About
I'm Katie, a writer and photographer based in Brooklyn. My work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Believer, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and elsewhere. I’m the author of Not Your China Doll, a new biography of Anna May Wong published by Dutton in the U.S. and Faber in the UK. I also write the Substack newsletter Half-Caste Woman, which explores topics related to Anna May Wong, race and representation in Hollywood, and other interesting nuggets of forgotten history. Subscribe here to receive future issues.
Most recently, I was a 2021 finalist for the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship program. As a Spring 2017 TED Resident, I gave a TED Talk titled "As American as Chop Suey" about my photojournalism project on Chinese restaurant workers in New York. The photos and stories of these workers are collected in the exhibition Thank You Enjoy, which began touring the US in 2018.
In 2016, I contributed to the documentary project She Is Syria, which chronicles the stories of women and girl refugees. Previously, I edited award-winning books for Amazon Publishing and HarperCollins. I relaunched Book of the Month as a box subscription service for books in 2015. I also co-founded and served as editor in chief of William & Park, a digital magazine for creatives.
A California transplant, I suffer from chronic wanderlust and an inexplicable need to collect cute things that don't fit in my apartment. I’m Chinese, Irish, and English, and a 5th-generation Chinese American. In another life I wrote about Chinatown, a place I used to live.
Drop me a line at kayteesal [at] gmail [dot] com.
short bio
Katie Gee Salisbury is the author of Not Your China Doll, a new biography of Anna May Wong, the first Asian American movie star. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Believer, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship in 2021 and gave the TED Talk “As American as Chop Suey.” She also writes the newsletter Half-Caste Woman. A fifth-generation Chinese American who hails from Southern California, she now lives in Brooklyn.
selected Press
They Call Us Charlie Chan and Anna May Wong // They Call Us Bruce podcast // June 2024
Actress Anna May Wong's life, trailblazing career celebrated at Chinese American Museum in DTLA // ABC 7 Los Angeles // May 2024
Movie icon Anna May Wong // BBC Front Row // April 2024
Anna May Wong and the mystery of Hollywood’s first Chinese-American star: ‘They wanted to tear her apart!’ // The Independent // April 2024
Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star has long been misunderstood. A new book seeks to change that // CNN // March 2024
'Sweet victory' for Asian representation possible at Oscars with 'Everything Everywhere All at Once' // MSNBC // March 2023
BK Stories: Photography Project Centers Chinese Immigrants in the Food Industry // BRIC TV // February 2018
A Portrait of the Lives of Workers in New York City's 2,483 Chinese Restaurants // Hyperallergic // February 2018
TED Talk: As American as Chop Suey // TED // June 2017
"Growing Up in the 626" // The Other Stories Podcast with Ilana Masad // October 2017
TED Res Diary / Day 44 // The Huffington Post // May 2017
Meet the Spring 2017 Class of TED Residents // TED Blog // March 2017
She Is Syria // BRIC TV // October 2016