Half-Caste Woman is a monthly newsletter written by me, Katie Gee Salisbury.
I’m the author of Not Your China Doll, a biography of Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star, which was published by Dutton in 2024. This newsletter was launched in 2021 as a place for me to share revelations from the writing process and to ruminate on the interesting bits of research on Wong that didn’t make it into the final manuscript.
Since the book has been out in the world, I’ve had the opportunity to travel across the country meeting readers, hosting film screenings, curating exhibitions, and speaking at magical venues like Paramount Pictures, The Met, and the British Film Institute. Anna May Wong will always be this newsletter’s first love, and I will continue to provide updates on anything new and compelling I learn about her, but it’s time for me to move on creatively.
As someone who identifies as mixed—I’m Chinese and Irish—race and representation in film/tv, politics, and society at large is something I have been attuned to for most of my life. Which is why my next book-length project, that I’m currently working on, is a cultural history of mixed race identity in the United States.
If you enjoy reading deep dives into the tangled up annals of American history and pop culture, and how these stories continue to echo into the present, I think you’ll find a lot to explore here. I hope you’ll come along for the next chapter in Half-Caste Woman’s evolution.
