The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire #140: Kaila Yu
"'Fetishized' is about reclaiming my own story and inviting readers to examine the fantasies and beliefs they’ve inherited about race, gender, and power."
Since 2010, in various publications, I’ve interviewed authors—mostly memoirists—about aspects of writing and publishing. Initially I did this for my own edification, as someone who was struggling to find the courage and support to write and publish my memoir. I’m still curious about other authors’ experiences, and I know many of you are, too. So, inspired by the popularity of The Oldster Magazine Questionnaire, I’ve launched The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire.
Here’s the 140th installment, featuring , author of Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty. - Sari Botton
P.S. Check out all the interviews in The Memoir Land Author Questionnaire series.
Kaila Yu is an author based in Los Angeles. She’s also a luxury travel and culture writer with bylines in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Condé Nast Traveler, and many more.
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How old are you, and for how long have you been writing?
I’m 46 years old and I started travel writing a couple years before the pandemic.
What’s the title of your latest book, and when was it published?
Fetishized: A Reckoning with Yellow Fever, Feminism, and Beauty, was published August 19th, 2025 with Penguin Random House’s Crown Publishing.
What number book is this for you?
My first book with a major publisher!
I categorize Fetishized as a memoir-in-essays meets cultural criticism because it’s deeply personal, like a traditional memoir, but unfolds as a chronological series of essays that approach the fetishization of Asian women from a multitude of angles, including pop-culture criticism, the origins of the fetish, and personal experiences.
How do you categorize your book—as a memoir, memoir-in-essays, essay collection, creative nonfiction, graphic memoir, autofiction—and why?
Memoir in essays. I categorize Fetishized as a memoir-in-essays meets cultural criticism because it’s deeply personal, like a traditional memoir, but unfolds as a chronological series of essays that approach the fetishization of Asian women from a multitude of angles, including pop-culture criticism, the origins of the fetish, and personal experiences.
What is the “elevator pitch” for your book?
Fetishized is an intimate memoir-in-essays that unpacks the hypersexualization of Asian women in pop culture and everyday life. Drawing on my years as an early-2000s pin-up model and Myspace influencer, I weave my personal history with cultural criticism, showing how media such as the Harajuku Girls and Memoirs of a Geisha shaped sexualized stereotypes of Asian women. The book is about reclaiming my own story and inviting readers to examine the fantasies and beliefs they’ve inherited about race, gender, and power.
What’s the back story of this book including your origin story as a writer? How did you become a writer, and how did this book come to be?
I never set out to be a writer. For ten years, I was a touring musician with no real backup plan for what came next. When I quit music, I stumbled into travel writing, initially just to get myself onto incredible press trips. I took classes at Gotham Writers Workshop in New York, where I learned the craft of pitching and storytelling and eventually fell in love with writing.
After a few years as a travel and culture journalist, the pandemic shifted my focus. During the #StopAsianHate movement, I began writing more openly about race and identity. Then came the Atlanta spa shootings: a sex addict murdered eight people, including six Asian women, and the media insisted it wasn’t racially or sexually motivated. The Asian community felt collectively gaslit. Out of that outrage and grief, I wrote a Newsweek op-ed called The Dangerous Privilege of Yellow Fever, and that piece inspired Fetishized.
What were the hardest aspects of writing this book and getting it published?
One of the hardest aspects was the timeline. Publishing took nearly three years, which I hadn’t anticipated. I assumed my book would be out the following year, but once I learned my pub date, it felt impossibly far away.
Fetishized is an intimate memoir-in-essays that unpacks the hypersexualization of Asian women in pop culture and everyday life. Drawing on my years as an early-2000s pin-up model and Myspace influencer, I weave my personal history with cultural criticism, showing how media such as the Harajuku Girls and Memoirs of a Geisha shaped sexualized stereotypes of Asian women.
How did you handle writing about real people in your life? Did you use real or changed names and identifying details? Did you run passages or the whole book by people who appear in the narrative? Did you make changes they requested?
I changed many names for legal and privacy reasons! The only exceptions were a handful of people, mostly my bandmates, where it felt important to use their real names. In those cases, I shared the chapters they appeared in with them before publication, and thankfully, they didn’t request any changes.
Who is another writer you took inspiration from in producing this book? Was it a specific book, or their whole body of work? (Can be more than one writer or book.)
I was definitely inspired by several memoirs in essays such as Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong, My Body by Emily Ratatowski, and Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino. I love the style of mixing cultural criticism with personal narrative.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers looking to publish a book like yours, who are maybe afraid, or intimidated by the process?
I once took a class called Pitch Like a Honey Badger and I’ve carried that premise into my life. I’m like a honey badger, tiny, fearless and ferocious. After years of online harassment and cold-pitching editors, I built up a thick skin, which is essential in the book-publishing process. Thats how I recommend approaching the book publication process. My advice to aspiring writers is to approach it the same way: don’t take rejection personally and keep aggressively pushing forward. Publishing isn’t about waiting for permission, it’s about knocking the doors down.
What do you love about writing?
I absolutely love having control of my narrative.
What frustrates you about writing?
The pitching and slow publication process!
What about writing surprises you?
I initially hated writing, but after years of honing my skills, I fell in love with it. Now I see it as the most priceless gift the universe has given me, a career that doesn’t depend on youth or beauty (as I spent years in the entertainment industry, and I’m so grateful that I quit!). I can keep writing until I’m 99.
I once took a class called Pitch Like a Honey Badger and I’ve carried that premise into my life. I’m like a honey badger, tiny, fearless and ferocious. After years of online harassment and cold-pitching editors, I built up a thick skin, which is essential in the book-publishing process. Thats how I recommend approaching the book publication process. My advice to aspiring writers is to approach it the same way: don’t take rejection personally and keep aggressively pushing forward. Publishing isn’t about waiting for permission, it’s about knocking the doors down.
Does your writing practice involve any kind of routine, or writing at specific times?
Not really. I don’t have a rigid writing schedule. What I do have is an obsession with deadlines; I’m never late. The one perhaps unique detail is that I do all my work from bed. I wrote my entire book either in my own bed or in hotel beds around the world (while working as a travel writer). I don’t change out of my pajamas, I have zero desire to work in public or at coffee shops.I just want to write in the comfort of my bedroom with my two cats, Hammy and Bunny, curled up beside me.
Do you engage in any other creative pursuits, professionally or for fun? Are there non-writing activities you consider to be “writing” or supportive of your process?
I’m obsessed with being underwater, freediving and scuba diving which is incredibly meditative and definitely supports my writing process.
What’s next for you? Do you have another book planned, or in the works?
Working on my next book proposal!
I've requested Kaila's book from the library, thanks for this interview. I'm #15 in the queue for the physical copy.