What is
Mother Tongue Journal?
Part of Mother Tongue Media, Mother Tongue Journal is a space for diasporic writers, poets, and artists to share their voices.
What is the meaning of “DIASPORIC” ?
The dictionary explanation of the word “diaspora” refers more largely to geography—relocating from an origin to a new place. Having an origin implies a sense of “disbelonging,” that one will never quite feel at home.
When moving, do we simply carry all of ourselves with us? Cities shape us, a new language or dialect gives us a new sound, and even the food we eat and the fashion we pick up change our appearance. What appears the hardest to lose, though, is our mother tongues. There’s always something that another language doesn’t quite catch.
As writers and artists, however, we don’t need to lose ourselves in translation—rather, we can build a new language that meshes all the lives we’ve lived. We can mesh codes, switch vernacular, and adopt a little bit of new personality wherever we go. It’s more flexibility than loss.
Why submit to Mother Tongue Journal?
The time I stopped writing was precisely the second year of my MFA. I felt my content was inadequate—more questions were asked about context than meaning. The more workshops I attended, the more craft I learned, the more I felt like I was performing. I thought that maybe catering to what “the public wants” would give my writing the edge it needed: write for the American audience, tell them about my “real” name, the politics of my country… They liked it sometimes, but I couldn’t write any further, because those were not the stories I wanted to tell.
This is where Mother Tongue Journal comes in.
If you see yourself as a writer, poet, or artist who carries the diasporic voice and believes in humanity being the first language we all speak, we want to read your work!
Nov 10, 2024
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Ariel Xinyu Peng (they/she)
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Ariel Xinyu Peng is a writer and teacher of translanguaging from Shanghai. They hold a BA in English literature from NYU and an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University. Ariel’s work sheds light on the urban life, neurodiversity, and queerness. They always have a meme.
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Ang Xu (she/her)
POETRY & FICTION EDITOR
Ang Xu is a writer from Beijing. She holds a fiction MFA from Columbia University, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Journal. Her work appears/is forthcoming in Chicago Review and Action, Spectacle. She just received the Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellowship from the Center for Fiction.
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Lily Huang-Voronina (she/her)
MANAGING EDITOR / COMPANY MASCOT
Lily Huang-Voronina is an award-winning film and integrated content producer. NYU Tisch trained, ex-HBO and ex-Ogilvy, She founded Mother Tongue Media in 2023 in light of uplifting the long-silenced voice of Asian Diaspora in media and entertainment.
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Hua Hannah Zhong (they/she)
SCREENWRITING EDITOR / SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Hua Hannah Zhong is a film director, actor, writer, and model. After finishing their BFA in Film from Emerson College, they are currently pursuing an MFA in directing at Columbia University. Hua’s work focuses on femininity and gender inclusivity, channeling their reflections on society and self-identity.