and we have yet to receive an apology or have our things returned.

The first year after the raid, I was corralling my family and not pursuing any creative projects. When I tried to write, in 2011, I found that I could not. My good friend Robin knew I was a photographer, and she suggested I watch the film Julie & Julia. It is based on the true story of writer Julie Powell, who gave herself a challenge: to cook all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days. Robin suggested I give myself an art-a-day challenge: to photograph something new every day and post it publicly—with a caption or title. “If you make this a habit, I bet your words will come back,” she said. I agreed to try it for a week, then a month, then a year.

I began June 23, 2011, and I continue this project-practice to this day. In 2012, my poetry returned, and in 2014, my prose returned. I love my photography practice—I love taking the time to see beauty in the world, claiming those few minutes each day for myself. It is a way to jump-start my writing.

What are your favorite food spots in the Bay Area?

The Bay Area is a foodie’s paradise. I’m very lucky.

In San Francisco proper, I love all the shops housed inside the Ferry Building near Giants Stadium—there’s a lovely bakery, Mariposa, home to amazing gluten-free meals and desserts.

On the peninsula, between SF and San Jose, I love Zareen’s, an Indo-Pakistani restaurant that now has several locations. I frequent the one in Redwood City, where they’ve kindly displayed my novels on their favorite-books reading shelf, next to Holes and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. They make a wicked masala omelet with aloo tikki and chicken shami on the side. And, of course, Chef Chu’s in Mountain View is simply wonderful—I predictably order the Taiwanese-style noodles dish every time.

What does your ideal Saturday morning look like?

Ideally I take my choxie rescue dog for a long walk and head to the produce market to pick up some seasonal fruit fresh from area farms. I finish off the morning hours by diving into a newspaper with a mug of hot coffee in my hands.

The last book you read and loved? The one you’re looking forward to reading next?

I am a voracious reader, and I love so many books. I’ll categorize in an effort to whittle down my list: In nonfiction, my favorite is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Notes on Grief. In poetry, Ocean Vuong’s Time Is a Mother. In fiction, my latest favorite is The Swimmers by my once-upon-a-time classmate Julie Otsuka (whose award-winning novel The Buddha in the Attic was an inspiration for Circa).

The next two novels on my TBR list: Vanessa Hua’s Forbidden City and Vauhini Vara’s The Immortal King Rao.