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I wanted to understand how my path was tied to my mother tongue. As a young, multiracial, American woman, I traveled through China, the country of my mother’s birth. Along the way, I tried on different roles—seeker, teacher, student, girlfriend, artist, and daughter— continually asking myself: Why am I called to make this journey?

Whether witnessing a Tibetan sky burial, teaching English in Chengdu, visiting my grandmother in LA, or falling in love with a Chinese painter, at heart I sought intimacy with others, even as I was all too aware of my silences and separation.

 

For two years, I settled into a comfortable routine in my boyfriend’s apartment and regained fluency in Chinese, a language I spoke as a young child but used less and less as an adult. Eventually, however, my desire to know myself in other ways surfaced again. Ultimately, I realized that to live my truth as a mixed-race, bilingual woman I must embrace all of my influences and layers. In a world that often wants us to choose a side or fit an ideal, I learned that I can both belong and not belong wherever I am, and that home is found within.

“Heart Radical is a richly absorbing, deeply moving book about one woman’s search for identity, enlightenment, and connection. It’s also a tender travel memoir that takes the reader on an unforgettable and intimate journey with the author as she grapples with being a twentysomething American in China—the country from which her mother immigrated. I loved this book. It’s vulnerable, searching, insightful, riveting and beautifully written.”

—CHERYL STRAYED, author of Wild

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Copies available at Elliott Bay, Third Place Books, Village Books, Browsers, Amazon, and more.

 
 

Through personal and historical recollection and the language of wounding, Heart Radical speaks to land and culture, selfhood and belonging. To live within and without language, to ignore or embrace silence. This memoir is a refuge, a legacy, a heart breathing in one continuous motion.

— E.J. Koh, author of the magical language of others

“Heart Radical gets at the multiple meanings of the heart in word, in practice, in physical and emotional use and evolution. Vivid with sensory experiences, this book offers us the chance to travel not just with Kellor but also within our own interior landscapes to arrive at new and deeper ways of connecting to our hearts' most fervent and secret wishes.”

—Khadijah Queen, author of anodyne

“To be radical,” Anne Liu Kellor tells us, “is to be rooted in your essential nature.” In this soulful memoir, Kellor looks to the many ways language is a means of communication, yes, but can also be a barrier to a full understanding of ourselves and of each other. In following Kellor’s journey to China and back again, we find ourselves searching for what is most radical—most essential—in our own hearts.”

—BRENDA MILLER, author of A braided heart: Shaping the lyric essay

“A lovely, evocative book about travel and culture and love. And language and teaching and dancing. And intimacy. If you have never been to China and Tibet - or if you have been many times - you'll enjoy this fresh and honest perspective.”

—Sharman Apt Russell, author of Within Our Grasp: Childhood Malnutrition Worldwide and the Revolution Taking Place to End It

NEW: Learning to Speak: Songs from the Heart Radical; a spoken word and musical collaboration with Dave Belben. Listen free on Soundcloud, Spotify, Apple Music, and more!



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