Alumni/ae Association Book Club

A robust discussion with the New York Times bestselling author, Qian Julie Wang author of Beautiful Country. Brought to you by the Office of Alumni/ae Relations and Development and the Alumni/ae Association Board of Directors Community Building Committee.

With special thanks to Katie Garrett and Geoff Spofford, Alumni/ae Board Members.

Moderators:
Professors Hemanth Gundavaram and Mielle Marquis, director of external affairs.

Biography
Qian Julie Wang is a litigator and a graduate of Yale Law School and Swarthmore College. Lauded by clients as "exceptionally talented" and "exemplary," Qian Julie has represented Fortune 500 corporations, governmental entities, and individuals in complex civil litigation for a decade. With a unique gift for storytelling that transcends the business, legal, political, and literary worlds, Qian Julie is now managing partner of a firm dedicated to advocating for the education and discrimination rights of marginalized communities.

At age seven, Qian Julie moved from China to Brooklyn, New York with her parents. For years thereafter, the three lived in the shadows and poverty of undocumented life. Her first book, Beautiful Country, was published by Doubleday on September 7, 2021. Already lauded as an “essential book for our times,” Beautiful Country is a poignant and heartrending literary memoir that intimately retraces Qian Julie’s childhood footsteps as she went overnight from being the daughter of professors to being deemed “illegal.” Qian Julie’s short pieces have appeared in major publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Qian Julie Wang currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their two rescue dogs, Salty and Peppers.

Praise for Beautiful Country

“Hardcover Non-Fiction Best Sellers,” The New York Times (September 26, 2021).
“‘Beautiful Country,’ by Qian Julie Wang: An Excerpt,” The New York Times (September 7, 2021).
“‘Beautiful Country’ author Qian Julie Wang talks to Jenna Bush Hager,” TODAY (September 8, 2021).
“New to the American Melting Pot, and Finding Its Taste Bittersweet,” The New York Times (September 7, 2021).