You've Changed : Fake Accents, Feminism, and Other Comedies From Myanmar

In this electric debut essay collection, a Myanmar millennial playfully challenges us to examine the knots & complications of immigration status, eating habits, Western feminism in an Asian home, & more, guiding us toward an expansive idea of what it means to be a Myanmar woman todayWhat does it mean to be a Myanmar person—a baker, swimmer, writer & woman—on your own terms rather than those of the colonizer? These irreverent yet vulnerable essays ask that question by tracing the journey of a woman who spent her young adulthood in the US & UK before returning to her hometown of Yangon, where she still lives. In You’ve Changed, Pyae takes on romantic relationships whose futures are determined by different passports, switching accents in American taxis, the patriarchal Myanmar concept of hpone which governs how laundry is done, swimming as refuge from mental illness, pleasure & shame around eating rice, & baking in a kitchen far from white America’s imagination. Throughout, she wrestles with the question of who she is—a Myanmar woman in the West, a Western-educated person in Yangon, a writer who refuses to be labeled a “race writer.” With intimate & funny prose, Pyae shows how the truth of identity may be found not in stability, but in its gloriously unsettled nature.°°°"Sharp as a spade . . . You’ve Changed ultimately strikes gold with its unique blend of humor & vulnerability . . . War’s memoir shook me to my core . . . No reader would be able to flatten this memoir down to just one dimension of Pyae Moe Thet War’s identity—the richness of intersectionality is built into the DNA of the piece. Representation matters, & You’ve Changed is a testament to that." —Rachel Donalson, Porter House Review°°°Pyae Moe Thet War is a writer & digital media editor currently living in Yangon. She holds a BA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, & MA's from Univ. College London & the Univ. of East Anglia. In this electric debut essay collection, a Myanmar millennial playfully challenges us to examine the knots and complications of immigration status, eating habits, Western feminism in an Asian home, and more, guiding us toward an expansive idea of what it means to be a Myanmar woman today What does it mean to be a Myanmar person—a baker, swimmer, writer and woman—on your own terms rather than those of the colonizer? These irreverent yet vulnerable essays ask that question by tracing the journey of a woman who spent her young adulthood in the US and UK before returning to her hometown of Yangon, where she still lives. In You’ve Changed, Pyae takes on romantic relationships whose futures are determined by different passports, switching accents in American taxis, the patriarchal Myanmar concept of hpone which governs how laundry is done, swimming as refuge from mental illness, pleasure and shame around eating rice, and baking in a kitchen far from white America’s imagination. Throughout, she wrestles with the question of who she is—a Myanmar woman in the West, a Western-educated person in Yangon, a writer who refuses to be labeled a “race writer.” With intimate and funny prose, Pyae shows how the truth of identity may be found not in stability, but in its gloriously unsettled nature. How to be a Myanmar persona baker, swimmer, writer and womanon your own terms rather than those of the colonizer? Youve Changed traces the journey of a woman who spent her young adulthood in the US and UK before returning to her hometown of Yangon, where she still lives. In these irreverent yet vulnerable essays Pyae takes on romantic relationships whose futures are determined by different passports; switching accents in American taxis; the patriarchal Myanmar concept of hpone, which governs how laundry is done; swimming as refuge from mental illness; pleasure and shame around eating rice; and baking in a kitchen far from white Americas imagination. Throughout, she wrestles with the question of who she isa Myanmar woman in the West, a Western-educated person in Yangon, a writer who refuses to be labeled a race writer. With intimate and funny prose, Pyae shows how the truth of identity may be found not in stability but in its gloriously unsettled nature. Wrestling with the question of who she is throughout, a Myanmar millennial, in these irreverent yet vulnerable essays, takes on romantic relationships whose futures are determined by different passports, switching accents in taxis, and other challenges of what it means to be a Myanmar woman today