I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for contradictions.

Even a hundred years ago he included women and he always used [those phrases] 'men and women' 'male and female. I just love the way Maxine Hong Kingston can make one character live for four hundred years and that Orlando can be a man.

Kingston has written three novels and several works of non-fiction about the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United States. Kingston has received several awards for her contributions to Chinese American Literature including the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 1981 for China Men. She has contributed to the feminist movement with such works as her memoir The Woman Warrior which discusses gender and ethnicity and how these concepts affect the lives of women.