Ep. 128: An Interview w/ The Writing Hippo aka Author Jesse Q. Sutanto

This is our third podcast in our authors of color series. Today, we are continuing to answer our essential question.

EQ: How has the commitment to authenticity and intersectionality by  authors of color changed the writing landscape?

Jesse Q Sutanto is the author of Dial A for Aunties, The Obsession, and Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. She has a master’s degree in creative writing from Oxford University. The film rights to her women’s fiction, Dial A for Aunties came out last year and was purchased by Netflix. Jesse lives in Indonesia with her husband, her two daughters, and her ridiculously large extended family, many of whom live just down the road.

Sutanto shares how her experiences growing up in urban places like Jakarta and Singapore shape your own experiences/your writing including several pivotal moments that shaped her identity as a writer. We dig into her passion to disrupt stereotypes about female protagonists and Asian representation in literature. We also discuss how her work spans a range of target audience and why she’s exploring different genres. 

For more Sutanto Conversations check out:

• Murder & Mayhem Interview 

• The Nerd Daily

• Read More Co

• Comedy Sketch Interview 

Check out her other writing:

• The Obsession (2021)/The New Girl

• 4 Aunties & a Wedding (March 2022)

• Theo Tan & the Fox Spirit (May 2022)

• Well That Was Unexpected (Sept 22)