Karen Ma is a Beijing-based Chinese-American writer who holds an MA from the University of Washington in Chinese Language and Literature. She is the author of Excess Baggage (China Books, 2013), a semi-autobiographical novel based loosely on her family's experience in the 1990s as Chinese immigrants living in Japan. She writes frequently about Chinese culture and literature for international publications, including The International Herald Tribune, The Japan Times, Kyoto Journal, NPR and South China Morning Post. She is also a film critic for VCinema and teaches a course on Chinese culture and film at The Beijing Center for Chinese Studies. Visit her website for more information. [Interviews]