Tessa Hulls Reflects on Her Pulitzer Prize-Winning Memoir 'Feeding Ghosts'

Hulls opens her memoir with the concept of "Hungry Ghosts" from Chinese culture, which represents spirits of those who did not fulfill their earthly potential. "To find peace, I would have to face my ghosts," she states, highlighting her decade-long commitment to understanding her family’s history. This quest was spurred by her grandmother Sun Yi's dramatic escape from communist China and her mother's complex relationship with her.

Sun Yi fled Shanghai for Hong Kong in 1957 and later immigrated to the U.S. in 1970, with her daughter Rose bringing her to California in 1977. When Hulls was born in 1984, Sun Yi had already suffered a mental breakdown, profoundly altering the family dynamic. Hulls described her mother as both a protective force and a source of fear: "I grew up with dual mothers. Loved by a force that was simultaneously shelter from the storm and the maelstrom to be feared."

Hulls traveled extensively to document her family’s past, enlisting Rose as a collaborator in this journey. Their time together created a new understanding between mother and daughter, evident as Hulls and her mother spent time in Alaska at the time of the interview.

Hulls stated, "I provide myself as a cautionary tale and say: don’t do what I did!" Nonetheless, her memoir has proven to be a successful debut in the graphic novel genre, sparking conversations around intergenerational trauma.

Addressing the artistic influences that shaped Feeding Ghosts, Hulls acknowledged a connection to Spiegelman's Maus. She noted that while she had read Maus in her youth, she consciously avoided revisiting it during her writing process to prevent feelings of imitation. Both works serve to examine the shared histories of trauma experienced by subsequent generations.

Hulls characterized her creative process for Feeding Ghosts as chaotic and organic. Rather than following a conventional method, she wrote the memoir initially as a lengthy essay, then combined words and visuals dynamically. The project involved roughly 4,000 drawings, requiring immense dedication and emotional investment. She remarked on the struggle to balance the mediums of writing and art throughout the creation.

Examining feminist themes within her work, Hulls expressed her identification with feminism but emphasized her preference for nuance in discussions rather than labels. Her transformative bike rides across the U.S. have deepened her resolve to challenge societal constraints placed on women.

The memoir's release coincided with a rise in anti-immigrant sentiments in the U.S., deeply impacting Hulls’ political perspective shaped by her family's immigrant experiences. While she shares her views candidly, she prefers to foster understanding rather than engage in social media debates.

Despite her book's accolades, Hulls remains certain that she will not write another book, viewing the process of creating Feeding Ghosts as a singular commitment born out of love and duty. Looking ahead, she plans to fuse her artistic and environmental interests by working as a comics journalist focused on ecological resilience.

Reflecting on her emotional journey post-publication, Hulls believes she has reached a state of "Dynamic Equilibrium" rather than a simplistic resolution. This dynamic balance reflects her ongoing navigation of personal and familial truths.