“.. riveting.. vivid.. a master storyteller.. Hers is a hero’s story.”
“My mother carried a powerful secret. A secret that shaped my life and the lives of everyone around me in ways she could not have imagined.”
I’m a writer and you can order my memoir now.
This book was written alongside a twenty-plus-year career in media and many years of nonprofit work. I was Vice Chair of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Nominating Chair of The Moth (now, on the artistic council).
I co-created and hosted my own television news show; was on-air and on staff at three TV networks; and was a magazine editor then advice columnist for four national magazines.
I now also head up my own production company, with a focus on women-led content, and created and hosted a podcast featuring some incredible women.
I also have written two novels in a series and two advice books.
I’m a speaker and former professor as well.
If you’d like me to join you, send me a note.
Beyond words, my life is my daughter and our pooches in downtown Manhattan.
WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?
A MEMOIR (2022)
“She tells her story in vivid conversational prose that will make readers feel they’re listening to a master storyteller on a long car trip… Hers is a hero’s journey”
—New York Times
“Propulsive. . . .Explosive. . . . Packing in raw emotion, sharp cultural commentary, and plenty of intrigue, this has all the makings of a book that’s destined for the big screen. This hits the mark.”
—Publishers Weekly
“An unflinching, provocative, and deeply satisfying excavation of self . . . with a commanding voice and raw honesty. In hearing Carmen's journey to truth, we might find the strength to embark on our own.”
—Xochitl Gonzalez, New York Times bestselling author of Olga Dies Dreaming
"Carmen Rita Wong is a brilliant force. From our first meeting, her stories swept me away. She then wowed Moth audiences around the world with her story, leaving them wanting much more. We're in luck: a book's worth of Carmen is here! She is a master storyteller, whose voice is a gift to this world and all the lucky readers who buy this book."
- Catherine Burns, Artistic Director, The Moth
“This is the Carmen I know—fierce and true. Her story broke my heart and filled it up at the same time...This is a testament.”
—Sunny Hostin, three-time Emmy Award–winning co-host of ABC’s The View and New York Times bestselling author of I Am These Truths
“...a vivid and surprising memoir, bracing and bright. Carmen drives, without swerving, straight into the thicket of daughters and mothers and (a lot of) fathers; of racism and sexism and the ways in which inequity seeps into every corner of the American story. It is, among other things, an incredible story.”
—Rebecca Traister, New York Times bestselling author of Good and Mad
"In this book, Carmen Rita Wong takes us on a scavenger hunt through her own intersectionality by chronicling her family and upbringing. Raised by a fierce Latina mother, Wong was also influenced by a Chinese immigrant father figure, and her anglo step-father. Or is he? Wong's primary question is who is she? What is her identity? What makes identity? What is family? And most importantly, who decides all of the above. The narrative arc of WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? follows clues as Wong tries to understand who her real father is. In the end, the treasure is this memoir that she bravely shares with the rest of the world
- Wendy Wasserman, Politics & Prose
"My mother carried a powerful secret. A secret that shaped my life and the lives of everyone around me in ways she could not have imagined. Why did she take it to her grave? Why didn’t she tell me or anyone? WDYTM? is the story of how I came to know this secret, how it shaped my life, and how I try to understand why a mother would create and devote herself to such a story. A story that set me on a path of decades of living her lie before discovering that the truth was closer than I'd ever thought possible.``
Carmen Rita Wong | Tarrytown Mainstage
In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're showcasing some of our favorite stories from Hispanic storytellers. In this story, Carmen Rita Wong uncovers the complicated layers of her family's past. Watch the full story here.
NPR All Things Considered
Author Interview: Carmen Rita Wong
MSNBC’s American Voices
Identity in America: Carmen Rita Wong