Serena Puang
Staff Columnist
SerenaPuang | serena.puang@yale.edu
Serena Puang is a senior in Davenport College, majoring in American Studies. She previously edited the Investigations Desk at the YDN. Her column "Reading the Room" analyzes culture and other contemporary issues through the lens of books.
Author Archive
SURAJ SINGAREDDY & SERENA PUANG
Silhouette E12: Sanjena Sathian on high school debate kids, working with Mindy Kaling, and absurdity (part 2).

Sanjena Sathian ’13, author of Gold Diggers, talks with Serena Puang ’23 and Suraj Singareddy ’25 about being a debate kid in high school, writing […]

August 31, 2023

SURAJ SINGAREDDY & SERENA PUANG
Silhouette E11: Sanjena Sathian on growing up Indian-American, writing, and ex-pat living (part 1).

Sanjena Sathian ’13, author of Gold Diggers, talks with Serena Puang ’23 and Suraj Singareddy ’25 about growing up Indian-American in Atlanta’s suburbs, her undergraduate […]

August 31, 2023

SERENA PUANG
PUANG: We need to be nicer to trailblazers

When Maxine Hong Kingston wrote her first book, “The Woman Warrior” in 1976, she originally intended to publish it as fiction, but her editor told […]

April 11, 2023

SERENA PUANG
PUANG: Movie adaptations are about transformation, not translation

The first book-to-movie adaptation I remember seeing is “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.” My then-best friend and I begged our parents to […]

February 26, 2023

SERENA PUANG
PUANG: The real problem with ‘American Dirt’

In 2020, “American Dirt” a novel about the experiences of an undocumented Mexican woman and her son moving to America to escape a drug cartel, […]

February 14, 2023

SERENA PUANG
PUANG: In defense of reading five books at a time

Confession: When I tell people that I’m reading a new book, what I really mean is that I have added it to what I affectionately […]

January 29, 2023

SERENA PUANG
PUANG: Accessibility is not a privilege

We’ve all been in class with that one person who is hacking up a lung and has a growing mountain of snotty used tissues on […]

November 1, 2022

SERENA PUANG
PUANG: The hidden curriculum of language learning at Yale

In most L1 language classes at Yale, you learn to introduce yourself, talk about your likes and dislikes, maybe a few colors and some food. […]

October 7, 2022

DANTE MOTLEY, CARTER DEWEES, JERRY FENG & SERENA PUANG
The Yalie Ep 7: How Yale’s Leave of Absence Policy Leaves Students Without a Choice

Tune in to Episode 7 of the Yalie, where hosts Dante Motley and Carter Dewees sit down with Serena Puang, the editor of the new […]

February 16, 2022

SERENA PUANG
‘I had to choose between my education and my safety’: How Yale’s withdrawal and reinstatement policies leave students no choice but to stay

Whether because of specific University policies, failure to communicate these policies to students or longstanding rumors, many students feel they have no choice but to remain enrolled at Yale, even when it might not be in their best interest.

February 1, 2022

SERENA PUANG
PROFILE: Between Lee Isaac Chung and Me

When I reached out to Lee Isaac Chung to request an interview, he tentatively agreed, then gently asked if I’d gotten the chance to see […]

April 29, 2021

Zihao Lin