{"id":7004157,"date":"2026-08-03T02:47:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/author-carolyn-huynh-takes-on-playwriting-bookish-brews\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T02:47:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T02:47:12","slug":"author-carolyn-huynh-takes-on-playwriting-bookish-brews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157","title":{"rendered":"Author Carolyn Huynh Takes on Playwriting \u2013 Bookish Brews"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A few weeks ago I had the immense privilege to catch the first reading of author Carolyn Huynh\u2019s first play at Los Angeles Theatre Center. I\u2019ve loved Huynh\u2019s writing since I read her first novel, The Fortunes of Jaded Women. Huynh has this beautiful way she\u2019s able to combine the energy of a family epic with reality TV level drama and comedy into a touching story about women. And as expected, her foray into playwriting was just as delightful as her books.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In It\u2019s Harder Than It Looks, at Josie\u2019s mother\u2019s funeral, three eccentric women crash the service, claiming to be her mother\u2019s badminton group. Determined to understand her mother\u2019s secret life and her mysterious death, Josie joins the badminton group. Meanwhile, the ghost of Josie\u2019s mother appears with a plan to get Josie to live a little.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Artists at Play Neighborhood Project<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carolyn Huynh\u2019s play, directed by Jennifer Chang, was commissioned through Artists at Play\u2019s Neighborhood Project. With a focus on creating new work that explores different Asian diasporic enclaves in Los Angeles, the inaugural Artists at Play Playwrights Group has been commissioned to write plays that will highlight the vibrant stories and histories of our local \u201cLittle Asia\u201d neighborhoods and the communities who live and thrive there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These playwrights will spend 2025 writing their plays in residence with AAP, meeting monthly in a peer-guided writers\u2019 group led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nicholaspilapil.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nicholas Pilapil<\/a> (playwright of AAP\u2019s world premiere <em><a href=\"https:\/\/artistsatplay.org\/god-will-do-the-rest\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">God Will Do The Rest<\/a><\/em>), and will be paired with community-based partners for cultural and community dramaturgy. All of this will culminate in staged readings of their new plays in 2026.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">From Novels to the Stage<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Huynh\u2019s storytelling jumps from novel writing to playwriting seamlessly. This play has the exact same brand of touching intergenerational family stories that make you cry and laugh your heart out at the same time. She is deeply skilled at writing a cast of women who are all uniquely different, but together take up a chaotic life of their own, really highlighting the love and care that flourishes in groups of women. Seeing the writing translate from novel to the stage, I\u2019ve realized my favorite aspect of Huynh\u2019s writing is the tug of emotional weight amid chaos. No one does it quite like her.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s Harder Than It Looks carries another special element that parallels Huynh\u2019s novel writing: focusing on Asian enclaves and diaspora bubbles. Much in the same way that the ensembles of women take on a life of their own together, the Asian enclaves in Huynh\u2019s stories are always given room to breathe as their own. In all of her stories, there is a deep love and respect for these sacred spaces that are only able to manifest out of a critical understanding that these enclaves are hard built by every single person who inhabits them. It\u2019s absolutely no surprise that Artists at Play wanted Carolyn Huynh on this project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having the chance to see the first reading of It\u2019s Harder Than It Looks after having loved Huynh\u2019s novels for so long was such a cool experience. It feels like I got a chance to glimpse an important moment in the transformation of Huynh\u2019s craft turning from novelist to storyteller. I know, I know, novelists tell stories. But there\u2019s a difference between writing a novel and using writing as just a vessel to communicate a story and to understand the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stories have shaped civilizations long before writing even existed. Humans passed down knowledge through oral tradition and through stories. It\u2019s how we learned about and shaped the world around us. It\u2019s how we kept each other safe and how we built networks of connection. It is such a delight to watch writers grow into their storytelling, truly becoming artists, and seeing It\u2019s Harder Than It Looks feels like watching that shift happen in real time.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Upcoming from Carolyn Huynh<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Carolyn Huynh is also trying her hand at a new genre in her upcoming dystopian literary story, Fetal Position, releasing on December 8. I just got an advanced copy this week and I can\u2019t wait to dive in!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you live in Los Angeles, keep an eye out for future productions of It\u2019s Harder Than It Looks later this year. Artists at Play playwrights are still workshopping their plays for future staged readings in the fall.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few weeks ago I had the immense privilege to catch the first reading of author Carolyn Huynh\u2019s first play at Los Angeles Theatre Center. I\u2019ve loved Huynh\u2019s writing since I read her first novel, The Fortunes of Jaded Women. Huynh has this beautiful way she\u2019s able to combine the energy of a family epic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7004165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[3685,4254,12793,25444,86397,187981,11428],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7004157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-author","tag-bookish","tag-brews","tag-carolyn","tag-huynh","tag-playwriting","tag-takes"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Author Carolyn Huynh Takes on Playwriting \u2013 Bookish Brews - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Author Carolyn Huynh Takes on Playwriting \u2013 Bookish Brews - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A few weeks ago I had the immense privilege to catch the first reading of author Carolyn Huynh\u2019s first play at Los Angeles Theatre Center. I\u2019ve loved Huynh\u2019s writing since I read her first novel, The Fortunes of Jaded Women. Huynh has this beautiful way she\u2019s able to combine the energy of a family epic [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-03T02:47:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Los-Angeles-Theater-Center-Carolyn-Huynh-Play.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"575\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Author Carolyn Huynh Takes on Playwriting \u2013 Bookish Brews\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-03T02:47:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157\"},\"wordCount\":756,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Los-Angeles-Theater-Center-Carolyn-Huynh-Play.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Author\",\"Bookish\",\"Brews\",\"Carolyn\",\"Huynh\",\"Playwriting\",\"takes\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7004157\",\"name\":\"Author Carolyn Huynh Takes on Playwriting \u2013 Bookish Brews - 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