American cultures’ ideas of parental responsibility
and honor. Ikebana (“living flowers” in Japanese)
(2000) examines the elegantly beautiful, yet strictly
conformist, culture imposed on Japanese women
in the 1950s. Houston’s later work also engages the
difficult processes of identity formation. Waiting
for Tadashi (2002), in part inspired by her brother’s
life, follows an Asian-American orphan through
the years after World War II as he struggles with
his discoveries and disillusionments about his self-
identity. Calling for Aphrodite (2003) draws from
Greek literature and modern history as it explores
Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor Keiko Kimura’s
search for grace and beauty in a fragmented and
war-tattered world.
Moving beyond the stage boards, Velina Hasu
Houston’s work with broadcast media also reveals
her commitment to furthering an appreciation for
multiculturalism and diversity. Houston’s life and
works were featured in the radio documentary
“Don’t Take The Colors Apart” (1994), part of the
Legacies: Tales From America series. The documen-
tary follows her on a journey back to Kansas with
her mother. In Do 2 Halves Really Make a Whole,
a 1993 video documentary produced by Martha
Chono-Helsley, Houston is one of the featured
subjects discussing the potential and difficulties
growing up multiracial in the United States. In ad-
dition, she wrote for the PBS television children’s
series “The Puzzle Factory,” later renamed “The
Puzzle Place,” which featured multiethnic puppets
who teach each other about multiculturalism, de-
cision making, and conflict resolution. Houston
has also authored children’s books including Kiyo-
shi and the Magic Futon, which is named for her
son, and Neapolitan Ice Cream, which is based on
her father’s explanation of her own multicultural
heritage.
Houston continues to contribute to Ameri-
can literature as an acclaimed playwright, writer,
and scholar. In addition to plays, Houston has
published a volume of poetry entitled Green Tea
Girl in Orange Pekoe Country (1993) and edited
The Politics of Life: Four Plays by Asian American
Women (1993) and But Still, Like Air, I’ll Rise: New
Asian American Plays (1997). Currently a professor
of theater at the University of Southern California,
Houston is the founder and director of the uni-
versity’s MFA program in playwriting. Her works
and papers have been archived in the Velina Hasu
Houston Collection at the Huntington Library and
Museums in San Marino, California.Bibliography
Do 2 Halves Really Make a Whole? Directed by Mar-
tha Chono-Helsley. Bronze Apple, National Edu-
cation Media Network, 1993.
Don’t Take the Colors Apart. Produced by Dmae Rob-
erts. 1994. Available online. URL: http://www.prx.
org/pieces/1260.
The Puzzle Place. Lancit Media Productions and PBS-
KCET. 1994–1998.
Uno, Roberta. “Tea by Valina Hasu Houston.” A Re-
source Guide to Asian American Literature, edited
by Sau-ling Cynthia Wong and Stephen H. Sum-
ida, 193–199. New York: Modern Language Asso-
ciation of America, 2001.
Usui, Masami, and Miles Xian Liu. “Valina Hasu
Houston.” Asian American Playwrights: A Bio-Bib-
liographical Critical Sourcebook, edited by Miles
X. Liu, 103–111. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood,
2002.
Velina Hasu Houston. “Biography.” Available online.
URL: http://www.velinahasuhouston.com. Ac-
cessed September 27, 2006.
M. Gabot FabrosHundred Secret Senses, The Amy Tan
(1995)
At the center of AMY TAN’s third novel, The Hun-
dred Secret Senses, is the relationship between the
half sisters Li Kwan and Olivia Bishop. They are
both daughters of Jack Yee, a Chinese immigrant
living in the United States. But Li Kwan was born
in China to Jack’s first, Chinese wife and does
not immigrate to the United States until she is
in her late teens, whereas Olivia Bishop was born
in California to Jack’s second, American wife. So,
in addition to the inherent strains in their famil-
ial relationship, the half sisters are culturally very
different, with Li Kwan representing a traditional
Chinese outlook and Olivia exemplifying anHundred Secret Senses, The 115